A Farm is Born One Baby At a Time

It’s normal for first time mom rabbits to lose their whole litters.

Depending on who you ask, it can happen 30-50% of the time.

But it still sucks.

I love the rabbits. When I first started dreaming Dapper Drake into existence, rabbits were the first animals I planned for. We built them a pen and provided high quality feed and nest boxes. But it didn’t make a difference for Pansy.

This time around we bred three does with a plan for them to all kindle within 3 days of each other. Dahlia was due first, but missed completely. Pansy and Posey, the Californian sisters were due next. Pansy kindled 7 dark little kits the day before her due date. We were thrilled to have our first animals born on the farm and lovingly checked over the 7 squirming babies before placing them back into the nest their mother built for them. We thought everything was fine.

The next day, Posey kindled, but it was bittersweet. Posey’s 7 kits were nearly twice the size of Pansy’s and her nest was overflowing with fur. While we were excited that her kits were healthy and well cared for, her exceptional mothering instincts put Posey’s kit's predicament into harsh focus.

Over the next few days, Pansy’s kits slowly faded away, a few at a time until there was one left. On the third day I placed Pansy’s last remaining skinny little kit into Posey’s nest box and prayed she’d adopt her and that the little kit was strong enough to fight her way to a teat.

We’re now a week out from kindling and I am happy to report that that last kit is thriving! She’s still smaller than the other’s but every morning she has a full, round belly and is just as squirmy as the rest of the babies.

#Death #FarmLife #SayingGoodbye #BabyBunnies #RabbitKits #FarmBabies #TheBouquetBarn