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CFrench

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We checked on the babies today and they feellsomewhat cold still moving but cold...What do we do? The weather isnice but I have no idea why they feel cold. It looked as if Mom wasfeeding them this AM . How cold is to cold? Like how warm do youhaveto keep them?
 
Hi CFrench,

Some people have been known to get out the heating pad, turn it on low,put a towel over it, and put them on it to help warm them up.Being on the heating pad has to be carefully monitored as some rabbitshave been lost due to too much heat. Many rabbits haveburned. The best thing istocover theheating pad with a towel, and only use half of it so that if they gettoo warm, they can move off of it. If the temperature in thearea that your babies in is 68-72 degrees, you won't need to supplyextra heat.

Any chance over getting more hay in their nest or gathering some furafter brushing mom to pull from the brush and put in thenest? I wonder if the mother is feeding them. Aretheir bellies round?

-Carolyn
 
The babies should not feel cold. You canuse a heating pad set on low to keep them warm. How old arethe babies? Well fed, healthy babies will feel very warm whenyou stick your hand in the box. In cases where the babieswere cold, the a viral/bacterial infection or the dam not nursingthem. Is the mother eating well? We've noticed thatif the doe goes off her feed, the babies often die (virus?)



Pam N.


 
We checked them and added more bedding . I thinkthat she may have eaten one after we were out there. One of the babieshas a very warm round tummy and the others seem not to. Mom we took outand looked at hertits and they don't look full or anythingshould they? I guess all we can do is hope for the best.
 
Yes she seems to be eating very well actually. Ithink the same maybe she isn't feeding some of them. Is this common ?Are Does usually like this or maybe she is a bad mother. I have no ideahow much to mess with the nest and how much not to.We can't find onebaby and I took almost all the bedding out I think shemay have eaten itafter we left earlier today. The temp outside is about 70 and not muchelse. They are very well sheltered. I will try the heating pad trickbut will the mother eat the heating pad or could I use a hot waterbottle? Will she chew it or leave it alone?
 
Hi CFrench,

Sorry to hear this. It's so upsetting to know that the doehas eaten a kit. Mother rabbits don't seem to have thatstrong maternity drive that dogs and cats do.

I'm not sure that we really know why mother rabbits do that.Some say it's because the rabbit thinks the baby rabbit is a mouse,some say it's stress, others say that the rabbit is lacking somethingin their diet. I've also heard that the rabbit may not knowwhat is coming out of her and will eat the babies as she wouldafterbirth, which would be as a result of her inexperience as amother. Is this her first litter?

Just to follow up what Pam had asked, is the mother feedingthem? Pam's pointed out some excellent information andadvice. Does the doe have unlimited amounts of food?

You can handle the kits without a problem, except to be careful ofbreaking their tiny bones. The mother won't mind because sheknows your smell and rabbits aren't like other animals that will ignoretheir babies if they smell that a human has touched them.Many people suggest you handle the babies in the morning to check onthem to see if they're fed and at night just to get them used tohumans. Give the mother a snack when you go to the nest andshe'll probably care less if she's got a delicious treattonibble on.

You could certainly try the hot water bottle as well. Just besure to put a towel over it as well because you don't want to overheatthe little ones.

-Carolyn
 
Do I feel dumb or what...My son checked out underthe cage and I guess when I was going thru the bedding it got out....Soshe didn't eat one after all. Yes I put the hot water bottle in and afew heated up wash cloths in baggies. We will be sure to check it outcarefully.Now how do I know if she has milk????Will she look fullor how do you tell?:(My son says Help....
 
Hi CFrench,

Don't worry about feeling dumb. Just by the questions you ask, it's obvious you're not dumb.

Since you said that at least one of the babies bellies was round andwarm, that's proof that she has milk and is feeding them.Their bellies should look like that of a Pillsbury Dough Boy...nice andround, big and warm. You should check them every day, notonly to be sure they are full and mom's feeding them; to be sure thatone doesn't get out of the nest because the mother won't move it ortake care of it if it's not in there; and also to be sure that all thebabies are still alive and doing okay. If the baby's belliesare sunken and wrinkled, they're not getting fed and will need yourhelp. Their response to being handled will be veryweak. If the babies are scattered some might not be gettingfed, so just be sure they're all together.

