I know, a lot of you might comment "Oh don't beat yourself up!" or "It was an accident you didn't fail!" But the truth is...I did. I deliberately didn't do something that I should have done, and even though I was sure that I was doing the right thing, I should've been more careful. And I'm totally fine admitting that I failed outright.
I bred Butterfly on the same day as Angie last month, on June 17. Angie delivered her kits on the night of the 17th (I'll post her birth story later). However, I was positive that Butterfly wasn't pregnant. She didn't gain an ounce of weight (all my preggo does gain at least 2oz!), I palpated her and felt nothing, and she was nesting all through her pregnancy which she also did with her false pregnancy in May/June. Because of that, I showed her on the 9th (I don't agree with showing does pregnant), I didn't give her a nestbox, etc. I didn't do anything right. I was getting her ready to be bred again on the 18th.
I was so stunned when, after feeding my rabbits in the morning of the 18th, I found 5 kits scattered around Butterfly's cage.
WHAT. The thing that surprised me most is that I felt 3 kits in Angie, and two were tiny peanuts. And I couldn't feel 5 kits in Butterfly! She hid them very well.
I panicked, honestly. At first I thought all the kits were dead, but then I saw life in three of them. THANK GOD. I ran inside to tell my mom to get the hot water bottle ready to bring the kits inside to warm.
While the 3 kits were warming in the house, I cleaned up the dead babies in her cage. One of the dead ones was a peanut, and the other was half eaten. Since her kits were born a day late, it could've been stuck and and she ate part of it trying to pull it out (I've heard of this happening). Or, she was so scared and confused that she didn't have her nest box that she ate it. And one of her live babies was also missing an ear and a half. I was surprised that Butterfly would do something like this, but honestly I'm sure Butterfly was surprised that I failed her too. I think that if she had her nestbox, we would have 4 live kits now.
One of the kits died in the house. I'm not sure why, it was warming up just fine. The other two are doing fantastic today. The pink injured one (a broken of some sort), is doing great. I am going to be putting Neosporin on its ear daily until I'm sure it won't get infected. It seems to be healing quickly and is active and doesn't seem to be in pain at all. Some people mentioned to me that this baby should be put down, because it might be in pain or I might not be able to sell it eventually. But I'm giving it the same chance I give to all my kits, the same chance I gave to Zuzu. Even if I can't sell it eventually, it deserves a chance at life. This baby is lively and is fighting. It wants to live. Baby bunny lives are fragile already. The pink sibling of this baby died in the house, when all the sings pointed toward it being healthy and thriving. As long as this baby isn't in obvious pain, I think it'll be okay.
Angie's birth story is coming soon. Hopefully soon to follow, will be Clementine's birth story. Pray that Clementine has a healthy litter full of lots of thriving kits!