Share about recent or expected rabbit kindling?

[balloonflower]

Awww. Can't wait!

 

[FoodFreedomNow]

Awww. Can't wait!

I bet you'll be posting your pics here in no time.

 

[balloonflower]

I'm discovering that the blue sf's are so darn cute! We went with blacks for 4H showing when the girls are old enough, but if I end up with one from a litter, it's going to be hard to not keep. There are a couple blues back in my pedigrees, but I don't know the odds of getting a blue kit.

 

[Bunnylady]

Blue is recessive to black; the theoretical odds of getting a blue kit from two black parents that are carrying blue is 1:4. Of course, that's just theory. IME, the odds of getting a color seem to be inversely proportional to your desire to see it. Just one more way they try to see "how can we drive her crazy today?!"

 

[FoodFreedomNow]

Blue is recessive to black; the theoretical odds of getting a blue kit from two black parents that are carrying blue is 1:4. Of course, that's just theory. IME, the odds of getting a color seem to be inversely proportional to your desire to see it. Just one more way they try to see "how can we drive her crazy today?!"

The black kits in this litter are very nice, but I think the blues are real charmers. They're calmer and friendlier - might just be a coincidence, but it's true of these two. Since the does and the buck have all colors (black, blue, chocolate, and lilac) in their line, I'm hoping to see some chocolates and lilacs in future litters. I know lilac isn't a recognized color, but it's really lovely.

Did I mention that these guys are big? I haven't weighed them yet, but they look at least 25% larger than the New Zealand kits in the litter that was born a couple of days earlier.

 

[FoodFreedomNow]

After an unsuccessful attempt at breeding the next 2 does in line for litters, I waited a couple of days and tried again...success. Whew. The weather has been really unpredictable, with significant temperature fluctuations, so once it was warmer and milder, the bucks seemed much more interested in breeding. They're apparently sensitive fellows. lol

The next litters are pure SF (first time dam and sire) and American Chinchilla/New Zealand (proven dam and sire). The SF doe is the sister of the black doe whose litter is now about 9 weeks old. The Chin doe is one that lost several of her kits in her first litter to not having her milk come in timely (I think) - the survivors were briefly fostered to another doe who had kindled at the same time.

Kits are due in mid-Feb. Hoping to get 2 litters of healthy kits!

 

[FoodFreedomNow]

Update on the November SF litter: a couple of days ago during morning feeding, I noticed that one of the 10 week old bucks, a black one, was lying on his side and not getting up. That, in itself, wouldn't have raised a red flag, but when I saw that he was dragging his legs, I knew something was very wrong. I moved him to an indoor cage for observation, suspecting a break somewhere in his spine. This is the first of the rabbits I've raised that has ever experienced a broken back, so I was hoping that maybe it was just a bruise and the paralysis was temporary. It wasn't.

After realizing that he wasn't going to regain feeling in his back legs, I made the decision to cull him. He was unable to urinate or defecate normally (unsurprising, based on his injury). I don't ordinarily process rabbits at this age, but doing so revealed the break in his spine. Unfortunately, rabbits can break their own backs just being startled and jumping suddenly, which is what I have [speculatively] concluded may have happened; rabbits kicking violently or being dropped can also injure their spines. More info here: http://www.raising-rabbits.com/symptoms-of-spinal-injury.html.

I hope that this doesn't happen to any of your rabbits, but wanted to put the information out there in case it's helpful. Here's a photo of the little guy in his isolation cage:

 

[Bunnylady]

I'm sorry you lost the little guy. I've only had that type of injury happen a few times. Once, a little girl dropped a rabbit; it couldn't have fallen more than 30 inches to the dirt floor, but that's all it took. The floor in my rabbitry is sand because of that - it's annoying when it gets in my shoes, or when trying to push a wheelbarrow around while cleaning, but it's a softer landing for the worst-case rabbit freakouts that seem to come out of nowhere sometimes. I watched the startle break happen one time - the rabbit was lying flat out with its feet kicked back and sticking out through the 1" x 2" wire. Something surprised it, it jumped up, and that was it.

I have found rabbits huddled in corners where it appeared that they got spooked and slammed into corner so hard they broke their own necks. Every person that buys a rabbit from me gets a detailed demonstration of safe rabbit handling techniques; they are surprisingly fragile things.

 

[FoodFreedomNow]

I'm sorry you lost the little guy. I've only had that type of injury happen a few times. Once, a little girl dropped a rabbit; it couldn't have fallen more than 30 inches to the dirt floor, but that's all it took. The floor in my rabbitry is sand because of that - it's annoying when it gets in my shoes, or when trying to push a wheelbarrow around while cleaning, but it's a softer landing for the worst-case rabbit freakouts that seem to come out of nowhere sometimes. I watched the startle break happen one time - the rabbit was lying flat out with its feet kicked back and sticking out through the 1" x 2" wire. Something surprised it, it jumped up, and that was it.

I have found rabbits huddled in corners where it appeared that they got spooked and slammed into corner so hard they broke their own necks. Every person that buys a rabbit from me gets a detailed demonstration of safe rabbit handling techniques; they are surprisingly fragile things.

Thank you. It's disconcerting when something like this happens out of the blue, and frustrating not knowing what exactly happened. I've dealt with various different kinds of injuries and kindling-related problems, but this was a new one. I guess it could be considered a learning opportunity...

Sorry to hear that you've had these kinds of losses, too.

 

[BantamLover21]

I'm sorry for your loss. I lost a pretty five month old Sable doe last summer to the same thing. When I checked her that night she was fine and bouncy, but in the morning her legs/lower half were completely paralyzed, her back presumably broken. I don't know how she hurt herself in her cage-- I guess she just jumped the wrong way and rammed up against the wire at a bad angle?