I messed up, now what?

JimS · #1 05/09/14, 06:48 AM

I've been stressing out because I had a doe that was 35 days and no babies. This doe and buck have always produced well. Finally decided last night to rebreed thinking if she's pregnant that will put her into labor if not she needs rebreed. Went to write down my date this morning after a second attempt and realized I had counted a week off. She is actually about 28 days today what I thought was 36. She was acting more stressed yesterday in the heat (91) than the others which I didn't think too much about considering the fact I though she was 35 days pregnant. She "looked" pregnant to me and I swear I felt a few kicks while handling her, but she hadn't bagged up yet. She lifted twice last night and twice this morning but she has definitely been moody about it which is not normal for her.
So now what? I know there probably isn't much I can do but what complications can I expect (I understand they can actually have two different litters at the same time)? Thank you in advance.

MaggieJ · #2 05/09/14, 07:06 AM

I've never dealt with this problem, but I don't think you need to worry about double litters. She is so close to kindling the first litter that the second litter (if she conceived) would be barely started and would likely be expelled during kindling. She may kindle early because of the second breeding. Hope all goes okay. Try to keep her cool if you can; kindling in 90+ degree weather must be stressful.

JimS · #3 05/09/14, 08:39 AM

Those were my thoughts and hope too but appreciate the reassurance. Yesterday was abnormally hot. We at mid 70s for a while now.
Thanks

Fire-Man · #4 05/11/14, 06:04 PM

Jim, hope everything goes good. I would suggest "better" records---I did something similiar to this in the beginning "one" time. I would forget to write the date down when I got to the house etc------a few days Later I think about it and would guess what day she was bred. Not anymore. I have a sheet of sticky address labels I use------as soon as the buck makes contact with the Doe-----I leave her in his cage a little while longer while I get a label-----a calender----and Sharpie----all kept on a shelf in the rabbitery-----I count 31 days---write down her due date and the bucks number she was bred with----this label is stuck on a tag above her cage. I have Never had to quess, when she was bred anymore----I can see this tag daily---I have never missed putting the nesting box in 3 days before due date---I am getting too old to remember things for a hour-----LOL----write it down as it happens!!!!

As far as Heat----during these warmer hot days give her a little moving air(fan), shade, water and some food----she should be ok! Now I do give my Does a rest during the hottest part of summer, but have had many born in the hottest days without ever loosing a Doe.

JimS · #5 05/13/14, 08:05 AM

She had a healthy litter of 7 no problems at 31 days. All seems to be well.

It turns out I had looked also been looking at a date for when another earlier litter was born and mixed up the two dates in my head. The records were perfect my brain is slipping .

GreenMomma · #6 05/13/14, 10:04 AM

I got dates mixed up once... no consequences from it, but it freaked me out. I tried hutch cards but could never get them to stay nicely in their little spot. Any amount of moisture in the air and they'd curl and fall to the ground. I have a binder in the house that has all of their info in it and a calendar, but that didn't help me when I was out in the barnyard without it...

So here's what I did that I am very happy with for now:
Went to the dollar store and bought a small white board for each doe and a sturdy little clamp to hang it on the front of the cages. In permanent marker I wrote their name, breed, birthdate, etc.

Then I labeled a spot (in permanent ink) for the date they were last bred, nest box date, due date, rebreed date and wean date. Since the boards are big enough, I have room to fill in the above info nice and large (with a dry erase pen0- easy to read from across the room, plus info about which buck they were bred to, how many fall offs, etc.

In the lower right corner I even write a countdown number (as in 2 for 2 weeks to go until their kindle date) so I can see which does are on their last week and I can give them an extra pinch of oats that week and get their nest boxes ready.

Since I added that little hack of an upgrade, I have felt much more organized and less stressed about dates. And once a month I just take my binder and a coffee down to the barn and jot all the info and notes onto each does page.

I figure if something happened to me it would be a lot easier for someone else to care for the animals, and for the animals that we share duties, we can leave each other notes. I am going to pick up another arm full of the white boards and make them for all of the various critters