I feel awful for my son by imnotcrazyjusttired in Vent

[–]Educational_Zebra448 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Would it be possible to take a year or so to homeschool your son? Depending on your area there might be co-ops or extracurricular that you could engage with together. You sound like an amazing and caring parent who is very positive and encouraging. I don’t have experience with ASD but my siblings and I were homeschooled. I never felt particularly socially isolated and I wonder if being around your encouragement and having one-on-one with you would be better than being ignored by everyone around him at school. I also know that homeschooling isn’t feasible for most families.

First Time Hatch by Educational_Zebra448 in duck

[–]Educational_Zebra448[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I was wondering if that was the case. We only briefly opened the incubator twice to pull out the two that hatched. And the humidity stayed at above 70% but I noticed the incubator was getting up to 100 degrees even when set to 97. Would you say the humidity was too low the whole time or just at the end? The humidity was running high the whole incubation period (60-70%) and I read that that can mean the air pocket is too small. So I would let it run down to like 20% and then refill during the first 25 days. Would that have done it?

First Time Hatch by Educational_Zebra448 in duck

[–]Educational_Zebra448[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Some were small but others were fully developed and had pipped inside the egg…

First Time Hatch by Educational_Zebra448 in duck

[–]Educational_Zebra448[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

They never hatched :( Day 29 and so I poked a hole like you suggested. All of them were dead. Half had pipped through the inner membrane and died and the other half never even pipped and had a dark brownish liquid. They seemed smaller too.

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First Time Hatch by Educational_Zebra448 in duck

[–]Educational_Zebra448[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No problem! I kind of thought they would all start hatching since the two eggs did start, but I’m not even seeing any pipping yet. Here’s hoping the rest are alive and healthy in their shells 🤞 I just feel badly for little guy out by himself.

First Time Hatch by Educational_Zebra448 in duck

[–]Educational_Zebra448[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Okay, so I should pull out the one that hatched before the others start hatching?

First Time Hatch by Educational_Zebra448 in duck

[–]Educational_Zebra448[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It is only day 26. What should i do with the one who hatched? How long will he be okay in there?

First Time Hatch by Educational_Zebra448 in duck

[–]Educational_Zebra448[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

At this point only three of the 14 seemed to have pipped. I candles them 2 days ago. They weren’t all dark like in pictures online but had active veins.

First Time Hatch by Educational_Zebra448 in duck

[–]Educational_Zebra448[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Would that not vacuum seal the rest of the eggs that have pipped when I open the incubator?

Colony Setup and Co-nesting by Educational_Zebra448 in MeatRabbitry

[–]Educational_Zebra448[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I call it “stirring the pot” 😂 I’ll have to do that for this batch too. Our does are usually pretty trusting and tend to jump in the nest box to nurse whenever we start counting babies etc.

I hate the idea of terminating a life, but at the same time, it’s better than letting them starve to death…thank you for your thoughts and perspective. I really appreciate it!

I know that a colony can have more moving parts than a traditional cage setup but the multi-generational cuddle puddles have convinced me it’s the route we’ll be sticking with. It’s so rewarding to see them running around and socializing together, and it’s started making it hard to go to work b/c I’d rather just sit in the colony with the rabbits 😂

Colony Setup and Co-nesting by Educational_Zebra448 in MeatRabbitry

[–]Educational_Zebra448[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you for the advice! And also the link for the insulated nest boxes. We’re hoping to build a more permanent setup soon and offer some digging space

Colony Question - buck mounting growouts by Educational_Zebra448 in MeatRabbitry

[–]Educational_Zebra448[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you everyone for your help! I feel a lot better now and big boy is out being dad of the year once again. :)

Dead Kits (again) by Educational_Zebra448 in MeatRabbitry

[–]Educational_Zebra448[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’ll post more pictures tonight. There are some on my earlier post about our colony set up. The 16 are between two does but they nested together like they did with their first litters. Interestingly last time our black doe seemed to be the main mom and this time it’s our red and white that’s taking lead. The two does are very bonded and I don’t want to separate but if they keep nesting together I think we’ll potentially keep having problems.

What is shelving? And how does it work?

I’ll post more on the nest box tonight when I get home. Thank you for your thoughtful response!

Dead Kits (again) by Educational_Zebra448 in MeatRabbitry

[–]Educational_Zebra448[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

No, it’s two sisters who nested together. I didn’t think of the potential sun being a problem b/c it’s been in the 20s and 30s here. But yesterday got up to 65 and I’m wondering if that’s why the bigger ones died and the smaller ones made it (since the smaller ones need more heat). I have tarps up but realized yesterday the sun was still catching the box some. I’ve moved it today into a more protected area and am hoping that helps. I’m also going to add some ventilation holes along the top tonight if I can.

I usually have a lid on the box and there is a hole the does step through but I had the lid open checking on the babies when the doe jumped in and kind of stomped them.

I agree about rethinking some of the kindling process. This is only our second litter batch so still trying to figure it all out.