I just got a call from my partner to let me know that our rescue rabbit appears to be nest building. From previous experience I know that if she starts to pull fur she will probably go into labour tonight. I am stuck at work til 12am and desperate to see her give birth, has anyone else witnessed the miracle of life with their animals?

I did only just though :D

With your two latest additions? Who are gorgeous by the way. I really hope its tonight, I go away tomorrow til Sunday and am slightly worried about leaving my partner to play bunny midwife!

Yes the new additions. I missed the fist but saw the last 1/2 of the second but omg the afterbirth is bleugh!

Slightly disgusting question but did the mother eat it? :gag: I read that they take lots of nutrients from it. Which is totally gross but such is nature. Lol:hihi:

Yes they do eat it, all of it, bleugh! It apparently helps them with milk production

Im off to muck em all out and bath all but the babies, picks to follow for sure!

how many do you have? it takes me a couple of hours to clean all our hutches (5 adults and 3 babies at the mo.)

She has started pulling fur! Cant believe im not at home. Gutted.

:( aww Sooz. But just think, when you get home there will be a few babies waiting (and you'll have to wait about a week to see them :hihi: )
I bet its an amazing thing to view.

I was just thinking that at least if I saw them born I could count them! It took ten days last time before we knew how many we had! Once they are tucked away in the nest thats it for 10-14 days!

We had a yorkie years ago, and we let her have a litter...unfortunately after watching her struggle to labour, she ended up having a c-section.
Late one sunday night,once the vet had prepared her, me & my S.I.L (who's yorkie was the stud) were allowed into theatre to watch.

My lass had two very large pups, and we rubbed them dry and warmed them while my lass was closed up and brought round.

Magical :)

Ps, we had homes already for the pups, and once we'd paid the bill, our change was £21. She was spayed then (the belief back then was it was better to let them have a litter b4 spaying...:huh: )

Yeah thats a good warning to anyone who is thinking of breeding, you have to be prepared to pay vets bills, so many things can go wrong. Another reason I really need to be at home.:rolleyes: but when your the boss....

She had them! Secretly when no-one was looking :| so will just have to wait to count them again.:rolleyes:

I used to breed German Shepherds, and one of mine had 12 puppies,its a privlidge to be at the the birth, and offer help if you think its needed, they were always such wonderful mothers, and never seemed to need much help,

But last year i decided to let my Cavalier have just one litter, as I'd got realy good homes for them whether its the breed,or because shes so spoiled but she was quite disgusted by it all, and I ended up looking after them we practically had to force to stay in the box, to feed them.

The worse thing, the bitch is supposed to lick them to make them pooh and wee, well she wasn't having none of that so, after every feed there we were with the damp cotton wool gently rubbing their little bums, until we got a result.
Then they were crying all night cos their mum wouldn't stay with them, shes used to going to bed with us, needless to say she wont be having anymore, but we kept one, and hes gorgeous so some good came out of it.

yeah we were prepared to do that if she rejected them, even have a tub of KMR milk in the fridge but my partner said she is doing fine, she back to herself although she cant have had them more than two hours ago.

It all down to instinct, like you say most animals are great mother but you have to prepare for the worst.

I once saw one of my guinea pigs give birth, it's magical!!

I've watched our cat give birth,not sure the cat was impressed with me watching :confused:

I once saw one of my guinea pigs give birth, it's magical!!

Sorry Tess, it's not magical at all, it starts off with Mummy Guinea Pig and Daddy Guinea Pig "Rockin' Da Hutch"...........:hihi:

Sorry Tess, it's not magical at all, it starts off with Mummy Guinea Pig and Daddy Guinea Pig "Rockin' Da Hutch"...........:hihi:

Theres always one who has to lower the tone of a thread

Theres always one who has to lower the tone of a thread

Yep.
:rolleyes:

Sorry, couldn't resist it.
We've got a few pets but I've got a feeling that the only ones that we're going to "see give birth" are the Giant African Land Snails.

I seen my rottweiler born two years ago as i got her from my freind who is a breeder, Then again four weeks ago i was sat at my freinds home and we hear a noise only to see that her other rottweiler gave birth and she did not show any sign that she was going to give birth that day, My daughter was with us to see the second one been born an hour later, she thought it was a lovely thing to see till she seen the mother lick and eat the birth sack it put her off something for life.

