I went into the nest today to make sure that there were no dead ones and to give them a quick count. You'll be happy to know, as I was, that all is well. There are 7 active and wiggly bunnies in there. The white fur you see is what the doe builds her nest from. A pregnant rabbit starts to grow a big hairy dewflap (snicker, snicker) under her chin when she gets pregnant and the fur continues to thicken and fill in for the month. The night before giving birth, she goes into a serious 'nesting' mode, and pulls out the fur from her dewflap to build a warm soft nest.
It's super important for her to not be able to smell me on the babies, so before touching the nest, I put a dab of essential oil on her nose. She'll be smelling wintergreen for the next little while and the risk of her rejecting her kits is lessened.
1 comment:
AWWWHHHHH -- congrats on the 7 itty bitty bunny's.
That is absolutely amazing about the white fur she grows under her chin.
I love hearing all this info and learning more and more about life on the farm. Like the wintergreen oil, the Mommy Bunny is going to be all confused and think it's Christmas time. LOL
Thanks for the bunny lesson.
Can't wait to see more pics of them along the way.
:0)
Ma Ma P
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