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[carte_blanche81]

So instead of the usual 3 she produces, she decided to have 4 this time.
a medium ebony boy, dark ebony girl and 2 hetero beige's (boy and girl of each)

Is there anything extra I should do? I hear sometimes it can be a little troubling with any more than 3 babies.

[chinchillagrl06]

Congrats. Any pictures? Just make sure Mom is producing enough milk for all of them. Also, if you notice a kit not gaining as much you may need to rotate them. I have not experienced kits yet, but I'm sure Jo-Ann, Debbie, or Jamie could give more advice. 

[carte_blanche81]

yes, i'll have pics up within the next couple days

[Joyce]

Congratulations on the new babies!  I would love to see pictures.  The more baby pics I have seen lately the more excited I get.  We are expecting our very first litter next month.  Going into this we really thought "Oh she'll only have one kit, after all it is her first litter."  And furthermore she is a big standard girl and her mate is over 900 grams himself.  So, we thought for sure, big boys produce fewer kits and larger kits!  At least that is what I have always heard.
Well we are now thinking she is surely going to have more than one!  Just due to her size and weight increase.  But time will tell.  We cannot wait for the big day to arrive!  We do plan to keep the kit(s).  We will never be able to part with them, no matter how many we are blessed with!

[Debbie.nl.ca]

Much Congrats, how exciting.
I've only had triplets here once, mostly twins.
All I do is keep on eye out for problems, but 90% if the time Mom does just fine.
If I notice one is not getting his share I'll take the others out for an hour or so each day, leaving peewee some time to catch up with Mom alone.
If that's not enough I'll supplement a couple of feedings a day with kitten replacement. I do it a little different by trying the biggest kit with it first and letting the weaker kits have Mom's milk.
Each chin is different as is each litter so ya really have to play it by ear.
Some take right to hand feedings while some protest and have to be almost forced into it. That's on the far side of rare, but does happen. It's also a little tricky as the darlings can drown with a dropper full of milk in their lungs or air ways.
Keep an eye out and let us know how all is going.

Yes pics pics, we love baby pictures

[Jo Ann]

Hi,

   We've had 3 sets of quads and one set of quints.

    Debbie, I do it the same way ... if one looks like it may be hogging all the milk, I supplement it several times a day ... get it's belly full, leaving the natural milk (the best) for the smaller/weaker ones that need it the most.

    Do be careful of fighting between the kits, they can really inflict major damage on each other.    Especially around the eyes, nose and back of the neck.

     Do you have a foster mom for part of the kits if you need one?

     Do you have the mom on a good supplement?  If not, and you can not get one right away ... rose hips and papaya are good ... along with Ocean Spray Cranberry Juice mixed 1/2 and 1/2 with water in addition to her regular water bottle.  She needs all the extra nutrition she can get.

    Remove any thing she can get in or on, to escape from the kits, inside the cage ... they can chill easily and/or starve.   If she does not have enough milk for all the kits, she will abandon the weakest one so that the others have a chance to survive.

    If you see her leaving one of the kits and not caring for it ... start feeding it immediately and/or get it with a nursing foster mom that will accept it and hopefully nurse it.

      Besides the drain from all the nursing, she will get very little rest ... if one kit isn't crawling all over her, another one will be, or she will be breaking up a fight between two or more of them ... very little rest for her.   She needs time away from the kits every day ... at least an hour ... just to re-coup and/or relax.       

      There are a couple of short movies on my Gigit and her four at: http://www.luvnchins.com/GigetKitsDay1.html That is the first of 3 pages that might give you an idea of what to expect.   

      I'll keep my fingers crossed for you and the little ones!   

 
Jo Ann

[Jo Ann]

If you do have to foster a kit/kits out ... they need to be with a litter about the same age or size ... If this is not possible, if you have a litter you can wean early, I would do that.

   Your biggest danger with fostering a kit out is that the siblings and/or foster mom will not accept it/them.

    I always put the kit/kits with the kits that they will be with for about half an hour or so ... watching them carefully to see that they will not hurt it/them.  This is also done to mix and mingle the kit's scents, so that the foster momma will have a better chance to accept the new kit.  If you put a new kit in with another litter, without taking these precautions, it is usually rejected and/or killed.   

     I just got a kit from another breeder that is 2 and 1/2 weeks old ... it lost it's momma.   Below is a picture of it when I first put it's two foster siblings in with it to get acquainted ... they did great ... and their mom accepted the new kit.     Here they look like they're being held up by a robber, but they just did not like the camera flashes.   

     They are in a small traveling cage to get acquainted.  Smaller spaces tend to keep them from fighting as much.

 
Jo Ann

[Chins To Love]

congrats on your babies, and Jo Ann what a great pic. I had to foster in Princess baby with Piadora and her new kit, they were born three days apart, I had never done this before, and was so glad it went so smoothly.  Princess had a dead, deformed kit in her that she could not deliver on her own, so she had to have a c-section to have it removed. Princess is healing well, back up to her regular weight, and back to acting normal again. Piadora is a great mom to both chins and you would never know that they were not born together.

[Jo Ann]

That's great! 

     So many times there is no foster mom that will accept a kit that is not hers and take care of it.  Hold on to  Piadora, she'll probably be priceless in the future when you need her again!    But, even a female that has become one of your 'regular' foster moms, do not always accept all kits given to them.

    Glad to hear Princess is doing good.  Can you tell us more about the deformed, unborn kit and Princess's C section?  Many have not been through this.  Sharing information is the main reason for boards like this.

     What one might learn the hard way, or from past experiences, if shared, can often make it easier on another person and/or chin.  A chin's life may even depend on it.

     What would even be better is to write an article about it (how you knew there was a problem ... what medications ... healing time, etc.) and let Jamie add it to the archives in our Chinchill Club Magazine section.      Think of what good you could do!   

 
Jo Ann

Notice: UPDATE this topic has been moved to the breeding 101 section
 

      MOVED: Princess C-section
« on: July 16, 2006, 03:18:55 PM »     

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This topic has been moved to Breeding 101 at:

http://www.chinchillaclub.com/forum/index.php?topic=137.0    Thanks, Jamie!