I've got 10 pigs at the mo soo, only 6 are permenant residents. another pig I have is due to give birth end of october

Haven't seen any of my pets give birth but saw a cow giving birth a few weeks ago. I was out riding and was in the middle of nowhere. The cow had gone into a corner of an empty field. I stayed to watch mainly to see if she had any problems, then I could alert the farmer. All went OK, although it looked pretty painful. The calf was georgeous, but all the other stuff that came out was horrible. The cow licked the calf and I left them to it, on my way back round about 45 minutes later the cow was eating all the afterbirth, :gag: but suppose it will give them both the nutrients in the long run that they need.
I once saw a horse giving birth, that was also amazing to see, they are so clumsy little foals when they are born, all spangly and wobbly :hihi:

I have recently found out my horses mother and one of her daughters are still together, where her old owner brought her from. I am going to go and see them in Blackpool which I am really looking forward to. Might sound silly but it's nice to be able to see her relatives as you very very rarely get that opportunity with a horse.

Sounds like you have your hands full with all those bunnies Sooz. :rolleyes:

Jess X

The afterbirth is gross, no matter the size of the animal lol! I'm training to be a midwife so I guess there'll be more to come

Sounds like you have your hands full with all those bunnies Sooz. :rolleyes:
Jess X

Yeah, Im away to so Phil has copped for it. Apparently took him half an hour to feed them today!Lol. Two off to a lovely new home next week, be sad to see them go :( .

At least people dont feel the need to digest afterbirth Baileys mum! If we did I think there would be a shortage of women prepared to give birth. That said the pain dosnt seem to put many off :confused:

Its a pain easily dulled by time but safely said never forgotten ;)

Don't be too sure about people not eating the afterbirth Sooz, I have a friend whose sister is a bit hippieish and her and her partner ate the placenta after giving birth to their child, never understood it and don't now. I can remember going round to see the baby after it had just been born, think day after and they had it in the fridge and thought it was a normal thing to do. (Just read that back, sounded like they put the baby in the fridge :hihi: not the baby that would be wierd, the placenta) Have you ever come accross this training to be a midwife baileys_mum?

I'm not too sure about the pain of giving birth either. :| think I will stick to pets instead of children for the meantime :thumbsup:

Sorry to hear your litter is getting smaller, it's the worst thing about having animals around in my opinion. Having to let go (for whatever reason!) But by the sounds of it there will be the little patter(thump) of bunny feet around with you and Phil again soon. Sure there will be another rescue case ending up with you.:rolleyes: Hope you are both (all) well XXX

I think there are 4/5 in this litter. Can check them all properly when I get home on Sunday. Its like xmas X3. First you get the surprise of birth, then the surprise of numbers and finally the surprise of sexes! All takes about 3 weeks to unfold.

Another nice thing is that if th eyes havnt opened by 12 days you have to do it for them (start to go blind at 14) with damp cotton wool, so when they open their eyes the first thing they see is you. It realy makes a difference to the personality, the one whose eyes we didn have to open is much more shy.

Don't be too sure about people not eating the afterbirth Sooz, I have a friend whose sister is a bit hippieish and her and her partner ate the placenta after giving birth to their child, never understood it and don't now. I can remember going round to see the baby after it had just been born, think day after and they had it in the fridge and thought it was a normal thing to do. (Just read that back, sounded like they put the baby in the fridge :hihi: not the baby that would be wierd, the placenta) Have you ever come accross this training to be a midwife baileys_mum?

I'm not too sure about the pain of giving birth either. :| think I will stick to pets instead of children for the meantime :thumbsup:

Sorry to hear your litter is getting smaller, it's the worst thing about having animals around in my opinion. Having to let go (for whatever reason!) But by the sounds of it there will be the little patter(thump) of bunny feet around with you and Phil again soon. Sure there will be another rescue case ending up with you.:rolleyes: Hope you are both (all) well XXX


Who the hell ate afterbirth?

Yes, in some religions its seen to be a sign of good health for the baby. Many people nowadays would rather it "dissapeared", though I do hear its good rose bush food

:gag: barfs.....