2009 Omlet cube and run for sale

[Jodie1975]

I have a feeling she may give birth tonight and I'm worried about the babies in this cold weather. I'm wondering if I should put a heatpad in the eglu but not under the nest she's made, maybe near it? I don't want her to not like it and give birth somewhere else though. I have put straw and hay in the eglu, about half full. Should I fill it up to the top?? The run has plastic and a winter shade over to protect from the rain and I'll put some straw in the run too later. Had anyone found baby rabbits in the run? My mum used to breed rabbits and she'd often find the mother would walk off whilst feeding and the baby would fall off somewhere - is this right? Any advice welcome.

[Meganymoo]

Hope their ok! We need pics as soon as they are born!!!!

[Jodie1975]

She had babies yesterday!! 5 babies, but one was unfortunately dead. The other four are doing fine though and wriggling around like mad today. They are so cute, they squeak like little piglets! They are dwarf lops from an orange coloured mum and the dad is lynx. One of the babies looks grey-ish like the dad, one looks black like the dad's brother and I'm not sure what the other two will be as they are so fair right now. Luckily she didn't give birth the other night as it was so cold. I think she gave birth yestreday afternoon as we just got home and I looked out the window and she was tugging fur out like mad! We went out about 6pm and there were babies. It was weird because my daughter and I never go out together normally as we take it in turns. It was so lovely to discover the babies and we are so excited They seemed very warm last night and she had put loads of fur on top of them. They are in an eglu, so think it really does keep them warm. We have lots of straw and hay in there too. A little worried one might escape and get cold, so think I'll put them in a box or wedge some wood in there tomorrow. I will try and post a pic if photobucket works on here...

[Jodie1975]

 

Edited October 27, 2010 by Guest

[grracee]

Aww, wow! I love your pictures. Love to see more as they grow up

I have a chocolate otter mini-lop who has 2 weeks left until her due date so i'm hoping for some little mini's! I'm also worrying a little about the cold, did you have to end up putting a heat pad in after or was she ok with all the hay, straw etc? (This will be my first litter so very excited!!!)

[Jodie1975]

Hi Grracee, that's very exciting about your rabbit being due in 2 weeks. This is also my first litter, although my mum always bred rabbits (Netherland Dwarfs) when I was a child. I didn't put the heat pad in as the babies are actually very warm out there. I guess the insulation, all the hay, straw and the masses of fur she pulled out has kept them warm. I don't know what I would of done if she only had one baby as it probably wouldn't be warm enough on it's own. Do you have a eglu too? It must be warmer in there as the bottle in there doesn't freeze, yet the one outside was slightly frozen last week. I give the mum the heat pad as she like to sit in the run at night. I put it under a blanket in a cardboard box, in the run. I think she sometimes uses it.

 

I'm not sure how this will work out when the babies are big enough to leave the nest - will they have the sense to stay in the warm?? I wonder if I need to buy a hutch to keep in the shed?? I have plastic over the run, so they wouldn't get wet but it's very cold this year

 

The babies are just gorgeous, it's lovely seeing them grow and change each day. I will add more photos as they get bigger. I think we will have to breed them again in the spring next year.

 

Are you planning on breeding your other rabbits too? Honey (the mum) is meant to have some mini-lop in her but I'm not too sure as the buck (Timmy, the dad) we have is much smaller, so wondering if he was the one with mini in him. I was surprised at how big the babies were but I guess she does eat a lot!

 

Hope all goes smoothly for your rabbit and her babies.

[grracee]

Thanks for reply.

I've always kept rabbits but have never bred them before so it's all very exciting but also i'm abit nervous at the same time but have done lots & lots of research so hoping it will go smoothly!

I don't keep my bunnies in an eglu, I have them in a shed and they are all in hutches and go out in runs everyday (weather permitting).

It was very cold last night, we had our first real frost and I'm starting to get a little worried about if she has the babies and it's too cold but all the rabbits have lots and lots of hay so it should be warm enough & when she starts nesting i'll be adding loads more & straw.

I'm hoping to breed my rabbits if it all goes well! I have 2 mini-lop does and a mini-lop buck at the moment (all chocolate colours) so only small scale.

Really looking forward to seeing more pics of your kits as they grow!

[Jodie1975]

Hi,

I was worried like you but she made a fab nest and I'd put in loads of straw and hay, so when I held the babies I was surprised at how hot they actually felt! I think the heat pad in there may have cooked them, so wouldn't bother with that. I think my rabbit may have pulled the fur out after giving birth as she only had a small nest before. I have also seen her pulling more fur out the last couple of days, so luckily she's a good mum. I expect it's quite warm in your shed and at least there are no draughts like in an eglu. I am wondering if I should buy a wooden hutch for the shed but don't want to upset the doe by moving them all. I'm just worried about when the babies get big enough to wander from the nest. I guess I could insulate the eglu with more plastic and blankets over it. I'll think of something.

