Nursing doe

Walking towards Raj a smile betrayed my happiness. Triggered by 8:45am event earlier in the morning my face beamed with smiles, anticipating what will be learned about the nursing doe, her litter, the probability of survival, weaning, fattening and all the other events that will likely take place in the coming weeks.

 

Me: Hi Raj, hi everyone

Raj: That doe has lightened up your day Alfred, you were smiling all the way down here

Me: I can't help it Raj, can't help but let the emotions flow

Raj: If you're so happy then you should buy me a drink

Me: I sure will, lets do that at lunch time.

 

Lunch time came and I got Raj his favorite drink ... Red Bull

 

My ears were itching seriously already. The next moment Raj handed me a note. He had been preparing this through the day. The note was packed with lots of information about nursing does, caring for the litter, weaning, fattening and the possibility of selecting newer breeding stock from this does litter.

 

He told me it's a good sign the doe kindled up to 8 kits all alive as her first litter. It shows the doe is an excellent breed and will perform better if I continue to take care of the does and the buck properly.

 

And that the note he gave me was carved out from his unfinished book which is about producing 3000 rabbits in a year from just a buck and a  doe rabbit.

 

I will post the snippets from that note in the coming days.

 

Stay in touch for regular updates here

 

Rabbit kits

8:45am 05/09/17 languidly I unlocked the door and walk in. As I dragged my feet towards the hutches with sleepy eyes, there were lose fur on the floor and in the nest box of one of the cages and blood stain too. I realized the first doe had kindled (given birth to) her first kits. It was truly a mixed feeling at that moment.

Phone dialing moments later...

I: Hello Raj... one of my rabbit has kindled, I guess it was during the night. There is blood stain in the hutch... will the rabbit  be okay?

 

Raj: That's good news. Have you counted the kits?

 

I: No. I don't know what to do next...

 

Raj: Don't touch the kits yet if you have a strong scent on you - the rabbit will perceive the scent and may abandon the kits. Also pick the rabbit up gently and check her downside to see if she is still bleeding.

 

I: Okay... I don't have any smell on me... and there is no blood on the doe

Raj: Check if all the kits are in the nest box

 

I: There are no kits outside the nest box, the are all in the nest box. The mother pulled fur to cover them.

 

Raj: That's good. You can count the kits. But if you are not sure, you can place a drop of deodorant on the rabbits nose before touching the kits.

 

I: Okay...

 

Raj: Be sure the nursing rabbit has enough pellets, hay and water... That will be all for now. We'll talk later. Don't be late for work.

 

I: Thank you Raj. See you later.

 

I hurriedly went back to my room and brought a roll on deodorant and rolled it a few times back and forth on the rabbits nose before gently pulling the nest box out of the hutch. The kits had burrowed to the bottom when I removed the fur that the rabbit coverd them with.

 

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. There are 8 baby rabbits in the nest box, no death and the kits looked plump and were hairles and blind.

 

I returned the fur I removed over them and returned the nest box back to its original position in the does hutch.

 

Tic-tac the clock tiking. Few munites left. I filled the feeding bowls with their morning ration, except that the the rabbit with kits will be having more today onwards to help her produce more milk and get back to shape ealier.