We bred my blue-eyed Angora with a pink-eyed buck on June first. So the chart in the Angora book said she should have had babies around July 2. She made a nest last Thursday, June 29th, by plucking big globs of hair from her body and putting it in her nesting box. The book said after that babies should have arrived in two to three days.

We haven't seen any sign of babies. We've kept the nest area very quite. I haven't let anybody strange around there. There has been no sign of blood or anything like that, like there would be if she had had the babies and eaten them...

Does anybody have any idea what happened? This was my first time with trying to have Angora babies. With our other rabbits, it seems the babies just come along and suddenly are in the nest box.

I've read that rabbits can "reobsorb" their babies into their bodies if they are suddenly scared or something but I would have thought she was too far along for that...

Any ideas?

-- Suzy in 'Bama (slgt@yahoo.com), July 04, 2000

Answers

have you looked in the nest to make sure its empty? Move the hair to check.My guess is a false pregnancy . How many days did you count down? Mine kindle at 32 days usually.It will probably be to hot to rebreed now but try again end of sept.Who ever made the coment breeds like rabbits never bred angoras.

-- kathy h (saddlebronc@msn.com), July 04, 2000.

Suzy,

It is possible that the babies were reabsorbed earlier, and a false pregnancy proceeded. It is possible that she would go through the motions, and nothing take place.

I would suggest first that you check her for milk. If she has milk, or her bag is hardening from milk coming in and no nursing (look for blue on her bag, and heat) then she ate her babies. It is possible she had very few, especially if it is her fist kindling, or the buck was very young. Did you try to rebreed at two weeks? If so, did she accept? If she did, she may rekindle on that schedule. It is possible for a doe to have two seperate litters, two weeks apart with add'l "tester" breedings. (The second litter usually is kindled outside, and die from lack of milk)

Next, what is her diet? If no babies and no milk, her protein may be low, and you may need to add 1 tsp - 1 tbsp of wheat germ to her daily diet. Does it look like she is chewing her fur? That would be a warning. If all seems well with her diet and weight, just no babies, rebreed her directly so that she doesn't gain to much weight then lose ability, or refuse to breed, o

-- Marty P. (mrs.puck@excite.com), July 05, 2000.