NZ and Cali

[Painted Pony]

I bred a few of my does for meat pens this August. I figured better to have to many and eat a few than to few and wish I had more, so I bred seven of my NZ and Cali does. Well, the girls must have decided they better produce since I'd been threatening to send a few to freezer camp just for GP. Three of the litters have been 9, 12, & 13 kits per doe!

If anyone is looking for large Calis or NZ I may have a few available. I do have a few Champs that are ready to go and a few Calis that are 4 weeks old. Champs are from CH lines in NM. Lots of multiple Grand CH in the pedigrees of the buck and doe.

I do not post much, but I do read almost daily.

www.NumoorFarms.com

[Kshobbit]

Oh how I wish your were closer to Kansas. Do you have any relatives around southern Kansas you want to visit???

[Painted Pony]

LOL! No relatives in KS. My last few does delivered yesterday. We lost two kits out of all the litters thus far. Mom must have stepped on one while she was delivering the others. His belly was brusied pretty badly and I was in the barn while she was in labor so that kit wasn't left unattended very long. The other was a kit out of a litter born on the wire. Many of these are first-time moms so I am pretty proud of the jobs they did. So far all kits are doing well.

I do have one Chinchilla that didn't do such a good job building her nest and delivering her babies. I was able to revive all but one she had on the wire and then fostered them out yesterday. She is a first timer so I'll give her some slack. Last night I held her on her back while my DS placed a few kits at a time on her to nurse. We then made a nest with some fur from her and from the others that pulled a ton of fur, placed the box in with the new Mom and we'll check to see if she is caring for them tonight. If their bellies aren't full she'll be doing the "dying cockroach" in my lap again so they can nurse. I'm SOOOOO glad bunnies only eat once a day. I can't imagine sitting there every few hours like that. The doe, Pepper, did not object to being there and was very cooperative. She even began to fall asleep...silly girl.

Out of nine does bred I had 8 deliver. The 9th one I wasn't sure was really bred. I stand there and usually hold the does during mating. She wasn't really interested and I wasn't sure when the buck fell off that he'd actually had much success. I'll try her again next cycle when I breed my SF and my Champs again.

My DS wants a patchwork bedspread from the pelts of the ones we harvest. I am not sure how many pelts it will take to cover his full-size bed but I think I have enough colors/variety to make it look nice.

Oh for those with NZ rabbits I was wondering what the reds look like (color/shading) when they are first born. I think I may have a few reds from one of the NZB does bred to my NZW buck. I never had any reds before so I am not sure but these kits are not whites or blacks.