Happy dance...another doe gave birth this afternoon. My pointed white doe with a chocolate buck. She had 6, 2 dark, 1 grey, and 3 light. My pointed white coloring is really poor so I am experimenting to try to improve them.

I left them with her for tonight to make sure she feeds them. This is her first litter and she did a fine job. All were birthed in the nest she prepared and she cleaned and feed them with no issues. As it was freezing all day that is a wonderful thing. Tomorrow I will bring them in and put her into the same routine as the other does.

Here are pics of this seasons first litter at 5 weeks old. 1 is a blue eye ermine, 3 are copper agouti, 2 are very clean fawns.

They are all really affectionate and sweet, but what good angora isn't?

Well here is the newest litter! They are less than 1 hour old and look fine. They are full size and already fed. The doe seems to be doing fine and is now grooming herself and doing general clean up. She is an experienced mother so I don't anticipate any problems.

Most of my does do give birth within hours of nest gathering, building and hair pulling.

The buck is a REW. I am hopeful these are as well. I will have a better idea once their eye open.

The parents of this litter both have excellent coat density with a lot of guard hairs making them easy to keep as far as grooming is concerned.

The weather is up and down. 79 F one day and 34 F the next. Right now it is wet, cold and icky humid. I have put up the north side tarp on the rabbit shed. Once the weather settles to simply cold I will put up the west side. I want the maximum circulation for them.

We had a few raccoons move in under the deck of the house. I have trapped out 3 and relocated them. I love the wildlife, just not so close to the house.

The ermine doe is building her nest for her litter. When I went out to take of them this morning she had a mouth full of fur so I knew she was ready. As soon as I put in the nest box with hay plus additional hay for her to work with herself she went right to it.

Notice the ear lacing. She doesn't have that in summer as ermines are a temperature sensitive color (non-showable). She also has some smudging on her nose which isn't visible in the pics.

You can also see the wonderful shine on her ears and face.

Here is the gang nursing. The doe is brought in every morning and put in with the kits. The kits are really funny in the morning just before I bring her in. They run around in circles and are really excited in their anticipation. They are all agouti and the white is a blue eye ermine. They all have excellent shine in their coats, the mark of good satinization.

The fibromas are present in only 2 rabbits now and one is almost completely healed while the other is well on its way.

We've had mild freezes, but nothing bad. I had one water bottle slush up last week. I will be bringing out the christmas lights to put on the water bottles sometime this week. The wind has been the worst and we need more rain.