Wow, I am in a state of shock at the moment.
This morning I went downstairs to feed the rabbits and found that sweet little Salad, my standard Chinchilla doe, had given birth to 7 kits! She barely had any contact with Ghost at all, but he is a stealthy guy it seems and here we are. She showed literally no signs that this was coming. Last night, there was no strange behavior or nesting. This morning there was fluff and a nest in the hay. I never even got a nesting box in there!
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(Salad tending to her nest. The kits are buried under the tufts of fur she removed from her underbelly)
Salad is eating like a horse. I’ve given her a larger food crock and plenty of hay and leafy greens. It’s hard to say how this will turn out, since first litters have a high rejection rate. We’ll just have to wait and see. I’m going to have to make a nesting box. Two actually, as I’m pretty sure Hazel is right behind her. She’s had more contact with Ghost and more recently.
This is the first time we’ve ever had a birth at Jewel Street Paradise! It feels a little bit more like a real farm. Our little shared home has now seen birth, death and everything in-between!
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