The KITS have arrived!

Our senior doe (a female rabbit over six months of age) Blue(berry) gave birth to TEN kits tonight! When a rabbit gives birth, it is called kindling. And kits are the babies. So, now that you are all up to speed with the lingo, I can get down to describing them!

Blue's pregnancy began just 31 days ago, when she was bred to Winchester, our junior buck. That is a typical length of term for a rabbit pregnancy. No wonder the saying goes, "multiplying like rabits!" She was in the mood to get pregnant, too. She was very interested in him for weeks before I let them do the deed. At 28 days I made a nest box of wood and hardware cloth, and placed it in her cage (above).

Blue then got busy gathering large mouthfuls of hay and arranging it "just so" in her nesting box. I Then added some spare rabbit scrap/junk wool, like mats and kind of junky stuff that I wasn't going to use to spin. Then it was time to wait. 

Fast-forward three days. Rabbits usually kindle at 31 days, so we had been checking the nest box all day. But it was a very busy day, family feast at school, snow, a class tonight , etc. Still. No kits. I felt her stomach three days in a row, very, very gently. Just put my hand under her abdomen. Then just waited. All three times I felt little movements. Kicks. But what do I know, I have never done this before. Maybe I am wrong I thought. Maybe she is not pregnant. But she thought she was. She was grumpy. And did not want any rabbits near her cage. At times did not want me near her cage.

Even so, by the end of today I began to doubt the pregnancy, and began to dread getting up all night
to check on her, only to find no kits. Or so I thought. Ernie and I left tonight for a class we are taking, and left my Mom in charge of the kids and rabbit checking. She checked every hour. No change. But
between the last time she checked and the time we got home, Blue managed to give birth to 10 (!?!) kits, eat the placenta and sacks, clean them all, and pluck her hair off her dewlap and sides to cover and insulate them. What a champ! She was sitting outside the nest box when I got home, and the only way i knew they were in there was because she looked ragged from pulling all her hair out.

So, what are they like? They are very small, like the palm of your hand, a few inches long, and thin, like 1/3 of a palm wide. They are soft, like velvet or warm baby skin. They do not have a smell that I can discern. They make little grunting noises to find each other or their mother. They pile up atop one another in the nest box and thier warm fur. We have a runt. Some are dark grey, some medium, some light grey or white. Time will tell.