Kindling

[RAL Rabbitry]

I would give her another box even if she doesn't have much room to spread out. She will pick one to use as her nest if she is bred. I am concerned with the cage she is in. Those babies will be able to fit through the bars and wander if she has them on the wire or one comes out of the nestbox latched onto a teat. I have a broken doe that will automatically use the box as a litter box but I put another box in and she kindles in it and won't use the new box as a litter box even after I take out the box she liked to potty in.

 

[rcohen1982]

RAL Rabbitry wrote:

I would give her another box even if she doesn't have much room to spread out. She will pick one to use as her nest if she is bred. I am concerned with the cage she is in. Those babies will be able to fit through the bars and wander if she has them on the wire or one comes out of the nestbox latched onto a teat. I have a broken doe that will automatically use the box as a litter box but I put another box in and she kindles in it and won't use the new box as a litter box even after I take out the box she liked to potty in.

The cage is all to the specs that I have read. I made sure. I will try to put in another box see if that helps. She still hasn't Kindled and hasn't pulled fur. When I talked to the breeder she said that the Doe always used it as a litter box but always took really good care of her litter. She is 100% pregnant. I checked again today and got kicked

Thanks

Rachel

 

[mistyjr]

Rabbits potty in the same spot always. So you might have the box in that area.

 

[rcohen1982]

mistyjr wrote:

Rabbits potty in the same spot always. So you might have the box in that area.

I have moved the box in all 4 corners and even in the middle. :shock:It doesn't matter where it is, she still uses it as a litter box. So, I have taken it out. I have been checking on her every 15 minutes, with still no sucess. Could the breeder have been this far off on dates? So anxious and nervous. I am afraid the longer she goes the great chance of having live birth will decrease.

Rachel

 

[RAL Rabbitry]

Some of my does pull no fur or even act like they are going to kindle until the last minute. I had a doe kindle tonight while a I was feeding. She had no fur pulled and in 5 minutes she was kindling and pulling fur like crazy. I would leave the box with her. She may hold off kindling which they can do until they have a place to kindle. I am still worried about that cage. If the bars are 1" apart they can slip through.

 

[mistyjr]

My does dont pull fur until an hour or so before having their babies. It's so hard to tell when they are due unless you know the date.. Also sometimes you can tell by the way there private parts look. If its swollen anyway that can be a sign also.. But just keep any eye every few hours or so.

 

[RAL Rabbitry]

One thing you might look for is that a doe usually eats much less a day before she kindles. Not always but quite often.

 

[rcohen1982]

RAL Rabbitry wrote:

Some of my does pull no fur or even act like they are going to kindle until the last minute. I had a doe kindle tonight while a I was feeding. She had no fur pulled and in 5 minutes she was kindling and pulling fur like crazy. I would leave the box with her. She may hold off kindling which they can do until they have a place to kindle. I am still worried about that cage. If the bars are 1" apart they can slip through.

The bars on the outside are 3/4" and the bars on the inside for are 1/2". Is this right? ray:

Here is the Doe about 10 minutesago. I saw movment as I was taking the pictures.

Rachel

 

[mistyjr]

RAL Rabbitry wrote:

One thing you might look for is that a doe usually eats much less a day before she kindles. Not always but quite often.

That is soo true.



My doe had babies in spring. I went out to feed them all and I put food in her bowl and she didnt eat it. And I noticed that she was doing something with her fur and straw. I left her be for 2 hours and came back and she was eatting her pellets. I looked in the nesting box and there was fur and babies. So

 

[RAL Rabbitry]

She doesn't look stressed out. My kindling cages have 1/2 x 1 baby saver wire on them.

 

[mistyjr]

Just to tell you that the babies might get out. One of my cages have chicken wire and when babies were about 10 days old. It got out. Crawled threw the wire. Never could find the baby. They can get out such a small hole when they are that little.

After that happen I went out and bought some baby saver wire that cost $5.99 for a roll.

 

[rcohen1982]

RAL Rabbitry wrote:

She doesn't look stressed out. My kindling cages have 1/2 x 1 baby saver wire on them.

Is there anyway I can correct this without having to buy new cages? I am having a really hard time finding anything in this area without having to spend about 75-100dollars per cage. Found these cages online.She isn't stressed by what I can tell. She just looks fat and miserable like most woman do when they are about to go into labor.

Rachel

 

[mistyjr]

You can go to your local farm store and ask to look at their fence. The fence is small holes. And you can also zip-tie it on the cage that you have now. That should work.!

 

[rcohen1982]

mistyjr wrote:

Just to tell you that the babies might get out. One of my cages have chicken wire and when babies were about 10 days old. It got out. Crawled threw the wire. Never could find the baby. They can get out such a small hole when they are that little.

After that happen I went out and bought some baby saver wire that cost $5.99 for a roll.

Am I able to buy it online? How does it go on? :?

Rachel

 

[rcohen1982]

mistyjr wrote:

You can go to your local farm store and ask to look at their fence. The fence is small holes. And you can also zip-tie it on the cage that you have now. That should work.!

Yeah! I will work on that tomorrow! I can't even find nestboxes in my farm stores over here. They all tell me to buy online. I guess I should have lived in a different area for this project.

 

[mistyjr]

rcohen1982 wrote:

mistyjr wrote:

You can go to your local farm store and ask to look at their fence. The fence is small holes. And you can also zip-tie it on the cage that you have now. That should work.!

Yeah! I will work on that tomorrow! I can't even find nestboxes in my farm stores over here. They all tell me to buy online. I guess I should have lived in a different area for this project.

We dont buy nesting boxes. We build our own. We got our blueprints to build nesting boxes is the book from the arba.

 

[rcohen1982]

mistyjr wrote:

rcohen1982 wrote:

mistyjr wrote:

You can go to your local farm store and ask to look at their fence. The fence is small holes. And you can also zip-tie it on the cage that you have now. That should work.!

Yeah! I will work on that tomorrow! I can't even find nestboxes in my farm stores over here. They all tell me to buy online. I guess I should have lived in a different area for this project.

We dont buy nesting boxes. We build our own. We got our blueprints to build nesting boxes is the book from the arba.

It's been a month since I became a member and I am still waiting on my book. We found the tubberware idea online and the previous owner had used tubberware containers. I would love to be able to build my own and build my own cages also. That would be total awesomeness...but I am challenged when it comes to building stuff and I am afraid it will cost me more in the long run from me screwing up so much. :nerves1

Rachel

 

[rcohen1982]

So what should the wire spacing be? I can't seem to find an answer that everyone agrees on.:?

Oh, andSTILL no babies, 4 days past expected due date. :confused2:

Thanks

Rachel

 

[jubidyjub]

I believe that baby saver wire should measure to same as your flooring wire in the cage. There are other ways to protect the openings. I've attached 4-5 inch high cardboard strips that run along the sides. Make sure you attach them on the outside so that momma doesn't chew. It works and it's free!

If she was bred Sep 1st, then she'll likely have them oct. 1 or as late as the 3rd. The breeder was likely telling you when to give the box and start watching because they can have them that early. But now through Monday is well within normal range.

My rabbits ALWAYS kindle on day 31

 

[jubidyjub]

I believe that baby saver wire should measure to same as your flooring wire in the cage. There are other ways to protect the openings. I've attached 4-5 inch high cardboard strips that run along the sides. Make sure you attach them on the outside so that momma doesn't chew. It works and it's free!

If she was bred Sep 1st, then she'll likely have them oct. 1 or as late as the 3rd. The breeder was likely telling you when to give the box and start watching because they can have them that early. But now through Monday is well within normal range.

My rabbits ALWAYS kindle on day 31