Finally, baby rabbits. Our two does kindled about two weeks ago and ten of the thirteen kits survived and are doing fine. For their first eight weeks or so their diet is exclusively breast milk; the does usually nurse their young twice a day and otherwise leave them alone in their nesting box - a cozy box filled with hay and fur. The kits are born hairless and the does provide insulating warmth by plucking fur from their own chests in the days before they give birth. For the first few week or so the bunnies are nearly impossible to see unless you part the mound of fur that covers them and keeps them warm. Now that they're growing their own fur and are a bit bigger, the mother's fur has matted in with the rest of the bedding, and isn't needed for survival any longer.We're going to breed the does several times during the summer, and we hope to have a full freezer by the time winter rolls around again.
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When I was a kid my Grandfather had chickens and ducks and lots of other animals. For a while he had rabbits. I remember him talking of "bucks" and "does". In a very short time he had hundreds. I think it happened faster than he expected.
ReplyDeleteThe expression "There's no such thing as two rabbits" entered the family lexicon.