Tuesday, December 27, 2005
Christmas In The Rabbitry
I made sure that I got what I wanted for Christmas. No, I didn't give my husband a list to fill. We don't give each other Christmas presents. And I didn't hint to my parents or children. Nope. Instead, I bred 12 does who were due on either Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. That did the trick.
Things did start out badly. I lost 6 kits due to a power glitch. My outlet tripped the ground fault device, so I found 6 cold babies in a poorly built nest that should have been warm and toasty from the nest box warmer. They were Bear & Markie babies and I was really looking forward to them.
Two other does had dead litters, but they've previously had live kits, so I don't think they'll have a problem next time. It was just one of those things. But most of the news from there was more upbeat.
Rio & May had 7, with 6 viable kits. Two are solid, one is broken and three are Charlies, of course. I would beat the odds on the Charlies, of course! Well, I love brokens and Charlies insure that there will be brokens. I still have to make it past the fuzzy hurdle though. Rio definitely throws fuzzies and I'm pretty sure that May can (her sire does). Probably the 2 solids and 1 broken are fuzzy!
Of course, I shouldn't complain about not beating the odds with May. She's had 3 litters with only one non-viable kit per litter. May has produced 16 viable kits for me since September!
Natasha had 8 with Boris (inbreeding). Seven survived, but FIVE are peanuts, so there are only 2 viable from the 8. Odds were against me again! But I was able to move May's brokens over to Natasha (gave the peanuts to May), which is good. I think that May can return to the show table if she's not dragged down by nursing. Nursing seems to take more out of a doe than kindling does.
Hilary, May's sister, had 6 with Ox, but 3 are peanuts. The odds were against me AGAIN! Those babies were given to Markie, who has not yet nursed a litter, but is already granded. Hilary needs another leg to grand, so I'd like to try to keep her in show condition at least until she's granded.
Spice had 6 with Q; both are Merlin offspring. It looks like 5 are viable and 1 is a runt (not a peanut). The runt has tiny ears, positioned further back, but the body looks normal. I find that they grow at half speed and usually die around weaning or so. Those babies were fostered to Chica because she had a dead litter and Spice apparently has no milk (or very late milk) this time.
Estella (Stella's daughter with Mtn's Buzz) had 3 with Merlin. Merlin and Stella work so well together (they produced May, Hilary, Purdy, and Wizard), that I decided to see if Estella would work as well with Merlin. All three are brokens, but one is a peanut. I fostered May's 2 solid babies to Estella, whose own babies were very fat the first time I saw them. She's a bit of a nervous mother, but is taking great care of her babies.
That makes 18 babies. I have 2 from earlier this month, so I met my goal of 20 babies per month. It used to be 25, but I have to keep reminding myself that I'm trying to cut down.
It looks like 4 of my does missed (though there may be a late surprise in the barn for me today). I had hoped that Jo-Jo would miss because I regretted breeding her. She has 2 legs now (one she earned after being bred), so I'd love to grand her before having babies takes the polished glow off of her.
Things worked out very well. There was one doe I hoped would miss and she did. There were 3 does that I did not want to nurse a litter, and they are not. I wanted 20 babies for this month and got them.
I think I'm pretty happy with that.
Laurie Stroupe
The Nature Trail Rabbitry
Holland Lops Of Distinction
Precious Pet Rabbits
Pet Rabbit Care Information, Quality Pet Rabbit Breeders, and Rabbit Fun
¶ 10:51 AM
Things did start out badly. I lost 6 kits due to a power glitch. My outlet tripped the ground fault device, so I found 6 cold babies in a poorly built nest that should have been warm and toasty from the nest box warmer. They were Bear & Markie babies and I was really looking forward to them.
Two other does had dead litters, but they've previously had live kits, so I don't think they'll have a problem next time. It was just one of those things. But most of the news from there was more upbeat.
Rio & May had 7, with 6 viable kits. Two are solid, one is broken and three are Charlies, of course. I would beat the odds on the Charlies, of course! Well, I love brokens and Charlies insure that there will be brokens. I still have to make it past the fuzzy hurdle though. Rio definitely throws fuzzies and I'm pretty sure that May can (her sire does). Probably the 2 solids and 1 broken are fuzzy!
Of course, I shouldn't complain about not beating the odds with May. She's had 3 litters with only one non-viable kit per litter. May has produced 16 viable kits for me since September!
Natasha had 8 with Boris (inbreeding). Seven survived, but FIVE are peanuts, so there are only 2 viable from the 8. Odds were against me again! But I was able to move May's brokens over to Natasha (gave the peanuts to May), which is good. I think that May can return to the show table if she's not dragged down by nursing. Nursing seems to take more out of a doe than kindling does.
Hilary, May's sister, had 6 with Ox, but 3 are peanuts. The odds were against me AGAIN! Those babies were given to Markie, who has not yet nursed a litter, but is already granded. Hilary needs another leg to grand, so I'd like to try to keep her in show condition at least until she's granded.
Spice had 6 with Q; both are Merlin offspring. It looks like 5 are viable and 1 is a runt (not a peanut). The runt has tiny ears, positioned further back, but the body looks normal. I find that they grow at half speed and usually die around weaning or so. Those babies were fostered to Chica because she had a dead litter and Spice apparently has no milk (or very late milk) this time.
Estella (Stella's daughter with Mtn's Buzz) had 3 with Merlin. Merlin and Stella work so well together (they produced May, Hilary, Purdy, and Wizard), that I decided to see if Estella would work as well with Merlin. All three are brokens, but one is a peanut. I fostered May's 2 solid babies to Estella, whose own babies were very fat the first time I saw them. She's a bit of a nervous mother, but is taking great care of her babies.
That makes 18 babies. I have 2 from earlier this month, so I met my goal of 20 babies per month. It used to be 25, but I have to keep reminding myself that I'm trying to cut down.
It looks like 4 of my does missed (though there may be a late surprise in the barn for me today). I had hoped that Jo-Jo would miss because I regretted breeding her. She has 2 legs now (one she earned after being bred), so I'd love to grand her before having babies takes the polished glow off of her.
Things worked out very well. There was one doe I hoped would miss and she did. There were 3 does that I did not want to nurse a litter, and they are not. I wanted 20 babies for this month and got them.
I think I'm pretty happy with that.
Laurie Stroupe
The Nature Trail Rabbitry
Holland Lops Of Distinction
Precious Pet Rabbits
Pet Rabbit Care Information, Quality Pet Rabbit Breeders, and Rabbit Fun
¶ 10:51 AM
