Watch the 17 (YES - 17) baby flemish giants grow up....(2 litters)

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TinysMom

TinysMom

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, Texas, USA
As some of you know - we have had our first two litters of flemish giants here at Tiny's Texas Legends. We are all so thrilled (well...except for Art who is thinking of the food bill in a month or so).

Athena "gifted" us with 11 babies on Christmas Eve and then yesterday morning Sophia added 6 more precious babies to the count.

I will be posting updates in my blog on a regular basis (hopefully daily) for those who like to read blogs - and for those who just like to look at baby pictures - I'll also post the same updates in this thread too.

Here are the first videos and pictures I have of Athena's litter - I have several more videos and pictures to upload tonight and hopefully post tomorrow.

By the way - Athena is feeding ALL of her eleven babies and they look like little pot bellied pigs sometimes. Sophia is doing a "so-so" job with her babies - she didn't know to make a nest and she seems a bit scared of them - but she did nurse them overnight.

It looks like all of the babies will be light grey like their mamas.











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Oh my - I sound drunk or something on the nest-building videos - but truth is - it was like 4 am and I'd been up all day and night....
 
OMG!!.....I love seeing her carrying the hay to the nest box. That was awesome. :)Thanks for sharing Peg.



At one point you could see her belly and you would have never guessed she had 11 babies in there. Lol. :biggrin2:
 
17!?
That's ludicrous!
What in the devil is in the water down there!

I told Nate how many babies you had, and his eyes just about came out of his head!

Am looking forward to watching the buns grow... I bet Nyx is sulking about, looking for attention... she should come visit ;)
They look so fat and happy, Peg:)
 
Congratulations! I am really going to enjoy watching this and seeing the updates.

I'll be pining from afar.
 
I will be updating the thread soon with pictures but am very upset as Sophia is NOT nursing and when I just tried to make her nurse - she flinches and tries to bite me.

More of an update with videos & photos later.
 
Luvr of Wabbits and Polar Bears wrote:
Ekk that's not good, what happens now?
Click to expand...
Some of this I'm hesitant to share - but oh well.

I worked with Arlene Thompson, the animal communicator today and she basically confirmed what I was suspecting.

Sophia doesnt' want to be a mother - didn't realize she had the babies (Art put them in the nestbox right after she had them on the floor) and because her cage was moved next to Athena's (so she could watch Athena nurse and then learn) - she seems to think her babies are Athena's. She recognizes them as babies - just not as HER babies.

I tried to have her nurse before contacting Arlene - it was a no go....she fought and every time a baby latched onto a nipple - she flinched and tried to get away. She even tried to bite me....very unusual for her.

So we're working on different options - right now - Sophia's babies along with two of Athena's babies are in Athena's nestbox and she'll nurse them one time. I'm going to try Sophia with Athena's babies since they're stronger and can maybe latch on and get her milk to drop - since they know what they're doing.

Worst case scenario....I go to handrearing.

More photos and updates later.
 
Luvr of Wabbits and Polar Bears wrote:
Why try and split the group up? So there's 2 sets and Athena mothers all of them?
Click to expand...
Athena is going to continue to nurse all of her litter - but to have her nurse Sophia's litter also puts her at risk for mastitis which could put all the babies at risk. After all - there is only so much ONE doe can take before putting her at risk.

The hope is Athena's babies will help Sophia's milk to come down and once Sophia's babies are a bit stronger after a good feeding - they'll know what to do to get milk from Sophia.


 
I just tried nursing Athena's litter - but with Sophia. The hope was that they would be strong enough and know enough about what they are doing - to bring down her milk. I'm not 100% sure that they got fed - but towards the end of it - she had calmed down a lot and a few of them look somewhat fed. (A couple were already huge).

I'll share more pictures tomorrow - I'm exhausted from the stress and need to head to bed soon.
 
Ah, the joys and tribulations of having baby bunnies. The adults are hard enough! :shock: I'm so very sorry you are facing problems with Sophia, though I know you are totally capable of handling the situation and doing the best for everyone involved. Sending you luck and well wishes that Sophia comes around.

:clover::brown-bunny
 
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