The slip up was real!

Duckfarmerpa1

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So I went to the barn this morning and saw a bit more fur in the corner of my puffy little grey and white doe’s bunny box....the one who was living with her younger bonded buck..that I thought was oh too young to think those thoughts. :lol: So, I started the thread the other day about a possible slip up and should I separate them? Well...lol... I think, in the back of my mind, I hoped this would happen. Oh, come on.. I knew this would happen, I am just trying to convince myself that it was a slip up so my hubby doesn’t catch on..ugh? Anyways..I reached in and felt...yep, a tiny warm..sausage! So I started popping them out, and out and out, etc...13! One, was passEd. But, this was her first liter! Can you imagine after a few more times!? They all look good. Nice little spotted, one black. My hubby prefers the black rabbits. This is why we have a coveted chocolate New Zealand buck. :). She is sitting back, relaxing, and chewing her hay. Good job mamma. Nice surprise!
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Xerocles

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13 with 12 survivors! Incredible. Wonderful "surprise". Now, you already know I'm a newby, so forgive the question, but is she going to be able to nurse 12? I've heard crazy things like taking half out in mornings to rotate nursing, and surrogate moms (which you don't have at the moment). But, bottom line. Can one mama handle nursing 12 kits?
 

Duckfarmerpa1

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13 with 12 survivors! Incredible. Wonderful "surprise". Now, you already know I'm a newby, so forgive the question, but is she going to be able to nurse 12? I've heard crazy things like taking half out in mornings to rotate nursing, and surrogate moms (which you don't have at the moment). But, bottom line. Can one mama handle nursing 12 kits?
Oh yes, no problems. She will eat more. It’s like with piglets. The kits will kind of rotate..basically fall off her and another takes its place. Does nurse early morning and after dark so predators don’t see the babies. So, she is full of milk. Her body will make what it demands. I’ve only ever had one issue Wuxi this a doe drying out..it was due to worms...but these guys all got wormed right bef going into the barn.

anyways...the mammas also stay away from the kits during the day to not attract predators. If one gets close, she’ll charge, but she tries to stay back.
it’s a nice process to watch...does this inspire you???
 

Xerocles

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Oh yes, no problems. She will eat more. It’s like with piglets. The kits will kind of rotate..basically fall off her and another takes its place. Does nurse early morning and after dark so predators don’t see the babies. So, she is full of milk. Her body will make what it demands. I’ve only ever had one issue Wuxi this a doe drying out..it was due to worms...but these guys all got wormed right bef going into the barn.

anyways...the mammas also stay away from the kits during the day to not attract predators. If one gets close, she’ll charge, but she tries to stay back.
it’s a nice process to watch...does this inspire you???
Inspire, impress, amaze, dumbfound.
 

Duckfarmerpa1

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They’ve been fine all day, getting plump all ready...so here’s the pictures of the mom and dad...proud darents of 12 living kits! Wwe to Christmas party today and Chris wait to tell everyone how the expert made a mstake...I simply explained...it was planed the whole time...nooooo...that’s not it all, but he did I tease and I sailed I did not this this 4 mth buck was old enough...well, then conversation changed a who,e new,, and it wasn’t pretty. Fella..ladies don’t want to know that spend time wasting looking at naked ladies...be are immune to that way of thought. So, just don’t break her bubble by telling the truth...because so of us true ladies are not ready! Anyways...theses are my iliigimitagrandbunnies.. I think I should start a support group...lol. The buck on top and y doe is bottom :)
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Duckfarmerpa1

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They sure are pretty! What breed?
They are broken California with New Zealand...a lot of kids like the spotted ones..lol. I tell people if the kids gets tired, just bring them back..:). I’ve only ever Actually sold two, the rest I gave away:)
 

Bunnylady

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Well, now how's that for an early Christmas present? Congrats!

13 with 12 survivors! Incredible. Wonderful "surprise". Now, you already know I'm a newby, so forgive the question, but is she going to be able to nurse 12? I've heard crazy things like taking half out in mornings to rotate nursing, and surrogate moms (which you don't have at the moment). But, bottom line. Can one mama handle nursing 12 kits?


Maybe she can manage it, maybe not. It's not uncommon to lose a few, especially with a litter this large. Some does have more milk than others, but a doe only produces so much each day. Studies have shown that litters as a whole seem to gain the same amount of weight, regardless of how many kits are in the litter - so the individual kits in a numerically large litter grow slower than kits from a litter of just a few. As long as each kit is getting enough, being born in a large litter is actually better for the kits than coming from a small one; when too few bunnies get all the milk intended for a mob, they may grow too fast, and wind up with skeletal and digestive problems. Commercial breeders believe the optimal number to balance kit growth to feed consumption by the doe is about 6 kits per litter, and often cull or swap around to get litters near that number. One thing I've learned to be wary of is a doe that has a large litter, and the kits grow like mad in spite of their numbers - does like that may wind up dying when their kits are only 3 to 4 weeks old due to hypocalcemia (supplemental calcium and/or alfalfa hay can help head that off).

Sometimes bunnies get out-competed in a litter like this; buns who are smaller than their siblings at birth are the most likely to lose out when (literally!) push comes to shove. There can be other issues, too. Since it appears that both parents are broken patterned animals, it is likely that there will be some Charlies (nearly all-white bunnies that got the gene for the broken pattern from both of their parents) in this litter. Just how bad it is varies from rabbit to rabbit, but Charlies have sluggish digestive systems and trouble absorbing nutrients from their food, so they tend to grow slower and can lose out as their siblings become bigger and stronger. It's not unusual to lose Charlies in the nest box, even in numerically small litters where competition isn't an issue.

But as to the sire of this litter being only 4 months old - yeah, that's quite normal. Rabbits become fertile as young as 12 weeks of age, which is why most breeders separate by gender at 8 to 10 weeks.;)
 
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