|
I am glad that at this point Shushan still has four surviving pups, and is
very protective and attentive to them.
I have read a number of posts on this topic and have a few thoughts.
1. What size were you litters?
I believe that there would be a greater survival rate with average
size litters, 3-5 pups. If you have one pup or very large litters the
survival rate is lower.
2. Is this a first time mother?
A first time mother would have a lower survival rate, especially if the
litter was very large or very small.
3. Is the mother an old mother having her last litter or two?
I believe that older mothers having their last litter have more
complications, and problems as well.
4. How long after the birth of the pups did you first check and count
the pups?
When a pup dies the parents eat it with in a short time. For example
if a litter is four or more hours old it would be impossible to know for sure if
there had been any pups that did not survive.
With both of my litters I have given no intervention. Except to check
in on them twice a day. I would give the mom some of her favorite protein
treats. The only thing that I did that come close to interference was to
remove Boaz for less than an hour.
Although I did ask for advice I did decided to let nature take its
course and did nothing. I even moved them to an unused room where they get
no visitors except me twice each day.
In looking over the last few months pup count the majority of deaths fell
to litters that had one pup or six or more. There were some deaths in
liters of five to three litters, but these were not the majority.
I do think that this might be a good thing to add to the pup count.
How many litters of a given size, death to survival rates. Also are the
parents first time parents or old parents? It is most likely that no one
has the time or energy to do this. Perhaps it would be a good project for
long winter nights.
Just a few thoughts,
Janet
|
