Double litter of kits!!!

[BigBlueHen53]

Oh my goodness!!! I had no idea they were furless a birth!!! I figured they were like puppies. Just goes to show....never too old to learn. Thanks for sharing the photos....they are all adorable!! Hope they do well for you.

I believe hares, a relative of rabbits, are born with fur, and with their eyes open. Funny, jackrabbits are hares. Just to confuse you, lol!

 

[Building Bridges]

I believe hares, a relative of rabbits, are born with fur, and with their eyes open. Funny, jackrabbits are hares. Just to confuse you, lol!

I'm amazed. Thanks for that info. I'm beginning to understand how little I know about rabbits!

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Hey, here’s a big question..I had put an ad on our local internet to sell the babies, but that they wouldn’t be ready for two more weeks. I literally just got a text from a girl who wants to see the bunnies on Thursday...sooo.Do I explain...obviously, yes...do I, let her take one now, with the same instructions I’m following...of is that too risking...or do I keep the one she picks for the two weeks as told in the ad. More twists and turns!!

I would take her name and number and tell her she is on the list and you will call her when they are ready. In two weeks. Then call her back and see if she is still interested. Because, dude. If she can't follow instructions, "ready in two weeks," how is she goung to follow complicated feeding instructions?

 

[NatJ]

Ok, I was planning on giving rolled oats and some kitten milk replacer....what would you give?

I would just give them pellets and plain water, both constantly available.
If you want to offer anything extra, alfalfa hay is a good choice for rabbits that are growing, pregnant, or nursing bunnies.

(I am assuming the pellets are the greenish kind that are 16% protein OR MORE and have alfalfa hay as one of the main ingredients--if not, that could change my advice.)

Rabbit pellets probably have MORE protein and fat than rolled oats, so I don't see any reason for the oats. (But read the label--pellets meant for breeding rabbits are different than pellets meant to keep a pet from getting too fat.)

Yes, I've weaned litters of bunnies at 4 weeks old, and they grew just fine on pellets + water.

If you want to offer milk replacer and oats as well it will probably do no harm, although I don't think it's needed, either.

 

[NatJ]

This actually explains a 50-year old mystery. I won't go into much detail because I am not a rabbit person, but ... yeah. My parents, city slickers, bought three rabbits for eating, and one of them had babies so they separated the other two. A few weeks later she had another litter and we all freaked out. I don't remember the details but there was no way she could have been bred again. Maybe she was pregnant at the time and they were all females or something. I just remember it was this huge freaky mystery, so this explains it. Thanks!

I would explain it as: one doe and at least one buck. Doe has bunnies and immediately gets rebred. People find the new bunnies and separate the rabbits. So the already-rebred doe gets a cage with her bunnies, and has another batch about 31 days later ("a few weeks").

Does CAN get pregnant as soon as they have bunnies.

 

[Bunnylady]

This actually explains a 50-year old mystery. I won't go into much detail because I am not a rabbit person, but ... yeah. My parents, city slickers, bought three rabbits for eating, and one of them had babies so they separated the other two. A few weeks later she had another litter and we all freaked out. I don't remember the details but there was no way she could have been bred again. Maybe she was pregnant at the time and they were all females or something. I just remember it was this huge freaky mystery, so this explains it. Thanks!

One possibility is a reproductive strategy known as "delayed implantation." Basically, the doe releases eggs, they get fertilized as per usual, but then the resulting embryos don't implant into the uterine wall. Because they aren't doing all the cell divisions of active growth, the embryos require very little in the way of nutrients, so this is thought to have evolved as a way of dealing with environmental stresses. Once the embryos implant, they will of course be growing fast, but if seriously stressed (think starvation) the doe can absorb them.

It's not common for a doe to do this without some environmental stress as the cause, but it apparently can happen spontaneously. A few years ago, a poster on BYH had a rabbit that apparently did it 3 times running - bred once, then kindled a few kits once a month for the next 3 months. This happened twice. I'd have been disinclined to believe it, if she hadn't been so confused the first time, and as the telling of it occurred over the course of something like 8 months, it seemed an awfully long time to be carrying on a pointless joke.

Rabbit pellets probably have MORE protein and fat than rolled oats, so I don't see any reason for the oats. (But read the label--pellets meant for breeding rabbits are different than pellets meant to keep a pet from getting too fat.)

