“Where there is livestock; there is dead stock.”
It’s a pretty typical phrase to hear within the homesteading and farming community. “Where there is livestock, there is dead stock.” Raising animals means that you will occasionally have to deal with death. For one reason or another, things happen. Even when you think you’ve planned for everything. Some livestock is sturdier than others like cows and sheep, but all of them have the potential to get sick, injured, or die. Sometimes the best laid plans fail. Our job as stewards, is to figure out why, and hopefully, prevent it from happening again.
Our ‘24 meat rabbit breeding season is a great example of this saying. Last years sales were pretty steady, and we were selling the best of what we produced. I personally have a bad habit of over-sharing what I am passionate about, and this extends to well bred rabbits. I sold about 60% of what I produced, the best of my stock, and put 40% in my family’s freezer. This led to a late hold back on the last few litters we had. I held back about four potential juniors for my operation. Only three of these would grow to be solid breed stock. I also ended up trading a few of my bucks for a few does and purchasing a doe from another breeder. All of these rabbits were unproven.
For context, I’ll explain what unproven means, though, if you are an avid meat rabbit enthusiast like me, you probably already know that every junior rabbit is considered unproven until their first successful pairing. Meaning the buck will do his job, the doe will kindle, and she will successfully raise her kits to weaning. When the pairing is successful, and everything has come to fruition, they are now considered proven. They have proven that they can do their jobs as breed stock. Breeders will often sell these rabbits at a higher rate, because it skips the uncertainty for the buyer. They are worth more, because the general idea is that the risk of purchasing sterile rabbits or rabbits averse to raising young, is low in proven stock.
I anticipated a potentially rough start to this season due to the high volume of unproven stock in my herd, and the unpredictability of the weather that we had been having here in Maine. The temps had been up and down, rain blanketing the yard rather than snow, creating wet conditions that still haven’t really dried out. Some of my bucks started to blow out their winter coat, only to find out later that we had a few good weeks of cold left. Though I knew I could have trouble with the newbies, I did not expect to run into issues with my proven rabbits. This year was the first year I lost more than 30% of a litter from my rock-star doe Rosie. She often throws me twelve kits, and raises nine or ten of them. On a nine-kit litter she raises them all. I purchased this doe from a very well known breeder in southern Maine, and have never had a bad thing to say about her. She came from production heavy lines, lifted the first time I paired her with a buck, and raised three litters last year without a single hiccup. Only after losing all but three kits out of a nine-kit litter, did I realize the fault lied with me.
I had suspected that the boxes I was giving her might be a little tight. She was still maturing in size by her second litter, and I noted it. She made use of the boxes well for her last litters in ‘23. And after November I nestled that observation in the back of my mind, far enough to forget about it altogether. I proceeded into spring without thinking about it, performing the routine tasks in the breeding schedule. Doe in cage one, goes to buck in cage three, supervise until three fall offs are achieved and a check mark in my rabbitry tracking app. 28 days later, nest box. Which is exactly what I did for sweet Rosie.
She came due, and I left her to her own devises, with the box, some straw and extra pellets. A day or two later, like clock-work, she had kindled. Six little kits, laying askew in the front portion of the box. Uncommon practice for Rosie, as she normally has them in the back, and pulls enough fur to warm the greater part of New England. These kits were uncovered, and had chilled overnight. I checked each one for life, but none had made it through without fur to keep them insulated. Rosie had managed to have three into the back of the nest box, and covered them with her usual amount of fur. I checked them, and they were all warm and wiggling, one even offering a short little squeak in response to my cold fingers.
At first I assumed the ones in the front had all been born dead, but after a few guesses and checks I figured out that they had probably come after the three in the back of the box. She did what she could with the tools given to her, and that meant that she probably ended up stomping some by accident. Seeing the babies in front of the box put it into perspective for me, and I realized that she wouldn’t even have been able to get into the box without stomping on some, even on her first nurse. They would have been gone either way, in the time that had passed between checks.
I removed them, and continued to observe, watching her get in and out of the box, but never able to turn around or move with finesse once she was inside of it. I nodded my head, gave a sigh and headed toward my kitchen for breakfast. After getting inside, and before coffee, I purchased two larger nest boxes online, and thought about this situation long and hard. I made sure to let it all sink in, so I could learn this lesson to it’s fullest.
Unfortunately that wasn’t the end of death for us this spring. The doe we purchased had also been bred by one of our proven bucks, and we were waiting on her to kindle. I was particularly excited for this doe to kindle, because I was hoping to get some new colors I hadn’t had in my line for a long time. I let myself get a little too excited at the prospect of baby rainbow rabbits. Possible chocolates, blues, potential self blacks. I was super thrilled, and fell into the kit trap. Which inevitably led to a greater feeling of loss when she abandoned them.
Lessons learned from this is; listen to your herd when they tell you something. And plan accordingly. We now have a few bigger boxes for the bigger does, and a pledge to hold back better. We have had a kindling since, and a few more does that are pregnant.
