Judy: Well, there aren't really any 'official' numbers in terms of historical rabbit family sizes. By that I mean, 'official' numbers tend to ball-park the exact number, usually being off by a few.
Nick: Unsurprising, especially the further you go back.
Judy: The largest rabbit family that has been recorded in modern history would be one 'Welsker' family in the more rural areas of Great Kitten. Historians estimate they had around one-thousand-two-hundred and ten-ish total living kits at one time, and close to fourteen-hundred total births. The town of Welsker is actually named after the family, and up until 1346-ish it was solely occupied by the Welsker brood.
Nick: So what happened to them?
Judy: Plague happened. Specifically the black rodent plague. Wiped out the entire township, and left it abandoned for three decades or so, that was until some cousins and other relatives who had survived the plague came back to resettle the land. But had the plague not happened, historians think the heads of the family could have had at least another two hundred kits before they would have been too old to keep it up.
Nick: Oof, that's rough...
Judy: Of course, there's said to have been bigger rabbit broods in the past, the most famous being the Gilrades brood, which depending on which rabbits you ask, were said to have had nearly ten-thousand kits. *Chuckles* Although that's taking into account that the sire of those kits wasn't exactly a 'loyal' mate, and spread the 'joy' around a good portion of Roarope.
Nick: A rabbit who can't keep it in his pants, why am I not surprised?
Judy: At the rate he supposedly popped out kits, I don't think he ever wore pants. *Laughs* Still, there is a nugget of truth to the tale, in that a good portion of European descended rabbits are genetically related to the Gilrades brood, specifically one “Jack” Gilrades.
Nick: OH! So that's where-!
Judy: Horny as a Jack Rabbit comes from? Yes. *Chuckles*
And now I can only imagine the mother of the Welsker family actually giving birth to almost 1400 kits... In a time before modern medicine/pain meds/post-natal care... *shudders*
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