Most long-time rabbit breeders know the trick of giving rolled oats as a baby food. They are easy to chew, easy to digest, and the high fiber content helps to keep the stool firm and formed (which is why oats are often given to a rabbit that has soft stools). No matter how carefully it is handled, weaning is a stress. While the bunnies would most likely do perfectly fine on a diet of pellets, hay and water, the addition of rolled oats and calf manna is done mostly as insurance against digestive upsets/nutrient deficiency while the kits adjust to the change.

 

[Duckfarmer1]

Please make sure they have plain water available too!
If they're already drinking some water, then they need water in addition to milk.

At 4 weeks, they will probably be fine. It's not rare for people raising meat rabbits to wean the babies right at 4 weeks. They usually do fine.



A rabbit's pregnancy is usually 31 days, which is a little over 4 weeks. I think she just got re-bred promptly after giving birth to that first litter.

Is there a buck who shares her cage? (Not a good idea, BTW)
Is there a buck she sometimes gets to visit/play with?
Is there a buck she could have possibly gotten together with for a single minute?
(Assume that a parent, sibling, child, friend, etc could have opened a cage briefly, even if you did not.)



I'm an expert too! (Or at least, I'll claim to be ) I say she must have just gotten re-bred, with no funny sperm-storing business. Chickens store sperm, rabbits do not.

There were no visitors, and no, she had no access to the buck. I know exactly how long a pregnancy lasts, etc, since I’ve been breeding for awhile...but this definitely threw us for a loop! She acted no different leading up to this event. I had no clue. I actually thought she was hurt, because she was all bloody. The bunnies have water, the kitten replacer, rolled oats with pellets...I was also tol to get some Manna Pro Calf Manna...at TS...it’s about an hr away..is that necessary, or will the kitten replacer be ok?

 

[Duckfarmer1]

I would explain it as: one doe and at least one buck. Doe has bunnies and immediately gets rebred. People find the new bunnies and separate the rabbits. So the already-rebred doe gets a cage with her bunnies, and has another batch about 31 days later ("a few weeks").

Does CAN get pregnant as soon as they have bunnies.

Yes, bet, that’s NOT what happened...she was NOT reintroduced to any bucks.....

 

[Duckfarmer1]

It's a reproductive strategy known as "delayed implantation." Basically, the doe releases eggs, they get fertilized as per usual, but then the resulting embryos don't implant into the uterine wall. Because they aren't doing all the cell divisions of active growth, the embryos require very little in the way of nutrients, so this is thought to have evolved as a way of dealing with environmental stresses. Once the embryos implant, they will of course be growing fast, but if seriously stressed (think starvation) the doe can absorb them.

It's not common for a doe to do this without some environmental stress as the cause, but it apparently can happen spontaneously. A few years ago, a poster on BYH had a rabbit that apparently did it 3 times running - bred once, then kindled a few kits once a month for the next 3 months. This happened twice. I'd have been disinclined to believe it, if she hadn't been so confused the first time, and as the telling of it occurred over the course of something like 8 months, it seemed an awfully long time to be carrying on a pointless joke.



Most long-time rabbit breeders know the trick of giving rolled oats as a baby food. They are easy to chew, easy to digest, and the high fiber content helps to keep the stool firm and formed (which is why oats are often given to a rabbit that has soft stools). No matter how carefully it is handled, weaning is a stress. While the bunnies would most likely do perfectly fine on a diet of pellets, hay and water, the addition of rolled oats and calf manna is done mostly as insurance against digestive upsets/nutrient deficiency while the kits adjust to the change.

Ok...so...can you PLEASE tell everyone reading that there was delayed implantation..and that I didn’t sneak my bunnies back together... It’s just funny....because if it wasn’t happening to me...I’d be asking the very same question?

 

[Duckfarmer1]

I would take her name and number and tell her she is on the list and you will call her when they are ready. In two weeks. Then call her back and see if she is still interested. Because, dude. If she can't follow instructions, "ready in two weeks," how is she goung to follow complicated feeding instructions?

You’ll never believe this...I got another woman who wants three of these buggers!! I told her the whole story...she’s willing to wait. But, she’s like pictures of them as they develop...how cute... the other girl is coming tomorrow to put her deposit down on the bunny...geez..these guys are selling like hot cakes!!