All three does were due on October 25th but they didn't have their babies on day 30. I stayed up late and woke up a couple times during the night but to no avail! I was positive Zuzu and Butterfly were preggo, but I didn't know about Angie. I hadn't seen any babies kick in Angie's tummy and she only gained an ounce of weight. Butterfly didn't gain any weight but I saw babies kicking. Zuzu gained 2 ounces of weight and I saw babies kicking. When I weighed them and checked for kicks it was day 29, so weight gain and kicks should be obvious if there are babies. But I guess not for every doe!
On day 31, October 26th, I had to observe in a classroom from 9am to 3:30pm. When I was about to leave at 9, I checked on the ladies and Butterfly was in the box with contractions actually HAVING the babies. I couldn't leave before I knew how many she had and if they were alive. So I waited.
When I checked on Butters at 9:30 she was still in the box, and Zuzu had started labor! Zuzu was frantically pulling fur and adding it to her nest. I know that when a doe typically starts labor it can take 2 hours until babies actually start to come. I knew I couldn't wait until her babies came to leave for school.
At 9:45, right before I HAD to leave, I checked again and Butterfly had 4 beautiful babies! NO peanuts, and NO dead kits!!! Also, none are missing any pieces! Butterfly's last litter had 2 surviving kits and one had no ears and the other was missing a toe! This time, they were all healthy and PERFECT! So far, I think Butterfly has one broken (either a broken chinchilla or broken chestnut), 2 chestnuts (or chinchillas), and an opal. The daddy to these babies is my chinchilla buck, Prince Charming.
Then, since I knew Zuzu wouldn't have her kits for a while, I had to leave. But I was in contact with my sister through text all day. My sister checked on Zuzu at 12:30 and she had finally had the babies! My sister texted and said that there were 4, but she thought 2 were peanuts (I'm so proud that she has learned so much lol!), and 2 were normal. She was right. One peanut was dead when I got home, and there is one other surviving peanut, but the other two are perfect and precious! As far as I know at this point, Zuzu has one chestnut or chinchilla, and an orange! The daddy to these babies is my chinchilla buck, Prince Charming.
My sister didn't check on the bunnies any more after Zuzu had her babies, because I thought Angie wasn't pregnant, and even if she was, I was pretty sure she wouldn't give birth until that night. So when I got home, I was surprised! Angie had JUST given birth when I got home and she had 3 beautiful little ones! One is a chestnut or chinchilla, and the other two are opals! NO peanuts and NO dead babies! The daddy to these kits is my chestnut buck, Finn.
I am so happy about these NINE beautiful babies! This is quite a baby boom! I've never had more than 6 kits survive at a time, and the last time I had that many was one or even two years ago. Praise the Lord that so many kits were born healthy and gorgeous. Great job to my girls! I can't wait to watch these NINE kits grow up!
Sorry for no pictures in this update! I will try to blog more regularly as school is winding down quite a bit, so look for LOTS of pictures in the next blog :)
BYE!