Awaiting Baby Bunnies

As of my last post, we had palpated Trixibelle's abdomen and THOUGHT we might have felt some 'lumps' in there.   Indicating the likelihood she had been bred.  That our efforts were successful.

Since then, it's just been 'wait and see'.

The girls made 2 nesting boxes at a 'workday' with our rabbit project leader.  We made 2 because we plan to breed Scarlet in the future once she's old enough.  Plus, as we move forward in this rabbit breeding adventure, we hope to breed both rabbits at the same time.

Not to mention, the girls can submit their workmanship as an indoor project for fair.  Bonus!!

The girls measured the boards, cut them using fancy smancy power tools, sanded the boards, drilled holes, and assembled the boards with electric screwdrivers.  They even learned to use a drill press for the lid of the nest box.

Check out the wonderful pictures of their hard work.

Lining up her board to make her first cut.

They both did a FABULOUS job!

Measure twice, cut once.

The circular saw was a lot to handle.

Since we are hoping Trixiebelle is in fact pregnant, we went ahead and put a nesting box in her cage this past weekend.

It.  Didn't.  Fit!

Initially.

With some minor modifications to her cage door, however, we squeezed it in.  BARELY!!!

Moving her measured board to the saw.

It took all her mite to cut through.

A slant measure for the front.

Precise measuring was crucial.

Sanding down the rough edges.

Don't want rough edges to cause splinters.

Seems we made that move just in time as she's begun to pull fur for what we hope will be her kindling (or giving birth) soon.  

I think she likes power tools.

According to our calculations, we could have kits (or baby bunnies) as early as mid to end of this week.  Her pulling fur is a great indicator that babies are in fact on the way.

The drill was a bit more manageable than
the big saw.

Admittedly, I was feeling a bit pessimistic about her pregnancy as she hadn't started pulling fur when we initially put the box in her cage.  My calendar said to put the box in on Sat but she wasn't giving any indications of being close at that point.  It wasn't until Tue that she got busy with the typical mama bunny tasks.

Phew!

We're optimistic - somewhat - that things will go smoothly with this litter.

It's our first attempt at breeding rabbits - well at least PLANNED breeding of rabbits.

She's had a litter before so hopefully all the natural mother's intuition of what to do will be quick to kick in.  She's already started that process. She's made a little 'nest' in the box with the straw and has started mingling her own  fur to keep those kits warm and toasty.

Trinity's nesting box for Scarlet.

Charity's finished product -
Trixiebell's nesting box.

Here's praying she continues with such instincts.

Once again we're at the point of waiting to see what comes next.

An exciting time for sure.  The girls are so hopeful that THIS time we'll really have BABY bunnies.

Bunnies they can hold; name; pet; play with.







Of course, they also know that we will be selling some as meat pens for fair and probably putting some in our freezer (depending on the size of our litter). But... that doesn't mean we won't keep one or two for Selah to have her very own bunny for 4H next year when she'd old enough to join the ranks.

Not to mention, if the babies have better conformation and positive traits, they may be worth retaining to improve our stock.

Gee, I almost sound like a REAL rabbit breeder.