Trying this again!

[fffarmergirl]

Trying the baby angora thing again! I've got two does at 29 days gestation, and one is going bonkers building her nest and taking breaks to lay out flat on her belly and pant.

I learned some lessons last time, #1 being that the angora rabbits' belly hair has to be cut nice and short before they have the babies, so they can nurse. Mine didn't pull the hair out last time and I think that might be what the problem was.

The second thing I learned was from somebody at work. She said that the rabbits will do much better if they actually have a private nesting box with a cover and they can go inside it and feel safe.

I bred two so that, if one doesn't catch on, the other can foster her babies.

And of course Clevername taught me some good stuff - I've got bottles and formula ready in case the new moms don't do their jobs right, and I'm planning to check bellies and possibly remove the litters from the mothers and supplement as necessary.

So . . . I now feel like a nervous father must feel when his wife's in labor - pacing outside in the hallway.

Here's a couple pictures of the new setup (previous setup was just a wire cage with a shoebox-type nesting box in it).

 

[whaleyk98]

I just wanted to say very nice set up!

 

[fffarmergirl]

Thanks, Whaley - I hope they have their babies inside the boxes!

 

[magic_girl]

can't wait to see some pic's love your cage

 

[whaleyk98]

Lol, Ill keep my fingers crossed for you!

 

[bunnybunbunb]

Woot, good luck

 

[fffarmergirl]

No babies yet.

Hey - I was reading that you're supposed to take the nesting boxes out when they're done nesting? I was thinking it might be nice for all the bunnies, even the ones not being bred, to have a nice private little place where they can go, get their feet off the wire cage floor, etc. I've seen hutches for sale that have the nesting boxes built right into them. So - is it a good idea, or not?

 

[irishbunny]

That just means the normal type of nest boxes, what you have there is more of a hidey house, they love them and it makes them feel safe. No need to take it out after

 

[paul2641]

Real nice set up, Can we have more pictures of the parents to be?

 

[clevername]

oh what an adorable little set up!

At day 30 I start running check-ins about every 2-4 hours. That way if mom has the babies on the wire I can scoop them up.

Best of luck to you!

 

[fffarmergirl]

I'm glad the "hidey houses" can stay in there because I feel much better if they're in there! I was feeling so guilty about the wire cages.

I don't think I want to post pictures of the moms right now because they have very wacky-looking trim jobs. They're so impatient when I trim them that I can't do it all at once - so they've got trimmed bellies and sides for the babies and parts of their backs are trimmed - very embarassing.

Today's day 30! I'll be in there every 1-2 hours all day and night. Oh, I just can't wait. One of them seems really into it - she's got her nest so perfect and I just know she'll be a good mommy! The other one's not so into it. I put a bunch of hay in her nesting box and she arranged it into a nest-like shape, but when I put more hay in the other side, she didn't carry it in and arrange it all nice. So - I'm feeling a little unsure about her. She doesn't feel nearly as pregnant as the other one, although I can feel some babies moving around in there. Hopefully one will do well enough to foster for the other one if necessary.

 

[bunnybunbunb]

My does never nested till RIGHT before they popped the babies out(normally day 32) so just be thankful they are both messing with the hay xD At least you know they have a pretty good chance of doing things right.

 

[fffarmergirl]

They're here, they're here, they're here! And they're all alive, and they were all born in their nests, and the moms appear to be doing their jobs!!!!!!!!! YYIIPPEEEEEEEE! and Happy Mothers Day!

Jane had 7 and Buffy had 5 (which surprised me because she was so much smaller than Jane) and here they are!

This is proud mama Buffy (her fur doesn't look so great because she's a new mama and she's been pulling it out).

And here are Buffy's babies:

And I posted a picture of Jane already in this thread, and here are her babies:

 

[irishbunny]

Aw congrats! Looks like the Mammys are doing a great job the babies love lovely and healthy!

 

[fffarmergirl]

Thanks, Irish.

Jane had another one - don't know how long it was in there, but it wasn't in the pile with the first 7. One of the first ones died, so she still has 7. This last one was a big one - wonder if she's done yet?

 

[clevername]

They look fantastic. Congrats!

 

[fffarmergirl]

When they were all done, Buffy had 6 and Jane had 8. All 6 of Buffy's are fat and strong, but Jane has already lost two and now another two aren't looking so hot. They must really grow quickly the first couple of days because, when they were born, they all looked the same size. Now two of Jane's are definitely smaller/skinnier than the other 4. I fed them with kitten formula this morning - they weren't terribly interested. So - we'll see how they do, I guess.

I read that the moms don't move their babies around, but I'm sure both moms have been moving their babies. They each have two nests, right next to eachother, and they move the babies back and forth between the nests. Every time I look in they've been moved. Yesterday, Jane rejected a baby. She moved all the babies but that one to the other side and left it there, alone. So I picked it up and put it in with the rest and she moved all the rest again and left it alone. Eventually, it died.

The healthy babies have big fat ping pong ball bellies.

 

[irishlops]

i hope the 2 poorly babies make it

 

[fffarmergirl]

Here's a little bunny update!

Buffy is a very good mother. She keeps her babies together and covered, and they're all the same size and very healthy-looking. She doesn't like me bothering them, so I didn't get a really good picture but here's a little closer one of them:

They all look like they'll have the same coloring she has. She was bred to a REW, so this tells me that she probably doesn't have any REW in her (otherwise she would have some REWs) - am I figuring that right? I think she's good breeding stock.


Here's Jane. She gave birth to 8 babies but 2 died right away, and her babies are all different sizes. She's got a couple of runts and a couple of huge babies and a couple of in-betweens. Her babies are all over the place - I'm always gathering them up and putting them back together. I've had to supplement the runts a couple of times. I mated her to a REW and it looks like she had mostly whites. Her color's not as pretty as buffy's and she's not as good a mommy. I don't think she's good breeding stock, so I'm going to give her to a friend as a pet. I'll keep her colored babies and keep my REW buck around for helping to determine genotypes (though I'm not good at that yet).

See the huge size differences in the babies?

 

[Luvr of Wabbits and Polar Bears]

Why dont you try moving the 2 that aren't doing well over to the other mother? Jane might be having a hard time with all the babies, since there all the same age there shouldn't be a problem.