Who's having litters between now and Christmas?

[Jenson]

My 'magpie' kit turned out to be a harlequin. Bit disappointed, but I love harlequins anyway so I'll still keep it. The orange parts were white until this morning, and one of the dalmations has developed orange spots as well as his black ones this morning. I've never had a kit with orange on it before, I didn't know it took a while to show!

 

[Flashy]

I'm sorry Jenson, I know how much you wanted that magpie.

 

[Leaf]

OMG - Jenson & MsBinky - I must have one form each of you!



I know its out of the question but goodness they are gorgeous!

 

[Jenson]

Thanks Tracy. Maybe next time!


Leaf, you're quite welcome, I've got plenty!

 

[Flashy]

Yeh, I hope so.

If you bred the doe with the harlequin baby (if it's a buck) would you be more likely to get a magpie? If they both carry the genes?

 

[Jenson]

Yeah, I also have the little buck from Missy and Jay, that Mulch fostered, I will probably use him when he is old enough, and then the harlequin back to Missy, or to that buck. I'll get there eventually, it'll just take years.

 

[timetowaste]

stupid question alert!

....whats a magpie.




tracy

 

[Jenson]

This is a magpie, like harlequin but with white instead of orange.

That doe was the sister of my dalmation Missy, the mother of the kits. The aim is to get a few magpies from Missy and start a little magpie stud!

 

[timetowaste]

TOO cute!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


tracy

 

[MsBinky]

i love magpies! Mine is just a broken but I love the coloring! I'm so happy you got one. I can't wait to see the pics. =)

 

[Ringer]

Question??



My doe had a great first litter. Had 5, one died, but did great with other four.

Then she had a litter where two were born dead then three more live. I took care of last three, cleaned them up and made a nest. Put them where she kept her last litter, in a cube with a homemade nest, by me. She completely ignored them, never pulled fur, nothing. They died.

What will happen with another litter? Is she likely to ignore them again? She seemed to be sick after last litter. Stomach making bad noises, wouldn't eat for a few days, smelly odor,no poos. Now she is better but it took awhile. I would wait a couple of months but could I take a chance on mating her again? I wouldn't want to go through her ignoring them again. Not for nothing. she doesn't make nests but did have them in a safe place the first time and covered them with fur.

 

[BlueGiants]

I'd be real cautious about bredding her again. Have her checked by a vet (maybe a check for coccidiosis, worms, pymetria (uterine infection), etc.) She knew something was wrong and she wasn't up to caring for the babies. Have her checked for pasturella, especially look for abcesses around the mammary glands.

Personally, I wouldn't breed her again. It sounds like it took a lot out of her. But I'd get her checked anyway. She may just not have a good maternal instinct. Not all rabbits do, and they really shouldn't be bred. A rabbit that doesn't pull fur and make a nest doesn't start the litter with good intentions. (A lot of breeders feel that poor maternal instinct can be passed from mother to daughter... so you end up with a line that refuses to care for it's young and you constantly have problems.)

 

[Rabbidashery]

OMG! I am so jealous of all these beautiful babies, I want to cry! I have only had ONE litter since July! And that was born on Aug. 6th! Whah!!!!

Well, I always give my does a break during the high heat of July/Aug. and I don't like to breed too much in Sept/Oct, either. That way I give 'em a bit of a break. I don't like to breed my does all year long, but I will sometimes still try to get 1 or 2 litters during that time out of the does that have gone the longest w/o having a litter so as to keep them from getting stagnant. LOL! I also didn't breed at ALL this fall because I knew I was going to be moving on Nov. 15th, and I didn't want to move mommas. If they're preggo, there's a high chance they'll just reabsorb the kits and if they're brand new mommas, they may abandon or kill their babies if they get stressed or feel threatened. So rather than take that chance and put any of my does into more stress than they wuold already be under, I just opted to not bother breeding them for their own sakes.

I did try to breed 4-5 of them about a week after we moved, so they were due around xmas or shortly thereafter, but I think that was too close to the move and they were still too stressed out, because out of all the does I bred...NONE of them had kits! I had also bred 3 other ones 3 wks after we got here and I'm waiting to see if they're going to have any. They're due between the 22nd and 25th of Jan. and I have hopefully a few more due about a week to week and a half later.

I just palpated my does again last night, 3 I think there'sa good possibility that they are and the other 4 I really can't tell. Just too early. So I'm sure out of 7 I've just GOT to have at least 2 or 3 take, right? LOL! I'm to the point where I don't even care WHO has babies, just as long as SOMEONE does! ROFL!