I have yet to get more than 1 kit in a litter. We'll be breeding 2 does soon and I hope for better results. I picked up a nice sport doe from Tonna Thomas and I hope she makes some nice babies!
Compared to my Blanc de Hotots, this is really pulling teeth!
Wish me luck and I'll let you know if something happens!
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Dwarf Hotot Breeding
This is our first Dwarf breed and they are different from a larger rabbit in more than size, that's for sure! Our doe Percy's Nosey just had her first "litter". The word litter is in quotes because her first "litter" consisted of 1 (yes, ONE) kit! Now around here we are used to a litter being anywhere from 7 to 13 kits! So one was quite a shock.
Now, I know dwarf breeds have smaller litters. And they have "peanuts"-a genetic and fatal birth defect with deformities and extremely small size, about half that of a normal kit. So I was prepared for this and expecting maybe a litter of 4 to 6 and the possibility of a peanut or two. But one was a shock!
With our large breeds of rabbits if a doe had a single kit its chance of survival would be about zero unless fostered into another litter. But since we had no other does with kits in the nest box I had no choice but to let nature take its course and see what happened. To my surprise and happiness, the singleton survived and is doing quite well! It's 10 days old today and it's eyes should be opening up today or tomorrow.
It appears to be show marked at this time, the eye bands look good and no black hairs or nails are visible. I'm just happy it's doing well and Percy's Nosey has a good mothering instinct and her milk came in well. I'm sure that her next litter will yield more than one kit, at least I sure hope so!
Now, I know dwarf breeds have smaller litters. And they have "peanuts"-a genetic and fatal birth defect with deformities and extremely small size, about half that of a normal kit. So I was prepared for this and expecting maybe a litter of 4 to 6 and the possibility of a peanut or two. But one was a shock!
With our large breeds of rabbits if a doe had a single kit its chance of survival would be about zero unless fostered into another litter. But since we had no other does with kits in the nest box I had no choice but to let nature take its course and see what happened. To my surprise and happiness, the singleton survived and is doing quite well! It's 10 days old today and it's eyes should be opening up today or tomorrow.
It appears to be show marked at this time, the eye bands look good and no black hairs or nails are visible. I'm just happy it's doing well and Percy's Nosey has a good mothering instinct and her milk came in well. I'm sure that her next litter will yield more than one kit, at least I sure hope so!
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