Breeders > Breeding 101
Mia is due soon!!!
Joyce:
;) Hi Guys,
Soon I will be a grandma for the first time, we are all very excited here! It is now clearly looking like it'll be a multiple birth. I have talked to many breeders, and read whatever I have been able to find on the topic of pregnancy & birthing as well as helping kits in trouble!
OK, my question is for those of you who have had chinnie babies. Whether or not you have had to "help" mom and kits out or not, what are some items that are good to have around as just in case items? Some of you have helped me already earlier in the pregnancy and recently so I have already picked up many things to have on hand. Such as the canned powder kitten formula, teeny animal baby bottles from the pet store, a supply of freshly washed white towels & washcloths, q-tips, the little nasal bulb, plastic droppers, neosporin, etc.....
Please help me and those future first timers out there!!! I'd love a list of items and suggestions from you all out there who are more experienced.
What do you suggest having on hand..............
Her whelping cage is all set up and reading to go! I will put soft Carefresh bedding in it soon. My husband built her a pine wood hut. Is it OK to have it in the whelping cage? Or do we not do huts? I also have a couple of those thick cardboard chubes for kits to hide in. They are wider than a toilet paper tube so no getting stuck here Jo Ann!
::silly:: Thanks everyone!
chinclub:
Hi Joyce,
I would suggest putting very little in the cage with mom and babies. First time moms can be funny about taking care of babies. I have found that not giving the babies anywhere to get lost and not giving mom anywhere to hide, the babies will get better care. It will also give you a clearer view to be sure everyone is getting care and staying warm. Its important to have a place for babies to hide if the male is left in the cage, but if its just mom you want the babies under her.
If you do decide to use the house be sure to place it in the center of the cage. We once had a kit get behind a little house and get squished to death. After that we no longer put anything in the breeding cages.
I have had hundreds of births over the years and I have never had to help out, in fact I have never even known a mom was in labor except once when I walked in just in time to see her pull it out! Chances are it will be the same for you. One morning you will just see new little babies in the cage. :)
Joyce:
Jamie,
Thanks for the advice. I will be taking Mia out of her present cage and putting her in the whelping cage, so dad will not be in there with her and the kits. Wow, good advice on the hut, gosh I had never thought about that! I think I'll pass putting it in as well as pass on putting in tubes for the kits.
:::grins:: Thanks again!
chinclub:
They will be fun for the kits after the first month though, so hold onto them. :)
null:
--- Quote from: chinclub on July 06, 2006, 01:06:45 PM ---I have had hundreds of births over the years and I have never had to help out, in fact I have never even known a mom was in labor except once when I walked in just in time to see her pull it out! Chances are it will be the same for you. One morning you will just see new little babies in the cage. :)
--- End quote ---
I actually caught Kira when she was in labor a few weeks ago. She was sitting with her face in the corner of the cage which isn't somewhere where she doesn't normally hang out. Then I saw her raising her butt into the air and I figured out what was going on. When I went closer I could actually hear the baby making little peeping sounds before it's head was out. She kept raising her butt in the air for about twenty minutes. Then I started to see the kit's nose, it took her about five more minutes to get the head through and then she pulled the kit right out.
I put the levels back in the cage with her when she was three weeks old since one day I saw the kit sitting on the bracket where the top level slides into. Since she's going up there anyway I might as well give them the extra space.
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