trcarlton
Chillin' with the herd
Ruby was due to kindle tomorrow, so when I did the morning rounds today topping off food/water for the chickens and rabbits, I was happy to see Ruby was pulling fur...LOTS of fur! I watched for a little while, admiring how quickly and calmly she was taking the fur to the next box, spreading it around and packing it in, and repeat. I fetched a few handfuls of the finer, softer hay to offer her to help fill out the nest box, along with a couple dandelion leaves for her to munch on, then I went back in the house, leaving her to handle her nest. I returned an hour later to check on her progress with readying the nest box, saw she was in it, watched for a minute, and realized SHE WAS NOT ALONE. I was stunned to see, when she changed position, that there were at least 2 kits already in the back of the box, on a soft pile of her fur, and she was busily cleaning up the afterbirth, grooming herself, and having more contractions. I was ecstatic and terrified, waiting to see if she would stomp them, eat them, or otherwise require me to intervene...I love it when I worry for nothing 
She is a first time momma, and she had the whole process HANDLED! Quick, efficient, calm, from start to finish. When she decided to take a break, she had fresh dandelion leaves waiting for her, and she lounged near the hutch door, munching, while I petted her and told her what a great momma she was. Then she hopped back into the nest box for more grooming and rearranging. I saw 3 kits, and thought there might be another, but I didn't want to intrude so early, so I waited until a couple hours later to take a quick peek in the nest box, not touching the kits, just moving the fur off the top to do a quick head count...and there are 6! I am so happy and excited, she's doing great, the kits all seem to be fine. I plan to check on them often tomorrow, make sure all the kits have round bellies throughout the day, and hopefully take some more pics. She's been fine with me petting her, and has always been very friendly, coming up to the hutch door to get loves; how long should I wait before handling the kits? This is my first litter too, so I'm like a kid at Christmas lol Here are some pics I took so far.
Ruby pulling fur
Ruby's kits 
She is a first time momma, and she had the whole process HANDLED! Quick, efficient, calm, from start to finish. When she decided to take a break, she had fresh dandelion leaves waiting for her, and she lounged near the hutch door, munching, while I petted her and told her what a great momma she was. Then she hopped back into the nest box for more grooming and rearranging. I saw 3 kits, and thought there might be another, but I didn't want to intrude so early, so I waited until a couple hours later to take a quick peek in the nest box, not touching the kits, just moving the fur off the top to do a quick head count...and there are 6! I am so happy and excited, she's doing great, the kits all seem to be fine. I plan to check on them often tomorrow, make sure all the kits have round bellies throughout the day, and hopefully take some more pics. She's been fine with me petting her, and has always been very friendly, coming up to the hutch door to get loves; how long should I wait before handling the kits? This is my first litter too, so I'm like a kid at Christmas lol Here are some pics I took so far.
