Kits born this afternoon!

Just this morning Andy placed the nesting box in with one of our does because he remembered it was getting close to her due date, and this afternoon she gave birth!  Evan and Matilde went out to play and noticed lots of fur and movement in the nesting box. We have bunnies!! We are not yet sure how many, but we will know soon enough. The others are getting big and should be ready to harvest soon. I am excited to fill our freezer once again.

(The pink in the photo will be a white bunny!) 

Rabbits!

All of these are from one kindle! The other doe had four, but we lost one. The three that made it are HUGE! 

So cute!

These little guys are chubbing up!  They are growing and growing, and today we noticed that they have finally opened their eyes! 

New beginnings.

We have two new kindles on the farm, AND we think one more is on the way! The first two photos are of the nests of our little kits. It's very exciting. We didn't want to disturb them too much, so photos will have to come later. They do look healthy and we are hoping they grow fast and fat! The last photo is of an empty nesting box, but there is a ton of fur. That's a good sign. The doe will pull her tummy and shoulder fur out to build a nice warm nest for her babies. We'll see if it's a false alarm or the real deal soon enough.  

A lone survivor.

Here is an email Andy sent earlier today while the girls and I were out:  "Just got back from the vet.  I checked on them (new kits) earlier and they were all freezing. Took them to the vet but only 1 made it.  We will have to hand feed." 

Today was another sad day. Eve had given birth to TEN kits, and a few others looked like they were going to be alright.  After getting some vigorous massaging to stimulate blood flow, warm water bottles, and milk those few slowly passed on. 

This lone bunny is all that survived. It is inside and keeping warm on a hot water bottle. We are doing what we can to keep it alive. 

Babies!

Here is the first photo of our new kits!  Unfortunately, we lost one today. I do hope the others survive the winter. For my freezer's sake....

Babies!

Here is the first photo of our new kits!  Unfortunately, we lost one today. I do hope the others survive the winter. For my freezer's sake....

Building suspense

This is Eve's nest. There are little furless babies hidden inside!  They're alive and well! 

Eve preps her nest.

We moved Eve inside to prepare for her coming kindle. Andy set an alarm for 28 days from when we put her in with Adam. It was PERFECT timing because a few hours after moving her, she gave birth! More healthy and LIVING babies! 

More sadness

Here is a picture of Adam and Eve. I didn't have the heart to send another picture of dead kits. Five more didn't make it. :( We still don't know what exactly we are doing wrong.

RIP kits

Unfortunately, this afternoon we found all of Mary's newborn kits deceased. As she began nesting, we moved her inside to the upper, unused chicken coop. The weather has been absolutely terrible here with high winds and pounding rain, so we moved her indoors to protect her and her kindle from the elements. She gave birth sometime yesterday/overnight. Andy added a heat lamp to help keep them from getting too cold, but it still didn't help. We are not sure why, but her entire kindle didn't survive the night. 

Andy is still convinced that raising rabbits is worth the time, money, and effort, but I'm having my doubts. I love raising our own meat and the feeling of sustainability, but it hasn't proven to be successful or profitable just yet. I hope I can hold out long enough for my love to prove me wrong. I'm not sure how many more dead newborns I can handle. 

Third time's a charm.

They're so darn cute!  All of Eve's kits are healthy and well.  I hope we can keep them cool during our projected heat wave next week. 

A new KINDLE!!

It's another fantastic spring day here on the farm!  Our doe, Eve, gave birth to (we think) five kits today. She has pulled out her fur to keep them nice and cozy.  I hope she can keep these alive long enough for....us to EAT! 

(too soon???)

The girls are very excited about them. Earlier today Tilly asked if we could get more Betsy's for her to eat! Hahaha I hope she feels the same about the new kindle. 

A new kindle.

Looks like our rabbit, Eve, gave birth over the weekend. She is tending to her kits more than the last time, but we did lose one. Evan was so fascinated by this baby. She said, "I just wish it would come back to life." So innocent and sweet. I hope the others make it. I'm not sure how many there are, but it would be nice to see the small ones with fur!