Sophia (Rex mix/Am Chin/Creme) had a litter of 7 a few days ago - she built a bowl like nest in the back right corner of the left cage (she's in 2 connected cages, as she's a big doe), packed it well with fur, and covered the kits up with a thick layer of fur. All 7 were born in the nest, and well fed. We did lose 1 kit after just 2-3 days, but the remaining 6 are growing fast, have nice full milk bellies, and mom is keeping them nice and toasty warm in their nest :)
I was certain that we'd have kits from Blackie this morning; last night, she was building the mother of all nests in the back left corner of her cage, a full on corner tunnel, getting a huge mouthful of hay, darting into the left opening, rustling around for a while in the burrow of hay, then peeking out the right opening, getting another huge mouthful of hay, and repeat. I started calling her structure the BunnyMahal - it was HUGE! Unfortunately for me, I didn't have my phone/camera with me in the rabbitry last night, so I have no pictures of it, and this morning the architecture is completely different. Just this morning, her burrow/nest went from a big pile of hay in the back middle of the cage, to a one-entrance cave in the back left corner of the cage. She hasn't pulled any fur that I can see, though I'll be checking on her throughout the day, so she may very well decide to try out more nest designs before she settles on one.
Zero, Sophia's sister (Rex mix/Am Chin/Creme), fooled me - no sign of nesting last night whatsoever, and this morning when I went out to feed and water, she not only had already built the nest, but had the kits safe and snug in the nest, and had already cleaned herself up! Sneaky girl! :D It was snowing and windy at that time, so I didn't bring the kits out or completely uncover them for a close inspection or exact count, but I'm pretty sure there are at least 6. The nest she built is a skinny tube at an angle down into the thick bed of hay, packed with fur, and a really thick layer of fur over the entrance of the tube. The kits are warm and active, so that's a great start.
Sarah (American Chinchilla) MAY be nesting, so I'm keeping a really close eye on her as well. So far, she's just being super comical, tunneling through the hay, digging in it, throwing it over her head, and hopping around with it hanging off of her. If she is pregnant, and does start seriously nesting, I don't expect more than 3 kits from her, as her last 2 litters were only 3 kits, and even at her most productive, she'd only have about 5. Still, she has some qualities that I really like, and paired up with a buck that will improve her shortcomings could produce some really nice offspring.
I've sold off the majority of my rabbits, and other livestock - regrouping for spring's launch into heavy project mode. This leaves our 2 lovely Ober goats, 2 Pilgrim geese, 3 Muscovy ducks, 2 Narragansett turkeys, 3 Bielefelder chickens, 5 quail, and 9 rabbits (2 of which will be going to their new home after they've weaned their litters). With the exception of keeping a close and frequent eye on the baby rabbits, this makes winter chores relatively easy.