Heck, ours are like Mexican jumping beans within 24 hours of birth..
we just got a surprise litter, my fault, I housed some of the rabbits in the wire cages and a female whom we have not bred yet next to a male...One evening I was feeding them and she started gathering hay and trying to make a nest....lol... I just stood there thinking how did that happen...didn't take long to figure it out...the male being quite determined figured out how to open his cage and squeeze into hers and back out... Funny stuff I tell ya...
She gave birth two days ago to 7 healthy kits
As kids we found a little dwarf rabbit outside, black and white.. he got friendly QUICK with my rabbit, twice his size. 30 days is all it takes, and poof, new ones. Even mom rabbit was like 'What are these things coming out of me?' as she was hopping around, leaving little pink nuggets all over her hutch.
That's how I like to do things too....especially with chickens and other livestock. No obtaining more until I thin the flock/herd. I like to keep a steady stocking rate with a little slack on either side for under or overage, so that my coop is not too crowded.
I wish a lot of folks could understand that chicken math involves subtraction too, because I read a lot of posts on here where folks are constantly adding and having many troubles in flock management as a result. Chicken keeping shouldn't be that involved and troublesome...should be fun and easy.
I have 9 hens, raised them from chicks. I got 6 more chicks two weeks ago. Once they get old enough to merge into the flock, some hens will find a new home, no need to mess with the order of things more than once... best to do the swap around the same time. Some birds suit the flock better than others, those that are particularly loud, pushy or otherwise troublesome go. You can't tell what a bird will be like when they're chicks... so it makes sense for me to make that call when they're 'all grown up'.
I already have folks interest in taking my started hens, with plenty of life/eggs left in them. Win-win for both parties.
I can comfortably have about 12 hens, 15 is doabe, but quarters could get a bit tight when we get snow (rare for these parts, but it happened this winter).
Beekissed doesn't "worry" but I'm concerned and cautious. Thanks for pointing that out. I'm thinking if I can create a wood frame with vinyl coated chicken wire across the top and lay the heating pad over it. Maybe use a 2 x 4 or 2 x 6 on each side so it would be 4 or 6 inches high. That way the chicks could get under the whole pad from side to side. If I needed it higher as chicks grow would just tack wood strip across the bottom.
What do you think Tomtommom?
Sounds like a home made heat plate in the making. Just think about cost, before you get started. Compare materials and see if a premade plate isn't more cost effective.
I think a lot of people don't like talking about how they thin their flocks, kwim? For aome, it's incredibly difficult and full of anxiety thinking about their babies going somewhere else...wherever that may be.
I have animal abundance anxiety. But it's more like 'Argh, what am I going to do with these guys?' Finding a home is one thing, finding a GOOD home is another thing entirely. Too many times have I rehomed animals, only to find out they were passed on to unknown persons, resold or even set free outside.
Found one of my rehomed rabbits under a dumpster, alive... but still! One of my dogs got put back over the fence during the night, after being rehomed (not cool, since that was NOT the dog yard they put the dog in... good thing he didn't screw with the small and fuzzy things).
And then you have the 'needy' new owners... you give/sell them an animal, and somehow they feel you are responsible for the animal for the rest of it's life. I'm sorry your rabbit bit your kid, three years after you got it from me...
I was clipping that rabbits nails for YEARS after they got it. They come to me with issues that need to be addressed by a vet. I like to know how my animals are doing, but there's a limit
Next on the 'rehoming/OMG what am I going to do with these guys' list: 12 baby mollies.... step-son's fish seems to be permanently pregnant