The day we picked Lulu up, Linda mentioned that there was a slight possibility that she might be pregnant. She said Lulu has gotten out one day and spent some time frolicking around with a boy rabbit named Peter. She thought that they had separated them in time, and was pretty sure that enough time had passed, but she wasn't 100% sure either way. She mentioned it because she said she had a dream the night before of Lulu with a bunch of babies. Linda told me what to look for (Lulu stuffing her mouth with hay and pulling out her fur) and home we went. I secretly thought it would be pretty darn cool if she did have babies, because it would be such an awesome experience for the kids. But if she wasn't that was of course okay too, we were just thrilled to have her home with us!
I didn't think any more about it until yesterday, when I kept seeing Lulu digging around her cage. I thought to myself "how strange" because she hasn't done that since she has been home. We went along with our day, and I kept an eye on her (the hutch is right outside our kitchen window). I was almost finished with dinner, when I felt this need to go look at her. I glance out the window, and what do I see but Lulu scrunched in the corner of the cage holding a big wad of hay in her mouth. Oh my gosh, we were going to have babies! I ran and told the kids, and then ran even faster to the phone to call Linda. In between hyperventilating, I managed to spit out what was happening. Linda, bless her, was calm as could be and said to lay a blanket down on the bottom of the hutch so they wouldn't be born on the wire (they can die if they get too cold). She also suggested that we try to get a bale of straw to cover the floor of the hutch with. The kids and I have never gotten in the car faster, we made it to the feed store 10 minutes before they closed! I am so glad I listened to that voice in my head and checked on her when I did!!
Once we got home I laid 4 flakes of hay down which perfectly covered the hutch, and Lulu went right to work.
She would pick a mouthful of perfect straw, and then rub it up and down against the wires of her cage:
She repeated this over and over until her nest was built just how she liked it. Once the straw was perfect, she started pulling out her belly fur to line the nest with, so it would be nice and soft for her babies:
She pulled out a LOT of fur - such a good mama!
Linda came over to check things out for me, I was so worried that I wouldn't have everything just right for Lulu. We walked to the backyard and peered into the hutch (it was getting dark by this time) and there were two sweet babies!
We stood around and talked for a while, and before she left we checked again and saw a little black baby. It wasn't moving like the other two, so we were pretty sure it hadn't made it. About 20 minutes after Linda left, I went out to check on Lulu and found that she had had another baby on the other side of the cage from her nest, near her water bottle. Linda had said that rabbit mamas never put babies back into nests, so after Lulu was done licking the baby I distracted her with a carrot and moved the baby to the nest. I stayed up late and kept checking on her to make sure she didn't have more out of the nest, but by 11pm it appeared that she was done. Thats a pretty small litter for a rabbit, Linda said the average was 10-12, but because this is Lulus first pregnancy, and because she is a bigger bunny herself, having just a few babies is perfectly normal for her.
This morning Killian and I went out to check on the babies, and we confirmed that the black baby was dead. We put it in a shoebox, and will have a burial for it when he gets home from school today. Its sad, but I explained to the kids that the baby must have been to sick to live. They handled it just fine, which was a relief!
We may have lost our only black baby, but the remaining three are healthy, squirmy bundles of pink! Clicking on the pictures will make them bigger:
You can see what a great mama Lulu is, her nest is just perfect, and the babies are surrounded by fluffy fur to keep them warm. She actually keeps them covered with the fur, but I removed it to take the pictures, and replaced it when we were done. The babies are so sweet and tiny - I think I love the teeny ears the most! We are all so excited about our new babies, and cant wait to see them grow up and find good homes. What a wonderful surprise this was. ♥
I didn't think any more about it until yesterday, when I kept seeing Lulu digging around her cage. I thought to myself "how strange" because she hasn't done that since she has been home. We went along with our day, and I kept an eye on her (the hutch is right outside our kitchen window). I was almost finished with dinner, when I felt this need to go look at her. I glance out the window, and what do I see but Lulu scrunched in the corner of the cage holding a big wad of hay in her mouth. Oh my gosh, we were going to have babies! I ran and told the kids, and then ran even faster to the phone to call Linda. In between hyperventilating, I managed to spit out what was happening. Linda, bless her, was calm as could be and said to lay a blanket down on the bottom of the hutch so they wouldn't be born on the wire (they can die if they get too cold). She also suggested that we try to get a bale of straw to cover the floor of the hutch with. The kids and I have never gotten in the car faster, we made it to the feed store 10 minutes before they closed! I am so glad I listened to that voice in my head and checked on her when I did!!
Once we got home I laid 4 flakes of hay down which perfectly covered the hutch, and Lulu went right to work.
She would pick a mouthful of perfect straw, and then rub it up and down against the wires of her cage:
She repeated this over and over until her nest was built just how she liked it. Once the straw was perfect, she started pulling out her belly fur to line the nest with, so it would be nice and soft for her babies:
She pulled out a LOT of fur - such a good mama!
Linda came over to check things out for me, I was so worried that I wouldn't have everything just right for Lulu. We walked to the backyard and peered into the hutch (it was getting dark by this time) and there were two sweet babies!
We stood around and talked for a while, and before she left we checked again and saw a little black baby. It wasn't moving like the other two, so we were pretty sure it hadn't made it. About 20 minutes after Linda left, I went out to check on Lulu and found that she had had another baby on the other side of the cage from her nest, near her water bottle. Linda had said that rabbit mamas never put babies back into nests, so after Lulu was done licking the baby I distracted her with a carrot and moved the baby to the nest. I stayed up late and kept checking on her to make sure she didn't have more out of the nest, but by 11pm it appeared that she was done. Thats a pretty small litter for a rabbit, Linda said the average was 10-12, but because this is Lulus first pregnancy, and because she is a bigger bunny herself, having just a few babies is perfectly normal for her.
This morning Killian and I went out to check on the babies, and we confirmed that the black baby was dead. We put it in a shoebox, and will have a burial for it when he gets home from school today. Its sad, but I explained to the kids that the baby must have been to sick to live. They handled it just fine, which was a relief!
We may have lost our only black baby, but the remaining three are healthy, squirmy bundles of pink! Clicking on the pictures will make them bigger:
You can see what a great mama Lulu is, her nest is just perfect, and the babies are surrounded by fluffy fur to keep them warm. She actually keeps them covered with the fur, but I removed it to take the pictures, and replaced it when we were done. The babies are so sweet and tiny - I think I love the teeny ears the most! We are all so excited about our new babies, and cant wait to see them grow up and find good homes. What a wonderful surprise this was. ♥