Let me try explaining the process of palpation:
First get the doe out of the cage and put her on a non slip surface.
The does head needs to be facing you.
Gently lift the doe's rear end by lifting her tail in an upward position with your left hand.
With your right hand take your index and middle finger and put them 'together' you will also need your thumb.
Now push your fingers in an upward position following the rabbit'sspine. You may need to push around for a while before you feel anything.
The kits will feel like little marbles or grapes. If you can't feelanything waita few days and try again. It normally takesabout 14 days before the average person can fell kits. Now when you arefeeling the 'marbles' and can easily tell were the head and body arethen the doe should have kits soon. When the doe is about tokindle she will need some sort of nestbox and plenty of hay for nestbuilding. She may make a nest and she may not since shes so young. Somedoes won't start pulling fur till after they have kindle. Others willmake a nest1 or 2 daysin advance. I have both ofthese kinds of does. After the doe gives birth she will need unlimitedfood since she is nursing. If you are feeding fresh greens I would stopas you don't want rabbits eating fresh greens under 6 months of age.Which she still shouldn't be eating fresh greens. By fresh greens Imean; parsley, lettece etc. Hay is fine as rabbits should have haywhenever they want since they have a cecum.
You NEED to seperate the buck and doe! Rabbits should NOT be housedtogether unless the does are spayed or the bucks are nuetered. Eventhen you will need to bond them. (Bonding is not my strong subject ofknowledge as my rabbits are all housed in their own cages, no bondinggoing on)
If it were me, I would seperate the buck and doe ASAP. From thedate that they were seperated I would count out 31 days. That is thedate that you can stop worrying about having kits. But until then youcould expect kits. However since the doe is so young she could haveproblems kindling(giving birth) so just a prewarning. Lots of thingscan happen during kindling time. I don't mean to scare you but you needto be warned! You could have a litter and the mother not care for themsince again shes younger then normal does giving birth.
Its possible she just could be getting more trusting with you as well.But expect the worse and if you get nothing you were prepared! If youget any little ones let us know! We'll help you through your learningexperience.
[shadow=lime] ~*~Amanda~*~ [/shadow]
Below is a litter of kits that their mother diedafterkindling none of the kits made it either. Just a warningof how 'ugly' kits are when firstborn.
