Pairings, and Their Litters:
So, as you’ve seen in the title (and photo), the first litters of Evergreen Rabbitry are here! We bred all 3 of our does on January 7th (1/07/2022).
- Corduroy x Cottontail litter arrived on, February 7 (2/07/2022)
- Blackie x Flopsy litter arrived on, February 7 (2/07/2022)
- Blackie x Mopsy litter arrived on, February 8 (2/08/2022)
Cottontail had 6, but lost 1.
Mopsy had 7, and didn’t lose any.
Flopsy had 10, but unfortunately lost all of them.
We have 12 kits total!
How Did They Do?
Unlike Cottontail and Mopsy, the days leading up to “nest box day” (day 27 or 28), Flopsy kept making nests and started doing so around day 20! I was not expecting this, as no one really mentioned their Rabbits prepping so early unless it was a false pregnancy (I will make note here, all of our does are first timers). She did this almost every other day, since the 20th day mark. So, after talking with some people, I decided to save all the fur she would pull and I gave it back in her nest box on day 28.
Cottontail, didn’t start nesting until the day before kindling, and Mopsy never nested at all, until a couple hours before (or the time of) kindling which is much more what I was expecting especially as a beginner still, myself.
On day 31, Both Cottontail and Flopsy kindled on the wire, and not in their nest boxes. This resulted in Flopsy’s kits spread throughout her hutch (all ice cold to the touch) when I went out for morning chores. Although I did try to revive them all, in case they could make it with some extra warmth; they still sadly did not make it. Luckily though, Cottontail only had 1 kit out of her small nest (I tried to revive it with the others, but lost it too) while the other 5 were snug and warm enough still. I didn’t even notice the 5th kit until later, which was a nice surprise!
Then, day 32 (next day) Mopsy kindled a litter of 7 in her nest box, with enough fur to keep them warm. After losing 11 kits, we were so glad that Mopsy’s litter came so smoothly, and that all of them survived.
What Next?
Over all, I’m very glad to be with 12 healthy kits from our 2 does; Cottontail and Mopsy. Flopsy was re-bred on Thursday February 10th (2/10/2022) to Blackie, and we hope for a better outcome. Her new due date is March 13 (3/13/2022). Right now though, we are just thankful she is still healthy after everything, and is ready to try again. We are blessed to be able to raise these Rabbits up well, and once they are all old enough (8wks+) get them to some families who will use them on their own homesteads.
These first litters, we are focusing on just getting through the litter process with our Rabbits. However, as we have mentioned before, we are planning to use some of the next litters for one of our meat sources as well! So with our next litters to come, we will be adding a whole new step to our journey with this Rabbitry. While my daughter and I enjoy caring for these sweet, baby Rabbits (until they go to their homes) my husband and I will continue prepping for our first time ever doing our own butchering of an animal.
Lastly:
I hope this helps any of you who are first timers, especially those with first timer Rabbits! We are still pretty new to this and actually, we’re coming up on a year of owning Rabbits this July. We are still learning the different aspects of Rabbitry, but over all, I definitely recommend doing it if you have been interested in having Rabbits for your own homestead!
More updates on the litters pictured above (as well as future litters) will be posted to our Facebook Rabbity page (linked here) and thank you for following along on our Rabbitry endeavors so far! We will have more to come in the future as our litters come and go!
