Difficult Litter

This will be a brief update because unfortunately I don't have much good news to share presently. We lost 1 of the 10 kits already and several others don't look very good. Of course the one that passed was one of Kurayami's, so there are only 2 left from her. Unfortunately, not one kit has a full belly yet that I've seen and some of them look downright rough. I don't think fostering the 3 that Kurayami had helped matters, but Tacoma isn't acting the same towards this litter as she did towards Pancake and Jack. I don't know what it is, but I am letting nature take its course due to lack of other options. None of the other 3 does took, so what we have now is pretty much it.

In the past I have attempted to bottle feed kits when the mother wasn't able or willing to do her job. I've never once had a bottle-fed kit survive long-term, even when it was getting small amounts of rabbit milk. In more recent years, I have decided against the practice as I believe it just prolongs the inevitable and still feel that way today. 

So that's pretty much it. I fully expect to lose another kit or four over the next few days, but hopefully Tacoma will become more interested and produce more milk. I feel very fortunate that we were able to get some kits from these older does. All the same, I am ready to get back to young and productive stock. My husband is frustrated by this endeavor and wants to work with New Zealands, but I am trying my best to stick with it and (hopefully) have enough of a line to continue forward into the next generations.