Question about new litter

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bummblebee

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Ok so my kits are officialy at the 3 week point today I noticed the mom Freckles was eating there food even though she has her own which is fine while she was eating the 3 week old rabbits were trying to latch on but Freckles wouldnt have it.

At three weeks is this normal behavior for the mother to not allow her kits to nurse?

Also she has been sleeping in one of her litter boxes Im assuming at this point its so the babies wont bother her they cant get to her belly to nurse is this normal?

I removed the babies just to give them a chance at some food without freckles there mom in the way and eating it all I put them all in a spare cage is this ok to do they have alfalfa pellets hay and water.

How long should I leave them in there own cage or should I do this at all.

Also Am I correct not to be allowing the kits to eat her romain lettuce? They try realy hard and want it realy bad but Ive kept them away from it I read there bellies are not ready yet at three weeks is this correct?

Here are come pics

Freckles Doe making sure the babies cant get to her belly to nurse Freckles u sneaky little momma

exactly3weeks003.jpg




Here is freckles eating her kits food I removed all the hay from the nest area put down a rug and put in the wood nest box incase the babies wanted to sleep in it or Freckles can this is connected to freckles cage its just a completely inclsed place they can go

exactly3weeks009.jpg




Where Im keeping the babies to give Momma freckles a break and to keep the kits from eating her veggies.

exactly3weeks008.jpg

 
They should stay with the mother. It's good for her to have a place to get away from them (maybe a box or wooden house thing that she can jump on and they can't). You can also give momma play time out of the cage without the babies so she can have some alone time. They only nurse once a day or so, so it's not unusual that she doesn't want to nurse them all day long. She's probably allowing them to nurse when you're not around. They should have unlimited hay and pellets, so it shouldn't matter if she's eating it too - they can all share an unlimited amount. She's feeding a bunch of hungry babies, so she needs the extra nutrition too.

As for veggies, I think different breeders feel differently. I've heard that as long as the mom has been eating veggies all along, the baby bunnies can join in. However, I think many breeders don't allow babies to have any veggies until they are at least 12 weeks old as it can cause a gut imbalance. You could let mom out for a few hours of exercise and feed her veggies then so the babies can't get to them.
 

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