Is she supposed to run away?

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aswain6

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Our kits are now out of their box! How exciting!! They tried to go to mom for some milk but she was not having it. Is this normal? She would just hop away. They are only 13 days old. Also, we noticed her urine is a reddish orange color, could this be because of her eating alfalfa instead of timothy?
 
I don't breed, so I don't have any first hand experience with this, but in the wild, does only go to feed their kits once a day. They spend less than 5 mn a day with them to avoid predators following them and finding the nest, mostly (which is why I'm always baffled by people who tell you that does need to have kits to feel 'fulfilled'... they barely see their youngs and certainly don't have much of a relationship with them). It's also why a lot of pregnancies goes badly in captivity - some people lock their doe in a small cage with the kits which leaves her no escape from them and can stress her out. As long as the kits are fed at some point, I would leave the doe free to get away from the kits when she doesn't feel like putting on with them.
And yes, the alfafa is probably responsible of the urine's color.
 
Hi,

it is completly normal. As I see it, for a good part does do not feed because they want to feed the young, but to get rid of the milk. They feel that urge about twice a day, everything in between seems to be a nuisance.

Anyway, rabbits are different, some does will accept kits latching on at not-feeding-times, others will strictly object. All quite normal, the last being the more natural (wild) behaviour, the other that of some of more domesticated lines.
Give the doe a place to rest on where the kits can't reach her, at least for the first 4 weeks, like a box or high shelf - it really helps to keep them relaxed.

Pee color can vary, not much to worry about, if there arn't clots of blood it's most likely just horror pee :D
 
Thank you! I'm just super paranoid about them not making it since we lost the runt and this is our first time with this (hopefully our last). I just don't want them to traumatize her and her not want to feed them! When we are home she has free range of the room but she just jumps up in her litter box to get away from them.
 
When my does babies first came out of the nest box, she stared at them all busily hopping around 'HER' pen and I swear she looked absolutely frantic. Like how did they get loose. They kept trying to get to her to nurse as she kept dashing away from them, and she finally hopped into her litter box for safety as they hopped all around it searching for her. It was pretty funny to watch, though I'm certain she wasn't thinking so :p

They do settle down and mom will let them know when they are allowed to nurse. Yes, always a good idea for her to have somewhere they can't get to her so she can relax when she wants to be left alone. The litter box may work for the first week but after that you'll need something higher up.
 
Thanks! I will figure something out for her!! I also noticed when she lies down on her left side her belly feels a little hard. Is this normal for bunny moms? I almost want to say that's where her milk is stored? But I'm because I'm so new to all of this!
 

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