New Life!
There is always something new to the homestead it seems like. Sometimes its the ending of a life, by natural means or other, and sometimes its the beginning of life.
If its the former it can be hard to accept but we must learn to do so.
If its the latter, well most of the time its quite a joy!
There are always lots of "Oh we have babies!" or "I cant believe we actually got him/her!"
In this case its ...Oh we have babies!!
These cuties were born 1-25-20
Now we have two does and most of the time they become pregnant at around the same time by out broken buck and have their kits in separate nesting boxes no more than a couple of days apart.
On this occasion one or both decided that having them during a storm would be the greatest thing ever!
(Isn't that how it always ends up?)
When I checked on them the next morning, the first thing I noticed was five perfectly formed kits laying in front of the box ...dead.
My heart sank because we really needed to get these ladies back on track with their litters!
Then I noticed movement towards the back (where they were supposed to be!) and there under all that soft hay and fur were 8 fat healthy and ALIVE kits!
(Note: A couple of days prior to birth the does will start pulling their fur to line the nesting box. Watch for this because some first time mothers will sometimes not pull enough or not at all. I follow the 3 time rule. If the new mother does not care for her new little properly, after 3 litters she will go to freezer camp!)
I always try and hang on to the hair that they do pull from any previous litters just in case I do run into a mother who doesn't or isn't able to pull enough hair. You can add or take away what is needed!
One or two things happened. Either they both had the kits in the same nesting box and one litter didn't survive because they were not covered properly....or only one doe took and botched the box with all the rain.
When we first decided to start raising rabbits for a food source I had several people tell me to NEVER touch the kits because the mothers will reject them or even eat them, and I'm am sure that some do, However with my ladies I have been around them enough that I feel they know me and my scent enough that I have never had any issue at all with cannibalism or rejection. I feel its necessary to check down in the kits to see if one has been squished, which sometimes happens with large litters.
DISCLAIMER: THE FOLLOWING MY BE DISTURBING TO SOME!
One thing I have never really been able to find and have heard a ton of people ask, is how to dispose of deceased animals. Whether they be adult or babies.
With my adult chickens I usually take them off down in the woods far enough away so that predators do not come in to close. With my baby animals however, I usually end up giving them to our GSD.
It is a good source of protein for them and I like to keep them on a raw diet as much as I can.
So anyway.....
Did you know
that if you have 2 does and one buck they can produce more meat in one year than having 1 whole cow processed?
There is a little fun fact for you.
Hopefully all of the kits will continue to grow and I will be able to make a future post on how I choose to humanly butcher my rabbits!
Rabbits are an amazing animal to start out with if you are looking to break into raising your own meat.
They require minimal space, not much food and are quiet.
You could also look into tanning your own hides!
Below is a link to a DIY nesting box for anyone like myself who does not necessarily have the money to go out and get prefabricated nesting boxes.
However just incase you do! Here is a link for that!
When I built mine I just used some scrap wood I had laying around. Don't forget to attach a wire bottom so that as the kits grow they will have proper ventilation and their urine will not soil the bedding as much. Also its a good rule of thumb to put down a layer of shavings and then a layer of hay.
DIY nesting box
Until then I hope you all have a blessed day and as always thank you for reading!
Happy Homesteading!
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