01/12/2024
We lost a great one yesterday at John Mock Family Rabbitry. JP's Royal passed away after complications from having a litter (her 17th! The three babies are all doing well on foster mom's, mercifully). Royal, who was coming up on her fifth birthday, wasn't the most beautiful show rabbit in the world. I'm not sure she saw many show tables at all. For this reason, the attached might be the only picture ever taken of her. Her stops were a bit long and she was one of those does who could take or leave human contact, so we made her a brood doe. Here, she excelled.
And I mean, EXCELLED. She was protective of each and every one of her kits, to the point where she let us know she was watching when we fed her while she was on a litter. I'm willing to wager everyone has a brood doe like that in their barn, and if you're like us, while you're not thrilled about the behavior, if the doe raises her babies, you're happy to let it go.
Speaking of raising babies...in four years as a brood doe, Royal raised 16 litters (4 litters a year). NInety-two rabbits were kindled in these litters (nearly 6 rabbits a litter). Eighty of them were raised to the age of weaning (87% survival rate). Yes, this proves that I keep stats on my brood does like a REAL rabbit nerd. But it also proves the quality of this doe as a brood animal.
It's alway sad to lose a rabbit, but I look around the barn at our blue brood does and am heartened. JP's Whitney is durrently on a litter. She's a Royal daughter. JP's Zara is on a litter. She's a Royal grand-daughter. So is JP's Madison, currently bred. Royal may be gone but her legacy and what she brought to our blue program will live on ...