 

I'll take my camera out and get some more pictures today, they are changing everyday They are gorgeous! I bet your chocolate mini-lops will be gorgeous too - I love that colour.

[grracee]

Looks like she made a great nest from the pictures! They look very snug in there.

I'm not sure about advice on the eglu sorry, as i've never owned one. I understand what you mean though.

Really looking forward to seeing the pictures now!

[Jodie1975]

Some more pics I took today. They are 5 days old now and their colours are starting to come though. It's interesting watching them change. The little dark one is the runt of the litter and is slightly smaller than the others. I have been checking it's tummy and it is round, so she's feeding it which is good. Once I went out and it looked like it had missed a feed, so I was worried sick as it looked so skinny but it's been fine since. They are all so wrggly now, so its quite hard to get a good pic with them moving

 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 27, 2010 by Guest

[Jodie1975]

Oh, and they all keep peeing on me when I pick them up! lol I love the colour of the first one, it's that colour all over. Not sure what colour that technically is but it's a sort of silky grey/lilac/lynx colour if you ask me. I love their little faces

[grracee]

Oh wow, they sure are gorgeous! And such a mixture of colours! They are going to be lovely when they are older.

Well done you and mummy rabbit! Looks like they are very cosy in their nest

[bigmommasally]

Aahhh they are so cute.

 

Is the mum okay with you picking them up so young? Stupid question as obviously she is or you wouldn't be doing it, I just thought that they got stressed by us touching them. Keep posting photos as they get older as it will be fun to watch them grow. Are you planning to keep them or sell them all?

 

[grracee]

Aahhh they are so cute.

 

Is the mum okay with you picking them up so young? Stupid question as obviously she is or you wouldn't be doing it, I just thought that they got stressed by us touching them. Keep posting photos as they get older as it will be fun to watch them grow. Are you planning to keep them or sell them all?

 

 

I was told that if you stroke mum first and rub your hands in the straw/hay she should be ok with touching babies as you have the scent. Please someone correct me if i'm wrong though.

[Jodie1975]

I was told that if you stroke mum first and rub your hands in the straw/hay she should be ok with touching babies as you have the scent. Please someone correct me if i'm wrong though.

 

Yes, that's what I do. Actually I didn't rub the straw on my hands earlier as I forgot and she came in and caught me holding one. I just told her she was a clever girl (I always talk to my rabbits, I'm sure the neighbours think I'm nuts ) but she didn't seem to mind. I had been stroking her lots before and making a big fuss of her. I wouldn't let anyone else except for me and my daughter hold the kits as she knows us and knows our scent. I think it's a myth that they kill them if you touch them, or so it says in the many books I've read. Although all the books give contradictory advice, they all said the same about that. I won't touch our buck rabbit (the dad) until after I've finished seeing to Honey and the kits as I'm worried she'd be annoyed if his scent was on them. I might be wrong but just don't want to risk it.

 

Yes, the colours are all so different. I don't know if we will keep any. My daugher thinks she has 3 friends that want one. Not sure if their parents know/agree!

 

I will post more as they grow

[Jodie1975]

Hi, Just an update (if anyone is interested)... the rabbits are doing fine, they are quite big now and VERY cute! All of their eyes are open and they are 16 days old now. One of them is blue - it's gorgeous! I will try and get some recent pics to upload during the week. They are all still in the nest and none have escaped yet. I gave them more hay yesterday and the mum moved the nest and made it more of a tunnel, so they can't get out but I don't think it'll be long. They have lots of fur now but am still worried about the cold.

[grracee]

Ah, I was waiting for an update on them They sound great! Looking forward to seeing more pictures of them, I bet they have grown. I read that if there is more than 3 kits in the nest they should all keep warm?

I'm very excited as its now day 28 for my rabbit (im hoping she is having babies, she looks pretty big-ish and is scratching/digging all the shavings!) So i'm just waiting for her to start making a nest!

[Jodie1975]

Hi, sorry not had a chance to get one here as I've been so busy. The kits are all doing fine, they are 5 weeks old now and just gorgeous! She's been a great mum to them and they are all running around the run all day but keep warm at night in the eglu with a heat pad. Am worried about the cold still but have been giving them plenty of hay, straw and food, so hopefully they'll be OK. Water bottles keep freezing, so been out there tonight and changed them. I noticed the kits now drink from them so hope she's still feeding them too.

 

Gracee - how is your rabbit, has she had her kits yet? Hope all is well?

 

I'll add some pics to photobucket and upload them....

[Jodie1975]

[grracee]

 

Oh my god, how sweet are they! Would love to see more pictures of them!!

Have you figured out their colours yet? Looks like it could be a black self, agouti self, orange/sooty fawn and I'm not sure about the other

Sadly, my doe didn't have any afterwards. She really had me going, I thought she was having some! But about a fortnight ago I put my buck to my other doe, Buttons. So the countdown starts again!

[Sageandonion]

Aww they are sooo cute, lovely colours - congratulations