-Carolyn
 
P.S. You can tell if the mother has milkby turning her upside down, seeing if her nipples appear full, with alittle pressure squeezing it and a small amount of milk/clear fluidshould be released. She probably won't like this test, justto prepare you!

-Carolyn
 
Thanks we will do that...The hot water bottlehelped to warm them up. It is about 75 here and the nest is warm so Ireally don't think that is it. My son said that this am he saw herlicking them and then heard them nurse but I don't think that when Ilooked she looked full at all..Does that come along or is she just dry?Can you put one of the babies to her and see if it willnurse? Sort of like you do with a cow/calf?
 
OK hubby checked and said sure wasn't much. Theyare not full and if you squeeze with two fingers you can get a bit.Anything I can give her to help her make more milk?
 
Hi CFrench,

You should give your doe unlimited amounts of water, food, and hay atthis time during feeding the babies. Her thirst will usuallyincrease during nursing. Since the doesonly feedtheir babies about 5 minutesa day and the milk is very rich,the babies will fill up in minutes.

I'd leave her alone and see how things go in the morning.Since you said in your earlier post that they did have round bellies, Iwouldn't worry. Just keep all of the babies together in thenest so that everyone gets a chance to eat.

-Carolyn
 
I may have missed it, but didn't see how old thekits are? The milk doesn't come in for about 3days. It's not always easy to "milk" a rabbit if the hormoneshave not kicked in the "let down" reflex. Just like humans,if the rabbit is nervous or uptight, the milk may not let down and youreally won't be able to squeeze much out.



Pam N.
 
Thanks for that..I had no idea that it took threedays. We lost two more of the bunnies today so now we are down tothree. The Mom goes in and licks them and appears to be taking care ofthem. Now my next question is at night it gets down to about 40 thecage is in nice shelter and we cover the cage with a tarp. Should I bedoing more??? Thanks for all your help.
 
I think you are doing all you can. Inthis case, it appears that something is wrong. We've had thesame situation (usually during the fall/winter months), when apparentlyhealthy babies cannot maintain body temperature and die. Ican only speculate that it could be a virus, bacterial or congenitalproblem. The babies appear to be well fed, but the tummiesbecome very enlarged, kits become cold and die. Strange thisis that their condition often worsens "after" nursing. Thissyndrome appears to cycle. We didn't have any problems thisyear, but in past years have lost all the babies. Thisnormally doesn't happen during the summer months -- yet is notspecifically temperature related. Bunnies can survive in verycold temps if properly protected. Normal, healthy, well fedkits are able to easily maintain body temperature in the nestbox.

Pam
 
Thanks that is a big help. I had no idea how warmit needed to be as they look so frail. We do have two kits left and asof early afternoon they seemed fine. Hard for the 4-H boy to take, butguess if he really wants to begin to breed he will have to get use tothe hard lessons of death. We sure hope the two little ones make it.When is this critical period over or is it ever? Now what else do wedo? I read that the eyes open in about 7-10 days then what?? Just leavethem alone and remove them in about 6 weeks? Thanks for all your help Ido appreciate it.
 
The eyes open in 8-14 days. The olderthe bunnies are, the lower the mortality rate.Twoweeks and weaning (6-8 weeks)can be "critical" periods forsusceptibility to illness, especially during the months when virusespropagate.

Stress factors such as feed changes or new environment are also critical periods.

It is hard for the kids (and us adults) to deal with. It's soexciting to have new baby bunnies, and can be so heartbreaking to tryto save them when they are dying. I hope the last ones do ok.

Please keep us updated,

Pam
 
So you speak of these illness/virus what is thecause of this andcan anything be done to help this nothappen?
 
Unfortunately, there is no way to completelyeliminate germs from our environment. As you know, there's nocure for the common cold :D

I compare breeding rabbits to children in a kindergartenclassroom. You are putting a number of children together fromdifferent environments, each possibly carrying a pathogen that theothers haven't been exposed to. Colds and flu spread like"wildfire" over and over thorugh the classroom due to the "overcrowding" and continual exposure to the point where some schools haveto close down for a short time during flu season.

Following good management practices is very important (sanitation,ventilation, nutrition, limiting stress factors and avoidovercrowding). Genetics also play a role in diseaseresistance, and this high resistance to certain diseases can actuallybe bred into a herd.



Pam N.


 

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