Tea, Runts, and Social Services

 Seven little babies snuggled in the nest, 

Six out of seven looking quite the best.

One little baby was small and rather thin

Two worried girls kept looking in on him.

One little mother, sweet, round and fat,

Had three little babies, only three! imagine that!

The two worried girls contrived a clever plot

To try and save the little one, they hoped it wouldn't flop 

One little baby, differs from the others,

But nobody minds, not even his new mother

Now it's easier for him to get a bit to eat

We hope he'll grow up big and strong, all fat, cute and sweet! 

by: Becca

That is how our Saturday went. 

After some disscusion we moved the runt to Sarah Jane's nest, and we are glad we did, even though we felt a bit like Social Services.

Us: "Mrs. Rosie, clearly one of your children is not getting enough milk. We are going to place him in a home where he can be properly cared for."

Rosie: *blinks* "Whatev' "

Us: "All of his fat siblings are pushing him out of the way during meal times. You realize, without our intervention, the probability of this kit not surviving is astronomical!"

Rosie: "Sure, do what'ya want with the kit"

( Rabbit are capable, but indifferent mothers.)

We have had success with these relocations in the past. There was Julie's kit, Steve McGee, that we moved to Stormy's nest.

(See post here) 

There is a substantial amount of risk involved with interfering; mostly emotional.

We've experienced unfortunate results with our first attempt at "Runt Rescue".

*flips through case book*

Meet Pip.

Pip was in the same litter as Steve McGee. He was the tiniest from the very beginning,  and after 2-3 weeks of special care, we thought he was doing well.  

Then things took a turn for the worse.

Pip contracted an eye infection commonly known as "Nest Box Eye".

Maybe just a small problem for a normal kit, but for Pip it was a death sentence.

*dabs eyes with handkerchief* 

Now you understand part of our cryptic post title, 

"But where does tea fit in to all this!?" you ask.

"Yes, well, don't you want a cup now? Will you take cream and sugar?" :) 

 Actually the tea I made this afternoon was for the mamma rabbits.

I used dandelion, fennel and nettle; a blend of herbs helpful for milk production. 

  With ten hungry mouths to feed, we thought we could try to help out a little more.  :)

But you're not here to listen to our sob stories, of course not.

You want to see the babies!

Sorry, so sorry… here they are then.

They are still rather pinkish, but getting furrier every day.

Rosie's six fatties 

(I don't think they even miss Scrawny)

We have four broken opals, including the one in Sarah Jane's nest.

( white with Steve colored spots )

Only one fat broken lynx

(Strawberry blonde)

One either black or dark brown, hard to tell right now…

And one tri-colored, just like Mama.

Opal and lynx.

On to Sarah Jane's house!

 "Hello children."

She had two Castors, and they look just like their daddy! : )

One solid black; a mini Sarah :)

Except that this one has white toes on it's front foot.

Here's the little foster kit. He seems to be getting along with everyone, and he doesn't look as small compared to Sarah's petite kits.

Only five more days until their eyes open!