My wife has become obsessed with rabbits this year, to the point where we now are starting up a rabbitry in the hopes of breeding show lines for 4H and ARBA shows. We've got a combination of pedigree and non pedigree bucks and does in both Holland Lop and Netherland Dwarf, and tried our first pairings about a month ago. We know for sure the ND pairing was successful, the buck fell off and the doe has gotten increasingly grouchy and heavier as her time nears (next week). The 2 lop pairings we tried, we weren't sure of, because the does were both first time moms and the bucks were definitely confused about what to do because they were young.
Fast forward to Monday of this week, and our broken blue Holland doe (Bluebell) started nesting and then yesterday she started pulling fur. Needless to say were were really excited, and so we put a nesting box in with her overnight and left her alone.
This morning, we woke up to a litter! Unfortunately, as a new mom, she had a hippo and another smaller kit, and the hippo did not survive. The smaller kit appears to be doing OK though. It's warm and active, and actively tries to suckle. We'll have to keep an eye on her and make sure she's feeding, but we're very happy to have a viable baby from her first litter. We were prepared for the worst since new moms commonly don't have a viable first litter, and we're happy we have a new baby to work with.
The buck in this pairing was a black buck, neither of them have any papers, but if they can give us good babies we might consider starting a line with them and build a pedigree. We'll see.
(edit: spelling before coffee is HARD)
Fast forward to Monday of this week, and our broken blue Holland doe (Bluebell) started nesting and then yesterday she started pulling fur. Needless to say were were really excited, and so we put a nesting box in with her overnight and left her alone.
This morning, we woke up to a litter! Unfortunately, as a new mom, she had a hippo and another smaller kit, and the hippo did not survive. The smaller kit appears to be doing OK though. It's warm and active, and actively tries to suckle. We'll have to keep an eye on her and make sure she's feeding, but we're very happy to have a viable baby from her first litter. We were prepared for the worst since new moms commonly don't have a viable first litter, and we're happy we have a new baby to work with.
The buck in this pairing was a black buck, neither of them have any papers, but if they can give us good babies we might consider starting a line with them and build a pedigree. We'll see.
(edit: spelling before coffee is HARD)
Last edited:
