Dawn's kits, and still waiting.

Dawn gave birth Tueseday night, and when I got home I reached in and felt around. I felt a couple moving kits, and Dawn was unhappy with what I was doing so I left her alone, and checked again in the morning. When I checked then I found one cold and dead normal kit, one dead kit with the back of it's head missing and the brain showing, and two normal healthy kits. The rabbit with the part of the skull has anencephaly which means a large part of the brain or skull missing. The Lady of the House promptly did some research, and found that there may be some correlation between tomato blight, and the kinds of birth problems we've been seeing. There is some correlation between feeding alkaline plants and the kind of problems that we've been having so we want to do more research into that.

No Babies, and Blog Goals

Dawn still hasn't had babies yet. She should be popping soon, perhaps as soon as when we get home today. It is always tough to tell with her, and apparently with any rabbits. She is big, and has made her nice nest. She is also eating a lot, which is usually a good indication. That said, we will see. We are especially interested in seeing what comes out of a breeding of Dorado Right and Dawn Below. Genetically we know what will happen, Creme babies. But what will they look like as babies, and will they grow more slowly than the cross breeds between Dawn and Umbra?

I am expecting them to grow more slowly, and not be quite as robust. Umbra is a particularly good buck from what we can tell from his production, and talking to Michelle Chandler. He is an incredible starting point for us. I will be very curious how this breeding program goes, and tracking their growth. The closeness of relation between Dorado and Dawn is obviously a concern for us, but not such a big one for just meat and fur production. I will also be very curious about the temperament of the babies with Dawn so gregarious and Dorado so shy.

No Baby Bunnies Yet

I was holding off on writing a post in hopes of getting photos this morning of baby rabbits in the nest. Unfortunately that isn't yet the case, or at least wasn't when the Lady of the House and I left this morning for work. Instead, Dawn is still rotund and grumpy, and the nest is still empty.  So instead of pictures of pink baby bunnies, and likely a bleeding hand from trying to move Dawn, here is Dawn in all of her joyful glory. Below the cut are pictures of the nest.