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The nest box should be placed in the cage 28 or 29 days after the doe has been bred. It should contain bedding of hay, straw, shavings, or similar material. The doe will make a nest of these (Fig 5.10), after which she will pull fur (Fig 5.11) from the hip area, the dewlap, and around the mammary glands to complete the nest (Fig. 4.15). Care should be taken when inserting the nest box to ensure that it is not placed in the doe’s latrine area or where the waterer may drip into it.

Fig. 5.10. A doe making a material nest. (Courtesy of USDA)

Fig. 5.11. A doe pulling fur and making a nest for the forthcoming litter. (Courtesy of J.I. McNitt)

A doe will usually consume less feed than normal for two or three days before birth, and a small amount of green feed each day may tempt her appetite and have a beneficial effect on the digestive system. She should be made as comfortable as possible and should be undisturbed at the time of kindling. A majority of the litters will be kindled during the night. Both the anterior or breech presentation are normal, and as a rule there are no complications at delivery if the fetuses are normal in size. Occasionally there may be only a few kits in the litter, and in these cases one or more may be abnormally large and kindling may be delayed a day or two.

As each kit is delivered, the doe licks it and may nurse it immediately. When the entire litter is kindled, she pulls more fur from her body and covers the litter.

A normal litter that is clean and has full stomachs and a comfortable nest has made a good start in life. If a doe has not kindled by day 32 to 34 of pregnancy, one method that may be used by experienced breeders is to inject the hormone oxytocin to induce labor. Kindling usually occurs within five minutes after the intramuscular injection of 2 units of oxytocin (1 unit for dwarf breeds). If the doe has not built a nest, some fur can be taken from other nest boxes to make one. Does induced by oxytocin rarely kindle in the nest box, so the kits should be picked up as soon as they are born and placed in the box. The doe will usually accept the litter.