...and so they grow
Topic: Kindling

 Maud is enjoying her role of mom these days , as her 4 wee ones continue to thrive.

 I spent yesterday watching them while I tidied the barn. They relaxed after I was there for 10 minutes, so I could get close enough to take some pictures.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This marten patterned bunny on the right is a shade darker than his (or her?) mom, while the white one is a clear contrast!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  The last 2 are also marten patterned:

New bunnies for Maud and Miles
Topic: Kindling

Spring's welcome energy has visited Countrywool's Bunny Barns,and Maud and Miles are proud parents of 4 wee ones.Just 4 days old, these bunnies are full of it! Getting them to sit still for a photo was a 30 minute job! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This crew has two clear colors present at 4 days...3 are patterned like Mom,who is a Silver Marten pattern, more broadly referred to as a Tan pattern(notice the white on the inside of their ears!), and one appears white.

 

The white bunny is a total surprise.

 

 Here is a picture of Grandma Merry, who is a Silver Marten pattern:

 

All these bunnies are spoken for.

If you are in the market for a Countrywool German crossed angora bunny,check back in a month to see if Merry herself has decided to produce a litter.

New bunnies
Topic: Kindling

Ahead of schedule, these wee ones have escaped the watchful eye of their mom:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Maud and Miles have produced 4 perfect bunnies. Three are black and one is a Marten pattern like Shady, pictured above. All have just started to eat oats and hay at the ripe age of 18 days! Quite precocious.

And brave. Here's Shadey peaking over the edge of the grooming table:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and Smokey exploring all the far reaches of same:

Gretchen's Litter at 11 days
Topic: Kindling

They are simply adorable. When I talk to them they all lift their heads to listen, becoming as still as mice. Their coats at this age are dark and velvety and I love to stroke their heads.

There are only three remaining. One got stranded out of the nest box a few days ago and didn't make it through the cold night. I am heartsick over this, as I seldom see this happen once they are 8 days old. But, as my husband says: given enough time, everything will happen.

And so it goes.

Nest box liners are a convenience for the breeder, and I am starting to think I will abandon their use. I use drop nest wire cages, and the does simply make a nest in the massive amounts of hay and do well IF I leave them to it. It is almost impossible to get a FAST look at ALL the babies without bringing the nest out of the cage, though, and this is the reason for using the liners. But, Grindle hated hers' and I think our tug-of-war over it caused one of the bunnies to get lost in the unorganized nest that resulted in their first week. And, now this with Gretchen's litter. It feels like someone is trying to tell me something.

I will listen.

Bunnies!
Topic: Kindling
Good and bad news here at the Countrywool Bunny Barns.

Sidney had her bunnies early this morning, and did not have luck on her side. Her first litter confused and overwhelmed her and she did not make a nest, did not feed and cover the bunnies and is 4 steps behind the process. None of the wee ones survived. This is sometimes the case with first litters, and you really can't tell how things will go. So, we hold hope that the next time around will be better for her.

Grindle had seven sweet little ones and has made a wonderful nest and has fed them already. I see two runts in the lot, so I suspect we will be down to five in a week, but you never know.

Gretchen is busy carrying fur around. I expect she'll have her bunnies tonight or tomorrow.

Waiting For Bunnies
Topic: Kindling

Grindle, Gretchen and Sydney are all exhibiting signs of being QUITE pregnant. All three won't touch their regular rabbit food, and wait (im)patiently for me to bring fresh greens twice a day. I think we still have 48 hours to go, and I am getting as antsy as they are.

I love baby bunnies. I always hope for the best, but this is one time when Mother Nature isn't always kind, and one has to be ready to step in and do what needs to be done...quickly.

So, keep your fingers crossed for all of us.

Saving frozen kits
Topic: Kindling
Breeding rabbits outside in the fall and spring can sometimes cause immediate losses due to small litters, inexperienced mothers, poor nest building and colder then expected temperatures. Some Novembers have been as warm as toast, and some get a blast of arctic air unexpectedly. But I love to have Scorpio bunnies born, so I always try in the fall. The incidence of male kits born has been higher here in fall breedings. It will be interesting to see what this current litter yields.

So, Sunday morning as I picked up 3 stone cold, non-breathing kits, I knew that only 1.5 hours had gone by since I had fed mama and she had pulled one wad of fur for nest building. I was pretty sure they hadn't been "gone" long. I put them all in my shirt against my chest and ran back to the house. Out came 3 sandwich bags and a shallow bowl. The bowl was half-filled with room temperature water. Each kit went into a plastic bag with the TOP KEPT OPEN, and they were floated in the water filled bowl. In about 5 minutes the white kit started breathing, and shortly thereafter, the other two began moving. Within 15 minutes they were squeaking and in 30 minutes (I had warmed up the water twice by this time by adding a cup, then two, of hot water) they were extremely active, warm to the touch and normal in all ways. I decided they had NOT been fed by mama yet as their tummies were not round but wrinkly looking, and so I trotted off to the barn to get her and see about a forced-feeding. As I went into the nest area to get some fur for future nest building, I spotted another black kit under everything, also stone cold. So, back to the house at a run and into a plastic bag and then into the warm water he went. This kit took longer to come back....about 15 minutes for movement and then 30 minutes for squeaking. I put him in the nest with his siblings after an hour, as they were warm and would help him warm up more, I was sure.

I tried a forced feeding with mama at that point, but the kits were not responsive enough and I had to get to work, so I put them all together in a small cage, where mama could not ignore them. They were isolated in a very quiet place, mama was fed well, and I kept my fingers crossed.

One little tortoiseshell kit, who had been injured during birth, died the following night (probably was just as well), but she fed the rest of them! Good girl!

This morning (day 2) the three look fed and happy. Mama made a LOT of noise last night and I had visions of her tearing up the cardboard box I had put in the cage to hold the nest of bunnies, but this morning all was well.

It's a really great feeling when things go better because you were there in time.

Bunnies!
Topic: Kindling
This past week it looked like Gretchen would not have any bunnies...alive, that is. On Wednesday and Thursday she did some spotting, which usually happens AFTER the bunnies are born, but since it was before her due date, I was sure that things had gone awry and she delivered and then ate the evidence (very normal). On Friday she began defecating in her nest, which is usually a sign (or has been to me, so far) that the nest is not meant to hold bunnies for this particular mom.

However, given enough time, everything will happen.

Sunday morning, a chilly 22*, she gave birth to 4 (that I know of!) bunnies. She made a scanty nest, which is sometimes the way with young mothers (she is only 7 months). By the time I found them they were cold and not moving, but after bringing them in to the warm house, we got them breathing again(details to follow tomorrow). I brought her in, also, and put them all in a traveling cage in an unheated room with a hutch-mother constructed nest box and very little wiggle room for mama. This means she must pay attention to these new bunnies which is harder for her as her underdeveloped instincts are not yet helping her.

I will keep them all together in the house for a few days until they develop some fur and mom gets better at feeding them.

This morning, the little tortoiseshell bunny was gone, but three remain:

Looks like a white/light bunny (yea, Trish!) and 2 black ones. We'll see how mama does today. One of the little black ones has a nice round tummy, so she is starting to get it and is feeding them. Keep your fingers crossed for this wee litter!

ps...those of you who know me and are keeping track: I finally got some Scorpio bunnies, although their future is tenuous.