April is almost gone and I finally have time to write again. Here’s a recap of whats been going on at the rabbitry. January hosted the first show since 2019! I was super excited to go and had 3 rabbits entered. Regretfully, I wasn’t able to attend the show as planned; however, I did have some supplies picked up for me from a vendor there. So while it’s sad I didn’t get to show, I’m thankful for the much needed supplies.
February I attempted a Champagne breeding. I say attempt because the doe was not showing obvious signs of being in heat. However, as I am still learning her behavior, I decided to go ahead and try for a litter. The doe didn’t become pregnant so I decided to wait for warmer weather. While does can be bread any time, they are more likely to become pregnant during the first five months of the year. This month, April, I tried again and I believe she is pregnant; but only time will tell.
March came and with it another show. This is the third show of the year and the first one I was able to attend. Again, I entered 3 rabbits; Snickers, Shelia and Pankin. The night before the show I got an email saying that there was an emergency change of location for the show. Instead of being 91 miles away, the new location was only 20 miles away. While not officially confirmed, the only reason that a show would have that drastic a change is because there was a case of RHDV2 in the same county as the original show location. Regardless of the reason, this change worked in my favor as I could sleep in a bit longer that weekend.
As for results of the show, Snickers took 1st place twice and Best Of Variety twice. Shelia was disqualified for being overweight. And Pankin took 1st place twice, Best Opposite Sex Variety twice and Best Opposite Sex Group twice. Way to go Pankin! Now I know your wondering how Snickers and Pankin both could have 1st place. That’s because they automatically get 1st place when they win Best Of Variety or Best Opposite Sex Variety. I am very proud of Pankin as this was her first show.
The other thing that happened in March, was that Freyja surprised me with a litter on St. Patrick’s Day. This was her first litter and she had a bit of a rough time delivering. I could tell this because one of the babies had lots of bruising on its face. One of the babies was stillborn and underdeveloped, which is probably due to the fact that I didn’t know Freyja was pregnant. The third baby was only slightly bruised but he was alive. I did all I could to help Freyja keep her baby alive, even to the point of giving him supplemental feeding. But as often happens with first time mothers, Freyja not knowing what she was doing, sat on her baby. When a mother rabbit sits on their babies, it isn’t like a chicken where the babies are ok, baby rabbits end up dying as they are too fragile to be sat on. I’m sorry you lost your babies Freyja.
This month, April, has been better. Shelia, has her first litter in the nest box. Mar and Freyja will soon have their pregnancy checks, and if pregnant, they will have litters mid May. I am excited for these litters and can’t wait to see what each doe has. So far Shelia is doing well and caring for her babies like a champ. She is feeding them and she counts them to make sure I put back as many as I take out. This is kind of funny considering she only has 2, but it’s a good thing none the less.
If all my expecting does have their babies, I’ll have my hands, and pockets, full of little hoppers. So keep an eye on the “In the Nestbox” and “For Sale” pages as these should be filling up soon. I will also try to keep the “Upcoming Litters” page updated as well. Although that one is a little harder as I don’t post on that page unless I’m pretty sure a doe is pregnant. As always, feel free to contact me if you see a bunny your interested in or if you have questions about rabbits. If I don’t have what your looking for, I also have references for other Netherland Dwarf breeders. Until next time, Happy Hopping!
Laughing Lapins 