Unfortunately Heidi had a failed litter or else she would get one of these too. She had 5 DOA and some obviously stuck, so she'll be rebred soon for a 2nd try. 

Sarah ended this round of babies on February 21st. She had 6 kits, but sadly with 2 DOA. However, the remaining 4 are doing fantastic! When she gave birth I was gone all day at school and work so my family watched the bunnies again. There's not much to say, since she did such a great job! So far I'm thinking colors are a chestnut, broken chestnut, broken something else and an orange. I can't wait to see this babies grow up! 

It's really interesting to me that Clementine and Sarah had 6 kits. They were both bred to Finn, but Sarah had 5 takes (fall offs from the buck), and Clementine only had 2 - those sure are some fertile does! I'm surprised every doe I bred got pregnant with a fairly sizeable litter. I just wish more kits had survived. But we currently have 10 babies - including Beth's 3 - and that's the most I've ever had, so I'm thankful! 

I'll see you in my next post - most likely about some fun updates, such as news on the shed I'm getting, and my brother's decision to possibly start doing the "rabbit thing" (my mom's words lol), with me! 

This was Clementine's last chance. She has had 2 litters before that failed miserably. Her first litter had 4, all DOA, her second had 5, with 4 DOA and a kit that died a couple days later for a bizarre reason. With both of these litters, she refused to nest inside the box, she constantly moved her nest to the opposite side of the cage where the box was not. And she had both of these litters outside the box. I wasn't super hopeful for a nice litter out of her because she never showed signs of being a good mom.

She started nesting a few days before her due date and I gave her a box right then and there. To my surprise, she actually pulled fur INSIDE the box this time! I started getting hopeful. Maybe she'll finally get it right! 

I was in Oregon over her due date at a show. My mom and youngest brother were in charge of watching preggo does and my current babies - on top of feeding and watering and loving on everyone else. On Saturday, February 19th, my mom texted me with Clementine's birth news! 

I was so happy to hear that she had SIX kits, all in the nestbox!!! One was DOA, my mom said it was big and stretched. Another one was a peanut. However, we have 4 gorgeous, live kits which is more than I expected from Clemmi! She finally figured it out. She loves her babies. Right now, colors are looking to be chestnuts, an orange, and a broken orange! 

Sadly, on day 5, one of the chestnuts passed away. I'm not positive why, but I'm so thankful for the three we have left. 

Way to go Clementine! I can't wait to see this babies grow up. The daddy is Finn and these parents are both crazy (hyper and spastic), but also my most friendly and sweet, so I bet these babies will have amazing personalities. My brother's favorite is Clementine, because she always begs for head pets and will put her head under your hand to get them. She's always at the front of the cage and I'm really hoping to have more rabbits in my herd with this stellar personality! 

Holly's Beth had her first litter on January 30th and she's been doing a great job! I had no issues with her! She was due on January 29th and built a beautiful nest. I checked on periodically throughout the day but she didn't show any of signs of labor. Usually I'll check up on the does throughout the night if they don't deliver during the day, but I had math class in the morning and needed to get good rest, so I didn't check on her throughout the night. I trusted she would do the right thing or just not have the babies at all until the following day. 

She didn't have them in the morning, so I went to school and when I got back I checked on her once and left her alone. When I went out to see her again, at about 6:30pm, she had delivered! I saw no signs of labor or anything, so I knew it was a quick delivery. One baby was outside the box and cold, so I brought it in and quickly warmed it up. The other 3 were perfectly settled in the nest. 

I brought all the babies inside that night because it was supposed to be cold, and I knew I would sleep better that way. Every night since then I've been bringing the babies inside. I'll continue doing so until they can get back in the box after getting out. They are opening their eyes now and getting SO cute! I have decided on names for them but will release them in a Youtube video later in the week. I don't know genders yet but these names can be used for both. 

She had 4, no peanuts or DOA (dead on arrival), but unfortunately one passed away at about a week old, so we have 3 left now. Originally, there were 2 chestnuts, an orange and a cream, but one of the chestnuts passed away. I'm excited to watch these guys grow because they are going to be cute! 

They are 14 days old now (2 weeks) and have their eyes open! More updates to come as these guys mature. I'm excited to see them grow up! 

I usually make a separate post for each doe and their birth stories, but today I decided to do it all in one because each delivery was hassle-free and there's not much to tell! 

