Our First Kits (not necessarily theirs)

[lee&lyric]

End of last month our rabbits had their first kits since with us. The Flemish doe had a litter before and knows what she is doing (I guess). The New Zealand was bred to a Flemish buck and it was their first kits. The Flemish doe had upwards of eleven kits. As of today there are four . We had a cold snap the last couple of nights and this morning when we went to inspect and feed indeed we had lost some more.

The New Zealand had maybe six kits or so. As of this morning none have survived. Again, this was her first litter. Still it saddens me so. I can't stand looking at road kill/dead animals. I need to get it together since we are forming a small family farm though.

Thumper (The Flemish) and the White New Zealand Doe's kits

A New Zealand White doe bred with Thumper, the Flemish Giant (harlequin)

We had another NZ doe give birth but none survived. Oh, and the black kits in with Lily's were from one of the NZ white doe's. We put them in with Lily (the experienced Mom) hoping they would survive.

More pics here. Better fortune next time
http://public.fotki.com/lovinlocks/our-farm/new-kits/

E.T.A. Hopefully the four that are left will be strong and make it.

 

[lastfling]

Is that all the fur that was pulled? It doesn't appear to be much, which could explain why the cold weather killed them. With that many kits and a sufficient amount of fur there should have been no issues with the cold. You might want to consider supplementing the fur with dryer lint or plucking more off the doe yourself. My last litter of only 2 survived 20 degree temps fine in an unheated rabbit barn, but mom did pull a ton of fur for them to burrow into.

 

[CYGChickies]

Our last breeding was kind of 50/50. Our Lionhead had eight perfect babies but one got pulled out of the nest box. First time Lionhead had two babies (100% of litter) on wire. Third Lionhead had two oversized babies that died and kept one normal baby. French Angora had eleven babies, four under developed due to uterine crowding and one got pulled from nestbox. So out of twenty-four kits we kept 14. The 14 we have are beautiful and healthy and we rented the does that didn't take and lost 100%. We are hoping that these litters will do well.

CYG