Trixie Has Had Her Babies!!!

She had them between 5pm and 9pm.. She started nesting behavior weeks ago and even pulled some fur.. But then she decided to eat all the hay I was putting in her nest box.. She ended up having the babies on the wire of the cage and I found one dead.. I put the others in the nest box and put some more hay in there and put some dryer lint on a suggestion from another rabbit person on a forum I frequent.. The dryer lint is to help keep them warm since she only pulled a tuft of fur.. Usually they make a cozy nest with their fur in the hay.. I'll check on them again later and see if she ends up having any more.. If not and if the babies feel chilly, I'll bring the nest box in the house for the nite..

Its not uncommon for a first time doe to have the babies on the bottom of the cage.. But since she'd starting nesting behavior early, I'd hoped she would do everything right the first time.. Well, at least the other four seem good and active.. Making funny little squeaking sounds.. Now we'll see how good of a mother she is.. A lot of does will make the mistake of having the kits on the cage bottom and then end up being excellent mothers once their instincts kick in fully.. We'll see how she does..

Now Daisy is due tomorrow so we'll see how she does..

Anyway, here's a pic I took real quick after I put them in the nest box but before I put in the dryer lint and cozyed them in real good..


They're also bigger than I thought they would be.. I guess I was expecting jelly bean size babies because of when I raised pet rats.. But rabbit babies are more like vienna sausage size, with legs and a head.. = )

The kids are already falling in love with them.. I've told them from the beginning that these are meat rabbits.. But now it's going to be really hard for them because they babies will be so cute.. But they have to learn that food is food.. We will keep a baby or two.. Will definitely have to keep a male so I can breed my does again.. But whichever litter I get him from, I might keep a doe from the second litter to slightly expand my breeding stock.. Let's get past the first couple of days though and see what kind of mother she is before we start making future plans.. Wish us luck..