How'd They Do That???

Rabbits like to surprise, frustrate and baffle, especially when it comes to breeding.   That familiar statement breeding like rabbits is quite misleading.  Sure, they can breed every 31 days or so, but will they??  Ha!  Not unless you don't want them to.  I've been trying to get a litter from one particular pair since December.  The first three breedings resulted in nuthin'.  At least with the fourth, kits did show up but did not survive.  I've got my fingers crossed for a litter in June.  Then, there was the buck Bunjamin Bratt.  He was movng on to a new family, so I clipped his coat just before leaving to deliver him.  First real good look I'd taken at his coat.  OMG!  I'd promised this guy to someone else???  Why??? So I popped a doe in with him.  Oh, sheesh!  The dumb bunny could only locate the doe's face.  After that frustrating half hour of never seeing any progress and just a grumpy doe, I pulled her out and put in a different doe.  Same thing.  For another half hour.  Grrrr - running out of time, but since both does and the buck were all inexperienced in these matters, I decided to try a doe who'd already had kits successfully.  Same exact result.  Dumb buck!  Fixated on faces.   I growled at them all and left in a huff, glad the dumb buck was leaving, gorgeous coat and all.   A couple weeks later, I bred a chinchilla color doe to an equally fabulous wild gray agouti buck and at least this time, the rabbits did what rabbits is s'posed to do! 

Last night, I went out to feed a bit later than normal.  Half way through feeding the herd, I screeched to a halt.  What is this????  Sure enough, a brand new baby crawling around the ground, slightly chilled but doing its best to find shelter.   I scooped the baby up, snuggled it in my sweatshirt and set about trying to figure out which doe threw this surprise.  Sure enough, there's Merry Hoppins with two more babies on the wire, no nest, no pulled wool.  Dang!  I scooped them up too, and they were also a bit chilled but alive and active.  Further scrutiny: under the hutch was a pile of placentas.  More than 3.  So I set about digging through under hutch debris.  There's one.  Oh, another one.  And another two.  All told, I found 7 chilled but active babies.  I scooted in to the kitchen, filled a shallow container with warm water and put each baby in a sandwich baggie to float in the warm water.   As you can sort of see through the plastic, there is one dark one and the rest are albino.  Not quite the color ratio I'd like but at least I found them all in plenty of time.    Mom Merry is pure German.  The only buck she's had access to is Bunjamin Bratt, back on the day he left.  DOB is dead on with that.   Hmmmm.... maybe, as one breeder laughs, they can breed through their noses!  I just wish Merry had given me a clue.  I would have given her a nest box and lots of hay.  She got the lots of hay but just ate it.  No attempted nesting at all. 

But, that meant I better check out the other two does.  Mysty, the first doe I put in with the Bratt, wasn't obviously pregnant but there was a bit of a bump that could be a baby.  Just in case, I moved her to a baby safe hutch and put in a nest box.  Sure enough, three hours later...  There are actually
4 babies in this litter.  Looks like one self color and 2 dilute agoutis, could be either opal or blue chinchilla, plus one albino.  Mysty is a blue chinchilla and either blue chin or opal babies would be grand!   This morning, both Mysty's and Merry's babies all appear to be doing quite well.  And fortunately, there is no third litter.  I say fortunately because I only wanted one litter out of that buck.  So of course I get two, a big surprise party!  And of course, there is that litter I bred a couple weeks later still to show up, which I wold not have bred had I known there were two on the way.   Bunny goddess has a lousy sense of humor, in my view.   I should also know to be careful with bunny names as the rabbits do seem to live up to them.  Bratt indeed!

Comments

[emmajane]

You know that reminds me of the Monty Python song..., "Sit on my faaaaaaace and tell me that you love me."

*ahem*

I couldn't resist. :)

[Elaine]

hehehehe, I remember that song! Cool litters...and so many of them. ;)
They DO breed like rabbits ya know....just not when we WANT them to. Ya know..if you did table breeding....

[Janet]

LOL! I had something similar happen once, which led to me developing that new color I'm working on...

[Anne]

Oh that is priceless. And how typical - surprise bunnies all around. :)

[Laurie S.]

Hoppy Birthday!

[Rossana]

Congrats on all the surprise babies! What a shocker, eh?

[Nancy J]

Careful what you wish for.... ;-)

[Kim]

hahaha..........oh my! How perfect is that Monty Python song.....LOL! Enjoy your new little ones!!

[Risa]

ROFL. That is too funny. Glad all the bunnies are doing well. What good timing you had! Congrats on the unexpected babies!

[Leslie]

Sneaky, sneaky, sneaky! It has happened to us all at one time or another. Glad you found the little ones in time!

[Cathy]

Too funny. And yeah, Bunny Goddess laughs.

[Midnightbunny]

Oh my goodness. Thank goodness you were there to save those little kits. I'm in awe. BUNjamin Bratt certainly did live up to his bratty little bunny name with all sorts of surprises for you. hee hee :) Isn't it amazing how things in nature work. The expected never seems to happen, whereas the unexpected astounds us and brings about such wonderment. I really enjoy reading your posts, and the added pictures now are especially great. Kudos to you with all that you do. :)

[jena]

congrats............
more bunnies more fun!!

[Kristen]

oh my goodness!!! what a story! I can't help but smile, and wish I was in a better spot to have a rabbit of my own :) I'm glad you found them when you did, and wish you luck with the next litter! (your iris's (please pardon my horrible grammer; I can't remember if it's 's, ' or es) are wonderful! It's pouring here and the tulips are all falling apart.)