Week 3 notes.
Further delays on the next batch of breeding stock have been reported, something about replicating the current gene blend and viability in the surrogate dams. Not many details forthcoming, but I did unearth one fascinating detail.
Genetically speaking, Glory and Rook are the only two even distantly related, even if all four shared a surrogate/ nurse mother. But because they were born and nursed as a litter, they are all convinced they are siblings and getting them to breed would need to be forced or artificial to overcome the incest issue. On the other hand, the fact they are all genetically distinct means that breeding their offspring to each other will cause far less problems with the inbreeding co-efficient. (Wonāt be an issue for a while anyways until the gene splicing friend of Daveās gets his shit together, lol.)
I have added squeaky toys to the room. They are a massive hit, as little as my headache approves. All of them have taken to pouncing and murder shaking the new playthings. Anything plush has been ripped open and the noisemaker chewed apart. The sharp teeth need to be taken into consideration in the selection of anything they are given, it seems. All of them have also discovered the joy of grabbing chunks of stuffy fluff and lining their ānestiesā with them. Glory and Aurora have picked favorite non-squeaky stuffies and less easily destroyed toys and begun hoarding them, if without the level of enthusiasm Rook and Foxfire show. (I wonder- oh, look, there is grey fox DNA in this list, that explains some of the den hoarding.)
Week 4 notes
We have hit the two month point, and they are starting to look more like lean fluffies and less like rolly babies. Their meat sources have been shifted almost entirely to fluffy meat. Itās dismembered and cleaned, but still on the bone. Sometimes with attached clipped fluff. Supplements have been added to maintain trace minerals, and a measure of processed vegetation or grain is included to cover the fact they still arenāt quite obligate carnivores. Also a daily dairy serving, for the extra calcium. (Bones slightly less likely to break on accident are a good thing, doubly with the way Fox fire keeps climbing things).
Two month ābirthdayā was celebrated with four small bowls of spaghetti with very meat heavy sauce and fluffy meatballs. āSketti!ā response is still very much present.
Foxfire managed to get behind the bookshelf and catch a mouse, and seems very proud of herself. Living food is clearly not going to be an issue for her. When it can talk and looks more like her may change things, but one step at a time.
Rook discovered shiny things, and his ānestieā is now supplied with large shooter marbles and buttons. Heās still being very polite about all requests for things in human possession, and allows search/ retrieval of anything at will, so I see no immediate issue with this behavior. As long as āNoā remains an instantly accepted answer to his request. Foxfire and Glory were each allowed one button from his stash upon visits to his crate, and both seemed polite and grateful about the gift, declaring him the ābestest bwuddaā. Aurora took a mousietoy Iām not sure she asked for, but Rook didnāt make an issue of it.
Aurora continues to be the most boisterous of the litter, but her bullying of Foxfire seems to have ceased. There were suspicious bruises and scratches to her face one morning, but even with the cameras and baby monitors I canāt say for sure what happened. And it isnāt much more than they get roughhousing daily. Regardless they all seem to be getting on better now, Foxfire is holding her own in the playfights, and everyone is eating their own food.
(Your last email about setting up the outdoor kennels and playard was very vague. Looks good to customers and wonāt kill the stock is a very vague standard, Dave. Even more so when it has to come out of the same budget you allocated to putting tvās in the better playrooms and getting internet and the Fluff TV streaming service. Iāll ask George and Kal, see what the lot of us can come up with.)
First- The Pack- because what we need is more fluffies bred to eat other fluffies. (1) by :Shadowfox
Previous- The Pack - Semi official log week 2 (2) by :shadowfox
Next-The Pack- unoffial log, weeks 5, 6 and 7 (4) by Shadowfox