Baby Bunnies

Well, our rabbit surprised me yesterday morning with her new litter of babies! I have been expecting them, but wasn't sure exactly when since we werent' told exactly when she was bred when we bought her. She had 10, but 2 did not survive. We had a bit of a problem when she decided to "clean up" after birthing her litter and accidently scooted 3 babies right out of the cage. Not realy sure how she got them all the way out, but she did. The were ok though because she has been scooting her hay out of the cage for several days which provided a nice cushion for the babies to land on. Rabbits are funny about their babies and they will abandon or eat them if they smell like a human, so my dilemma was to get the babies back in the nest without offending mama. I rubbed her real good to dilute my scent on my hand, and then took some of the fur from her nest that she had cleaned out. With the fur actually touching the babies, I hope to not transfer too much of my smell which hopefully was diluted by rubbing and scratching mama. I picked the babies up by the scruff of the neck and popped them back in the nest. I checked on them later to make sure that she wasn't purging weak babies from the litter and that this was a mistake. Mama and babies were all happily curled up together in the nest. When she hopped out of the nest to see if I had brought any treats (or because the flashlight spooked her)all 8 babies were lined up perfectly and contentedly sleeping. So all the more reason to get the rabbit runs and rabbit yard finished so these babies will have a place to graze and play when they are ready to do so. One or two of the females will go back into the breeding population while the other 6 will go in the freezer. So Mama bunny has already earned back her cost. I admit it won't be easy to butcher these babies, they really are adorable, but at least we will have the satisfaction of knowing that our babies have had a happy life with lots of love and care. Up until that day we can enjoy their cuteness and the antics that always come with watching baby bunnies.