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! 

Well...long time no see! Miss Sarah, who I purchased from my friend Liz last month was supposed to give birth last week but she's not preggo after all. However, Clementine had her litter on Sunday, September 11! 

During the weekend of September 9-11, I was gone with my church at a retreat on Whidbey Island. I made a mistake planning the birth, because I ALWAYS try to have the doe due when I'm there all day to help her if anything goes wrong. I thought that we were not going to this retreat, so I planned her delivery specifically for this weekend because I thought I would be home all weekend. Well, then my sister and I are able to go and since it's amazingly fun we couldn't pass up the opportunity. The rest of my family stayed home (we have a new puppy), and my mom was on baby watch! With Clementine's last litter, she refused to nest inside the nestbox and gave birth to dead kits scattered on the wire. I had a feeling she would do the same thing (hopefully with live kits), because she tore apart her nestbox the week before delivery and nested in a different corner. 

Clementine was supposed to give birth on Saturday (the 10th) when I was gone all day and night, so my mom and I were texting each other all day because I wanted to stay abreast on all the latest news with Clem. My mom is amazing; she woke up several times Saturday night/early Sunday morning to check on Clem! 

Clementine didn't start labor until Sunday morning, right before my mom left to pick my sister and I up from the ferry. She didn't finish kindling until a couple hours after I had returned home! 

Clementine had 5 kits, of course outside the nestbox in the nest SHE thought was better. Sadly, 4 didn't make it. I'm not positive why that is. They didn't get too cold, since I was there watching her delivery. 2 were peanuts, so they would've died anyway, and the other 2 were huge and dead on arrival. Usually with 5 kits, all the kits are smaller due to the lack of space, but I'm thinking that because the peanuts are so unnaturally small, a couple kits were able to grow larger. 

I am so thankful for the little baby that is surviving, however!! He (or she) is so adorable and chunky! Since Clementine lost her previous litter, I am doing everything in my power to make sure she doesn't lose this baby! If you follow me on Instagram or Facebook you would already know this, but yesterday when I went to feed in the morning, the baby was cold so I  brought him inside to warm up for a couple hours. When I brought him back out, around 10am, I left him out for several hours. Around 1pm I checked on him again and he was cold (again), so I brought him BACK inside and didn't take him out that time until around 5pm. 
Around 10pm when I went to bed, my gut was telling me to bring the baby back in for the night. He had trouble all day staying warm, and was cold again that night when I checked, so he spent the night inside. This was the first time I had ever brought a baby inside for the night without mama - I wasn't taking any chances with this little one!

I was worried that Clementine might not take good care of her baby after bringing him back to her this morning after nearly a whole day inside the house. She was feeding him just fine before I brought him in, but peeing in the nest box as well. I noticed that everyday she would pull more fur but place it in the opposite corner of her cage - the corner the nestbox was not in, and the corner she originally gave birth. i moved the nestbox to that spot this morning, and so far, the baby is fat and well fed, and she hasn't peed in the box! I guess she just wants in it HER special corner! I might bring the baby back inside if he's cold when I check on him around 10. So far today he's been staying very warm. 

This baby is a broken opal, I think, although it may be a broken blue. I'm not positive, but I love the color and it's a real cutie! 

My method of warming babies up is shown in the pictures above. Of course, it depends on how cold the baby is. This was baby was only slightly cold to the touch, but not close to death, so his warming did not need to be immediate, but should actually be a slower process. So I filled a hot water bottle with - you guessed it, hot water - and laid the baby with some of mama's fur on top of it. If the baby wants to, he can move off. This baby did just that quite a few times (he's squirmy!). As long as he's next to the heat, I don't worry too much about it. 

EDIT 9/25 - on or around 9/18 Clemmi's baby died suddenly while it was in the house :( Poor thing. I'll be rebreeding Clem either in October or November and hope for better results. If she doesn't have a surviving litter on her third round, she'll be sold. 

Angie's birth was quick and perfect! This birth story will be pretty short because there's not much to tell. Besides have 2 peanuts in her litter of 3, Angie did everything right! 

At around 10:00 PM I went to check on her and noticed she was in the process of pulling fur and nesting! I left her alone and when I checked on her next, at 10:30 PM, the 3 kits had been born perfectly in the nest, already cleaned and fed!!
She did a great job and her normal baby is chubby and healthy! Angie's baby is a solid black and very calm and sweet! 
This is Angie's 2nd litter here for me, and her first one with Wicket. Butterfly's surprise litter and Clementine's expectant litter are also from Wicket. 

