[Jcran]

Ok, on the 16th I had a SF doe kindle almost 4 days late by my calendar. 8 kits, 5 dead and one dead soon after. The two that lived came out of their nest box today-total sumo wrestler kits. HOLY buckets, they are fat and sassy. The doe who kindled with her first litter on the 14th had 8 healthy kits and then today NINE kits came out of THEIR nest box-oops, missed one. Anyhow, on November 4th, I had a doe due to kindle and she did, right on time. I only put her in with the buck ONE time-didn't go back for a second date an hour later. She had lost her litter last month and I rebred her 3 days later. Anyhow, she had one dead BIG kit on the wire, and then when I reached into the nest box to feel, there were two TEENY weird little kits with no color-dead, and then what felt like 4 kits that were pretty cold. I pulled the two dead mini kits, and pulled her fur pile over the live ones, and came back and checked an hour later and they were warmer. She is taking care of them now, but the two teeny weird ones were just that-weird. There was also a bit of after birth I think. It looked like a button of tissue. Might I have interrupted her mid-kindle? She looked like she was lounging. I know for SURE that I didn't try to rebreed at ALL after October 4th. I just cannot figure out what those little teeny kits were all about, unless they were identical twins or something? Anyhow, today my 4th doe kindled and has 8 live WARM kits in the nest box. Yeah team, at least all is well there. I am glad they are finally producing...I couldn't get anyone bred during the summer and it doesn't even get hot here!

 

[Bernadette]

... just another chapter in the 'Rabbits Refuse to Read Rule Book' saga.

Congrats jcran - glad to hear they've mostly smartened up and gotten things back on track.

Did the mother of the weird little ones have some dwarf in here somewhere?

Sometimes I wonder if it's fluctuations of vitamin content in the feeds we use?

 

[Terri]

..I couldn't get anyone bred during the summer and it doesn't even get hot here!

I have BEEN in Eureka! It is hot in the summer by my standards!

Possibly by the rabbits standards also.

 

[Jcran]

Eureka CALIFORNIA? Our summers are mostly foggy...70 is a heat wave here LOL. Although we do get a day or two of 80s occasionally. But not enough of what I thought caused infertility. When I lived in Lake County, we had NZ does breed right through the summer when it got into the 90s...

 

[Terri]

Eureka CALIFORNIA? Our summers are mostly foggy...70 is a heat wave here LOL. Although we do get a day or two of 80s occasionally. But not enough of what I thought caused infertility. When I lived in Lake County, we had NZ does breed right through the summer when it got into the 90s...

I have passed through a couple of times, and both times were well into the 90's.

That is a random sample only, and so not entirely accurate. The locals DID say that the green grass was due to frequent fogs!

It was lovely: I thought it would be a possible place to move to!

 

[Beaniemom]

I had lots of luck with summer breeding/kindlings, then fall hit, and nada, nothing, zip, zilch. Does won't breed, those few that did either had nothing, or lost/aborted thier litters. We did switch feed, and were underfeeding briefly too. I am not sold on the new feed though, not sure that I like the results so far, but then again, my mystery poopy butts/deaths have since stopped since we changed feed, well, few poopy butts, but that may be the barley, I don't think my rabbits can eat it. Not the young Jrs anyways. I didn't realize it came steamed/rolled too, we got the whole version of it.

Sounds like the small kits died in utero, maybe the sumo kit was in a horn by itself? Or she retained it from last time and passed it with this litter (Can they do that???) I've seen some teeeny tiny Rex kits born here, and it was born live, and it lived for like 2 days. Freaked me out since it was like grotesquely small! :O