Let the Countdown Begin

Only 9 days until babies! Hazelnut and Rosemary are due April 12. I could've planned that better and had them due on Easter, but Jet needed a week to settle in before he met the girls. ;) Mostly I just needed to make sure he was healthy before breeding. It's a precaution I do with every new rabbit I bring in, no matter who I buy it from. 
Rosie is definitely pregnant. She has gained 4oz or so in this pregnancy alone. I believe she didn't gain much more than that when the 4 huge guys she delivered last time. I'm hoping for a huge litter of small babies, with no peanuts. Please pray for no peanuts! I think she has at least 4 kits in there, from where I can feel them kick. 

Hazel is another story. She has never gained anything more than an ounce or two in her pregnancies, and although she does seem big in her belly, I'm not completely positive she's pregnant. I do think I felt some kicks though so hopefully we get good results. Praying hard for live babies, and no peanuts, this time around! I remember Hazel's first (and so far, only) surviving delivery baby, Jane, who passed away at almost 4 weeks. I'm still so sure Janie was the best baby I have produced. She was gorgeous. Hazel has had so many stuck kits with Lance that I couldn't put her through that again. Even for the hope of getting a copy of Jane. But maybe Jet and Hazel will pair the same way. I'm hoping they pair the same way! 

Lance is so upset with me. He's not the only buck in the barn anymore, and because of that he's been acting differently. He's still as sweet and loving as always, but he's definitely jealous. SO jealous! I don't think I'm going to breed him to any of my smaller does anymore, at the moment I'm not quite sure what I'm doing with him, but I know I can't sell him yet. He's my little brothers favorite. And he makes such adorable babies, and nice showy babies too, when the doe doesn't almost die during birth. He'll hang around for a while - but I doubt he'll get another go with any of the three does that had stuck babies with him (that means no Rosie, no Saige, and no Hazelnut). 

This is the sad face of rejection...of knowing that you don't get to breed your favorite ladies for a while. Of secretly (or openly), hating that other buck in the cage right next to you....LOL. He's so cute!

I've had lots of people ask me, how do you know it was Lance's fault for the stuck kits? Apparently stuck kits are pretty usual in most rabbitries, when a smaller doe is bred. But here's my top 3 reasons how I know it's Lance's bigness that caused all that trauma:

1. Saige, Hazel, and Rosie are not that small - Hazel is the smallest, at only 3lbs, Saige weighs 3.4, and Rosie weighs 3.6, on average. I've heard of tiny, 2lb does, having huge litters and delivering them just fine. Now, Lance weighs 5lbs. That's a HUGE difference in sizes! 
2. When born, the kits were HUGE. They were easily twice (or more), the size of normal kits at birth. And 2/3 of the does delivered on schedule (day 31) - so the babies weren't big becuase they were overdue. Poor does! 
3. Rosie and Saige are from a line of amazing first time mamas. Their mom, and their grandma, and their greatgrandma and so on, all had live babies their first time (their mom and grandma had no babies die AT ALL in their first litter). I'm almost positive Saige and Rosie would've been the same way. They have amazing mama instincts and I'm so sad they didn't get any live babies their first try. They wanted babies so badly. 

Just a little thing I've noticed in my herd as well....all babies (from these most recent litters from Lance), were born DOA on day 31. My does NEVER deliver live babies passed day 30. I don't know why. But for some reason, each doe that has gone over to day 31, it has been because they had a stuck baby.