I'm excited to watch this little guy mature. Angie's babies from her previous litter are very nice, so I hope this little one is the same way! 

Muddy Creek's Maybeline was due on June 9. 

Day 30 came and went with no babies. I expected this, since with her previous litter, May delivered in the morning on day 31. 

But alas, day 31 also came and went. At 11:30pm on day 31, I saw that May had FINALLY begun labor and was pulling fur and nesting. 

I checked on her again at midnight, but she was still pulling fur. I peeked in again at 12:30 but still - pulling fur, nesting. 

At this point, I was exhausted. I had stayed up almost all night the previous night on baby watch. I estimated that it wouldn't be another 30 minutes until May actually started labor, and 30 minutes after that kindling (giving birth). Then, judging by her previous litter, May would probably stay in the box cleaning for another 30 minutes or more after that. 

I decided to go to bed, and wake up at 2:30am to check on her. I was pretty sure she would deliver in the box, but everything would be fine, but with her last litter, it  wasn't positioned in the box correctly and the baby got too cold. 

At 2:30am, wakened by my alarm, I went to check on May. She was out of her box resting, and had two kits inside the box. One was dead, most likely it died on arrival, since it was very big and stretched. The surviving baby was a sweet little blue nestled in the back. May pulled a lot more fur this time, and the baby was warm and cozy. 

When I went back to bad, I was feeling frustrated, worried for Butterfly, and grateful for at least one live kit. I was frustrated because, as a huge brood doe, May should be having large litters of 5-6. Instead, she's having these tiny litters. I was worried for Butterfly because although I was (and still am), pretty sure she's not pregnant, I'm a worrier and Butterfly's my baby. Despite all of that, I am grateful for at least one live kit out of May, and I'm hoping and praying it thrives in my rabbitry. 

For some strange reason, I woke up again at 5:00am to check on the baby and to check on Butterfly. No babies from Butterfly, but the blue kit was still cozy and warm. 

I'm so thankful I decided to breed the does to deliver after my finals had ended...I couldn't imagine getting no sleep on top of finishing finals. 

Well, if Butterfly really isn't pregnant, I'll be breeding her in the next week or so at the same time as Angie. Here's May's precious kit. It's a cutie for sure! I'm surprised it's not a chestnut, since Wicket is and that's so dominant. I'm excited to see it grow up :) 

Zuzu had her kits almost 2 weeks ago, but I still wanted to post her birth story even though it's a bit *late*. This litter has been quite unique, I am loving these babies, and I am really enjoying watching Zuzu as a mom. 

Zuzu's first litter had 4 kits - 3 were DOA, and the survivor was killed by rats at 5 days old. When I found the baby, I initially thought it had been Zuzu - and that she was taking after her mom. But when I investigated further and talked to a friend of mine, who had dealt with rats before, I knew that rats had done this. And now that the rats are gone, Zuzu's precious litter of 3 is growing healthy and strong and beautiful. 

I checked on Zuzu at around 10:00 PM on April 14. I was just about to go to bed, but wanted to see if she was making any progress first. She was pulling fur and in active labor, so I stayed up to see how her birth went - I couldn't go to bed then not knowing what would happen! 

At 10:30 I checked on her again. She had 5 kits, 2 were snuggled in the box nicely and 3 were outside the nestbox on the wire. 2 of them were also peanuts. I saw one, twice the size of the normal kits, in the back and I thought it was dead. It was black and blue and bruised, indicating a harder labor and most likely being stuck for a short time. I went back into the house to get some treats for Zuzu and her successful delivery, which is what I do for all my does after they give birth. My veteran does have come to expect their after-labor goodies (trust me - they remember!). 

When I gave her the treats, I think she had carrot tops, I put the babies into the nestbox and covered them with her fur. I picked up the *dead* baby and realized that it wasn't dead - to my surprise, it was alive! It was still warm, as were all the other babies, so I placed him in the box with his siblings. 

I've never had a big stretched kit survive - usually those kits die in the birth canal because they are stuck and can't get oxygen. I'm so thankful Zuzu successfully delivered it! I'm sure it was because she was bred so close to giving labor last time, only a few days after her kit was killed from rats I rebred her. And because of that, she was probably still stretched out from delivery last time and was able to give birth to the bigger kit. 

