Happy Birthday

This morning I was calmly greeted by Sweetie, our eldest doe, chomping on her morning alfalfa grass.  If I hadn't seen the fur topping on her nest move slightly, I wouldn't have known that she had delivered her kits in the night.  A -very- quick look tells me there are likely 7-8 little bunnies, all dark-skinned but for their pink bellies.  I am happy to see that Sweetie's litter size is 'back to her norm' after a small litter earlier in the year.  I offered her a happily-received piece of plum, and left her to continue her day with some extra grains, fresh comfrey, and grass.

Rose was also looking calm, though surrounded by bits of fur, which I believe she had just pulled to line her own nest.  No bunnies yet, but she allowed a quick round of skritches, and her tummy feels taught with promise.  She went back to lining her nest, and I quietly left the enclosure.

The other litters are five weeks old today, and we will soon remove the mothers to allow them to recover from a busy round of parenting.  Sakura seems largely unaffected, despite having 7 kits to care for, and I am very happy with her personality.  I do not feel that we will be keeping Chun Li, as she has remained anxious, aggressive, and unpredictable.  I was concerned that her aggression was sometimes turned towards her offspring, though I am thrilled with the size and the health of her small litter. I intend to keep back a well-natured girl for future breeding.  We allow our rabbits to fully develop to 7 months prior to breeding, so we wouldn't be breeding until March next year, and I'd like to cross some of our first crosses back with our Florida White males, but will need to do some breeding research over the winter.

 

Totally unrelated, this small bowl of cherry tomatoes was the biggest daily harvest of the year, and tasted wonderful with dinner.