| Breeding Diary Follow "Fancy" a blue Dutch Doe (and her kits) through her first pregnancy and all the way to rebreeding |
| Meet "Fancy." Actually she is Mac's W1448 but I prefer to call my rabbits by name so I gave her one. Fancy is about a year old and she is going to kindle for the first time. In honor of her first litter I am going to use her as an example to step other breeders and prospective breeders through what to do. I don't have too many details about the servicing itself since it was done before I purchased her. I will do my best to fill it in though. |
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| April 13, 2001 - First service to Mac's W1479 April 19, 2001 - Second Service to Mac's W1479 April 25, 2001 - First service to Mac's W1247 - I'm not sure why Wayne changed bucks but he knows what he is doing better than I so I don't question it. April 30, 2001 - Purchased from Wayne MacKinnon to come here May 2, 2001 - Positive palpation. I couldn't determine the age of the kits at that time May 12, 2001 - Palpated and determined kits were not a result of the first breeding May 18, 2001 - Palpated Fancy and determined it was time to put in the nestbox May 19, 2001 - Placed nestbox into the cage with a large amount of oat straw May 20, 2001 - Began checking Fancy every three hours May 22. 2001 - 5:30am EST - Entered the rabbitry to find that Fancy had pushed all the straw out of her nestbox and cage. She was pulling large amounts of fur. Went into the storage area and grabbed a large handful of straw. Collected up the fur from inside the box and put the straw in, adding the fur on top. Went and got more straw and hay and placed it in the corner of the cage. 5:45am EST - Went inside to retrieve the digital camera and returned to the rabbitry. Snapped pictures of the nest building process and her nearly complete nest. 6:00am EST - Went back inside to call co-owner and let him know Fancy was about to kindle. 6:40am EST - Went out to check on Fancy. Found her drinking water. The nest was moving so I checked and inside there were two kits already dry and nursed. Fancy had not left a single soiled bit of straw anywhere. She is a very good mom. Took a few shots of the nest and kits to send to co-owner and for this website. 7:00am EST - Went inside I spent most of the day in the rabbitry as with most days but only checked the nest one more time. That was around 6:00pm EST when the co-owner arrived to see the kits. The kits were small and hairless. These first days are the best time to see their markings. May 23, 2001 - 6:00am EST - checked on the kits and my black Dutch doe. She is also near due. 2:00pm EST - took pictures of the kits for the website 8:00pm EST - did a last check on the kits for the day May 24, 2001 - 2:00pm EST - checked on the kits 6:00pm EST - took pictures of the kits 9:00pm EST - last check on the kits for the day May 25, 2001 to June 23, 2001- 2:00pm EST - cheched on the kits 6:00pm EST - took pictures of the kits 9:00pm EST - last check on the kits for the day June 24, 2001 - Re bred Fancy using black buck W1494. Left together from 6pm to 8pm. June 25, 2001 - Sexed kits. 1 buck with very nice markings 1 doe with decent markings. Named kits Firedove's Irish Elegance and Firedove's Rise n' Shine. Nicknamed "Ellie" and "Lil' Bit" July 5, 2001 - Fancy, Positive palpation for next litter July 19, 2001 - Weaned Ellie and Lil' Bit and put in the nest box. Cut fancy's pellet ration to 1/8 cup for two days. <- "Ellie" <- "Lil' Bit" July 20-25, 2001 - Fancy rearranges nest materials. On the 25th I start checking her every 6 hours. July 26, 2001 - Nothing at 8am check. 2pm check turns up 3 kits. For some reason she had them on the cage wire, luckily it was a hot day and all three survived. I put them into the nest box with the pulled hair. |
| Place cursor over pictures for descriptions. Click on pictures to view them larger. |
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