Now that the babies are almost 2 weeks old, they are adorable. And I love watching Zuzu with them. She remembers what happened to her previous litter; she watches these babies like a hawk and she didn't do that with her first litter. Her babies are FAT. The bigger kit is still much bigger than the others. At first I thought all three kits were chestnuts, and I was wondering how I would tell them apart. But all three of them are different sizes. One of them is bigger than normal, the big kit Zuzu barely delivered alive. Then one is normal sized, and then one is slightly smaller than normal. At first I thought the small one was a peanut, but it's ears weren't small enough to be a peanut's ears. I think it's just small because there were so many babies in the stomach (5) and one of them was huge - so some of them had to be smaller. It reminded me of litters I've had of 5-6 kits - usually in litters like those, all the babies are smaller than average. 

This small one is actually a chinchilla! Yippee! I'm really hoping it's a buck - I don't need another solid chestnut buck (right now I have Wicket and maturing Glenn), and I would love to breed a chinchilla buck from my line to my chinchilla doe, Missy, when she's old enough! Chinchilla has always been one of my favorite colors of Holland Lop and I'm really excited I'm producing nice Hollands in that color. 

I also just wanted to say that Muddy Creek's Maybeline delivered her litter of 2 last week, but one baby was a DOA and the other died at 2 days old. It wasn't staying warm. We brought it inside that night to keep it warm, but it died by the morning sadly :( I will be rebreeding May soon and I might breed Butterfly at the same time in case something like that happens again, and I need to foster. I didn't want to foster a brand-new baby to Zuzu's piggy trio because I was worried it wouldn't get enough milk, or would get squished, or wouldn't get the right kind of milk it needs (colostrum). I really want to breed Butterfly again (to Wicket) to get more babies like Clementine. I really really need a broken buck, but I don't want to buy another buck...I would love one of my line from the Wicket x Clementine cross. So that's what I'm hoping for!!!

That's all for this blog, so see you next time :) 

LCL's Angus had 6 kits on Thursday, the 18th, at 6:30am. When I went to check on Zuzu and give Zuzu her baby back, I noticed Angie was in the box delivering her kits. 

I left and let her do her thing, and when I checked on her again, at 7:00am, she was still in the box, cleaning something or still delivering. Then, I checked on her again around 8:00 and bribed her out of her box with a treat. She had delivered SIX gorgeous kits, two were peanuts sadly and have passed on, but the remaining 4 are still doing fantastic!! 

Angie and her babies are in the house right now for a week or two. I will make another blog post going into depth, but sadly Zuzu's singleton was eaten by a rat so I want to make sure Angie's kits will be safe until all the rats are dead. 

Angie's kits are four different and really fun colors! She has a chestnut, opal, cream, and chinchilla!!! I just love all these colors and I'm really surprised we got a chinchilla, but super happy about it since it's one of my favorite colors!! The babies are 9 days old today and will open their eyes any day!

Zuzu had her first litter at around 3:30 AM Thursday morning, on the 18th. I woke up at 3am with my alarm, because neither of the girls looked close to starting labor when I went to bed at 11pm. When I checked on them, I saw that Zuzu was in her box, and she was pushing. I assumed she must've had one a little stuck, because they don't push that long for one kit.  When I checked on her again at 3:30, she had two, one of them was dead, so most likely it died in the birth canal while she was pushing. The other was on the wire, but it was breathing. It was very cold though, so I brought it inside and warmed it up. 

After coaxing Zuzu out of the box, I saw that she had one more kit, and it was big and dead as well. Then, when I checked on her at 6:30 am, I noticed that she had delivered another one inside the nestbox, also big and dead. I'm very thankful she was able to pass the kits without too much trouble. She has nice wide birthing hips! Her remaining baby has been with her for several days now, and she's an awesome first time mama! Her baby is always fat and well fed, clean and healthy and Zuzu is doing a great job. 

Her one little baby is a little chestnut. I am so proud of my Zuzu, she did amazing. I have two things I am most excited about her as a mom. #1: She doesn't eat babies like her mom did - score!!! Maybe that's not a genetic trait, but an environmental one? #2: She didn't get mean, grumpy, or nippy during pregnancy, labor, or after birth. After she had her kits she just wanted attention. *LOVE* her!!!