Black Diamond Kits

Black Diamond Kits
Sage's Kits, Nine Weeks Old

Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Preparing for Kits To Arrive



Starting two weeks before the kits are due, turn on a radio or CD player at night to calm rabbits and drown out unwanted noise from cars or coyotes or other predators that could be lurking outside.  If you have neighborhood dogs or children you will definitely want to run the radio all day and night.

One week before the kits are due, you will definitely want to clean and sanitize the doe’s cage, pan, and nesting box.  Hay is expensive, so you will want to use some shredded paper.  Try not to use thicker paper, or paper with sharp edges. 

Pluck, comb, or shear the doe’s wool the week before the kits are due so that there is no wool long enough to wrap around little baby bunny legs or ears.  Also, you can cut the wool the doe pulls herself into small pieces.  One week before the kits are due, do not move the doe any more. 

Two to three days before the kits are due, put the nesting box in.  Do not do this any earlier.  You don’t want it to become a litter box.  

Snowball with a mouthful of hay for rearranging her nest
Finally, start watching for signs of imminent kindling—stuffing hay in mouth, pulling wool, rearranging the nest.  Don’t stress the doe by checking too often, but do check to make sure everything goes smoothly.

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