TN Redback Rabbits: Raising Brace Beagle Puppies

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	Raising Brace Beagle Puppies by Pete and Judy Proctor Producing top-quality Brace Beagles for field trials starts with raising healthy litters of puppies. It takes hard work to maximize the percentage of puppies you raise. Though we raise about 40 Brace Beagle puppies a year, we still learn new things to improve the process. We use a three-phase process that we've developed over more than 30 years. It consists of planning and preparation, supporting the dam during whelping, and caring for the dam and her puppies. Planning & Preparation
	Planning and preparation include making sure the female is in proper condition, preparing the whelping facility and having the necessary supplies on hand. The female should be parasite-free and in good health. It is important to be sure her teeth are clean and not decayed. Bad teeth can cause infection that sometimes shows up in a dam's milk. Be sure to feed a dog food that provides balanced nutrition to support a pregnant dam. We feed Purina Pro Plan Performance Formula starting about 30 days before whelping and until the puppies are weaned. The whelping facility should be temperature-controlled. We use a 12-by-24 foot temperature-controlled room with four whelping boxes built into the walls. The whelping boxes are 46 by 32 inches, and the door is the width of the box so you can easily get your upper body into the pen, if needed. Each box has two bottoms with approximately 1 inch between them. The top floor is removable, which makes it easy for cleaning. We place a heating pad on the lower floor to provide warmth. It is important that puppies do not come in contact with the heating pad, as they could be severely burned. Puppies normally have a lower temperature than adult dogs so overheating of the dam could be a concern as well. We use simple heating pads set at a low level. We are careful not to get ones that automatically shut off after two hours. The heating pads do not heat the entire floor so the dame and puppies can maneuver to the most comfortable spot. To prevent the female from lying against the wall, a 1-by-4 inch board is fastened to the wall 4 inches above the top floor. This bumper helps reduce the likelihood of her accidently mashing or smothering her puppies. Each whelping box is cleaned and painted on the inside between litters. We have pieces of thin carpet cut to fit the inside of the box. We replace these when they become soiled. The whelping room also is equipped to help us feel rested and prepared to support the female. We have a bed, chair, sink with hot and cold water, TV, phone, microwave and refrigerator. We are ready with towels and other incidentals. Medical supplies we keep on hand include: Iodine Solution (100 percent) Syringes Vinyl or latex gloves Scissors Hemostats (medical clamps) The Whelping Box We put the female into the whelping box about a week before she is due. We turn on the radio or TV and leave it on continuously so she will be used to noise. We divide her daily feed ration into two portions. When she doesn't eat and/or starts pushing her pan around, we begin watching her more closely. If quite a bit of time goes by between puppies, we consult our veterinarian about giving oxytocin. This veterinarian-prescribed drug is used to stimulate uterine contractions prior to labor or between puppies. We try to be with the female as the puppies are born When each up is born, we rub or shake it until it is breathing normally. We cut the umbilical cord and clean the puppy. We then place the puppy into a warm container. We usually do not leave puppies with the dam while she is still whelping, although sometimes we leave one so she will be content. If several hours go by before she completes whelping, we put a couple of puppies at a time with her to begin nursing. We make sure puppies nurse in the first few hours so they receive the colostrum in her milk for natural immunity. Once all the puppies are born, the first thing we do is place the thin layer of carpet in the whelping box and put the pups back in with their dam. We put iodine on the puppies' navels to lessen the likelihood of infection. We repeat the iodine treatment twice daily and stop using it after two or three days. The next three days are the most critical. During the first two to three days, we are in the whelping room almost 24/7 to make sure the puppies nurse and maintain the correct temperature. When checking the puppies, it is important to feel them rather than just look at them. When they are doing well, they will feel firm and strong. It is crucial to recognize a problem before a puppy becomes weak and feels cold. If problems are developing, a puppy feels weaker. In these cases, we hold pups on the mother's nipple to encourage nursing. If the litter is large (more than five puppies), we usually platoon feed them on the mother for a couple of days. This reduces the risk of the dam hurting one and increases the ability of all to nurse. If the dam does not have adequate milk, and the puppies act hungry, we supplement. When the mother does not eat well, there is more likelihood of her having an infection that could cause her milk to be bad. Thus, we occasionally mix the mother's Pro Plan Performance meal with canned dog food for the first few meals after whelping. The attention paid to the puppies after the first three days depends on how well they are doing. We check on them many times during the day and night. We worm puppies at two-week intervals between 2 and 8 weeks of age. We then give them Ivermectin monthly. At approximately four weeks, we place self-feeders in the whelping box with the dam and puppies. The puppies soon start eating dry food. We begin taking the mother away from them in just over five weeks and have them completely weaned at six weeks. Our process and attention to detail has helped us raise lots of healthy puppies. It is time-consuming, but when a puppy we have raised wins a field trial, the reward and satisfaction of a job well done makes the few sleepless nights worthwhile. Used with permission from Today's Breeder, Nestle Purina PetCare Company
	Buffalo Creek Farm and Creamery, LLC 3241 Buffalo Creek Farm Road Germanton, NC 27019 336.969.5698 Robin@BuffaloCreekFarmNC.com