Pregnancy Help Please!!

Rabbits Online Forum

Help Support Rabbits Online Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Thank
Normally you keep the same diet during the pregnancy (she might eat more hay towards the end of her pregnancy, just let her eat as much as she wants)
Once she has her babies, you can give her 50% more pellets (and depending on how many kits she has, I sometimes give alfalfa pellets as a supplement)
After 4-7 days you can give her the double of pellets she usually gets and then sometimes you even need to triple or even quadruple the amount of pellets, but again it depends on how many kits she has
I give Timothy hay to my rabbits all the time, pregnant or not


So to answer your question, I do not personally give alfalfa hay to my does (sometimes alfalfa pellets but not all the time)

Hope I answered your question haha
Thank you I appreciate it a lot, after today and feeling little marble lumps I am guessing she’s pregnant ( not too sure lol ) so this is helping a lot :)
 
Thank

Thank you I appreciate it a lot, after today and feeling little marble lumps I am guessing she’s pregnant ( not too sure lol ) so this is helping a lot :)
Welcome
And dont worry,
2 weeks to go and you should know for sure😊
 
I can’t seem to help but still worry over size difference. I’m most worried over loosing my doe more than anything. She is a netherland dwarf and we think my buck is a lion head x mini lop. They only have a couple pound difference. If anyone has had similar experiences please share or if anyone can help my worrying that would be great too :) I know it’s meant to be a larger doe to smaller buck but this wasn’t meant to happen. The first photo is my buck and second my doe
 

Attachments

  • B6C5882B-4DE2-4362-8163-1FB411831047.jpeg
    B6C5882B-4DE2-4362-8163-1FB411831047.jpeg
    104.1 KB · Views: 4
  • 8F5962CA-4615-4401-823F-B72670D6131D.jpeg
    8F5962CA-4615-4401-823F-B72670D6131D.jpeg
    182.8 KB · Views: 4
I weighed my bunnies today :)
My doe weighs 1.5kg / 3.3 pounds
My buck weighs 3kg / 6.6 pounds
What do people think to this? Any tips to help the birth go smoothly so my doe doesn’t die?
 
I weighed my bunnies today :)
My doe weighs 1.5kg / 3.3 pounds
My buck weighs 3kg / 6.6 pounds
What do people think to this? Any tips to help the birth go smoothly so my doe doesn’t die?
There isn't really something you can "do" to help with the birth (unless you catch her during the birthing process)
I never had a case with that big of a difference between the buck/doe so I do t really have advices on that sorry
I just wish you luck :)
 
Thank you, i’m really hoping luck is on my side, i’m trying my absolute best to try and do everything right. I’ve ordered appropriate herbs to help her and have found more foods to give her calcium. I’m really hoping she will be okay :)
 
Quick update- She has started building a nest but not in the nest box i provided however i don’t think it’s much of a problem because she has chosen the most quiet and covered corner of her hutch :) She is due around 7th-12th :)
 
So big update! She has just given birth! The doe is doing so well and she gave birth easily, beyond happy! There is movement in the nest but i’m unsure on how many kits there are but I am going to leave her for now and check again in the morning. Thank you all for the help :)
 
Congratulations :)

You can do a quick feel check for soiled/wet bedding when she's distracted by eating, otherwise she just needs rest, food and privacy, I wouldn't interact much for at least a day, until she definitly fed the kits.
 
Thank you! :)
How do i know if she’s feeding the babies and when will I first see them going out the nest? I won’t interfere for at least 2 days but I only want to check for dead kits just incase :) She seems to be doing well already and acting like her old self but I’ve been giving her some more food and hay to help!
 
You can distract her with food as was said above and I would make sure she doesn't see you checking out the nest, just in case. I would even put some food into a travel carrier and would lock her in there for 10 mins while you do that. Or if there's some area she can stay for 10 mins.

You can just push fur a bit to sides and see how many kits are there and if they all are moving, if you put your finger in you can feel if wet of if there's any dead bodies (I've never experienced that myself but if so you'd have to remove them). It is probably too early to expect that she fed them already, it can take up to 48 hours after kindling and they should survive that, but usually she'd nurse later at night or early in the morning, most of rabbits don't like being watched so nurse when no one can see.

So you can check bellies tomorrow morning they should be nice and round, if not come back here with updates.

I wouldn't disturb them too much especially you don't have much experience so you better minimise taking them out of nest, quick check-up without taking them out every morning for first week and then every 2-3 days should be fine.

You can take a pic of the nest with the babies without taking them out, just you can see them better on screen without disturbing too often. Also for your records and you can compare how kits are growing etc. Take a few clear photo quickly.

Babies will open their eyes around day 9-12 and then will start crawling around, then when they are 2 weeks they will get more fur and will be hopping out nest and back in just using nest as their bed and maybe for nursing time.

You should change bottom of the nest if it's wet after a week or so to remove soiled hay and fur, but put back some dry so they can feel and smell their home.

Hope you have some absorbing stuff on bottom of it so it shouldn't get too wet.
 
The less you meddle with the nest the better. Be sure the kits are well covered with fur when you're done checking. After that there's not much to do. After a week I take them out for a headcount, and then start to put my hand in the nest once or twice a day and pet them a little, at times when they were fed recently. Mixed opinions about if that gets them used to me, I tend to think so. Anyway, that's all some days in the future, patience now :D

You can ramp up the does food, unlimited hay and double rations pellets, nursing does don't get fat easily, keep checking her condition by feeling her spine.
 
Last edited:
Thank you, I do plan to leave them alone I just don’t want to end up leaving dead kits in there if there were some :)
 
Thank you :) I don’t want to take them out the nest at all I was just worried about dead kits being there. I plan to just leave my doe to it as she should know how to sort things for herself
 
So had a little check and there are 4 healthy kits with cool markings! Quite surprising as both the parents are black otters😍
 

Attachments

  • 016C4ACC-8D47-47EC-9C43-4BC1AFA26142.jpeg
    016C4ACC-8D47-47EC-9C43-4BC1AFA26142.jpeg
    156.4 KB · Views: 13
Hello again, sorry for so many questions :)
Does it look like they’re being fed? I know they’re quite round but I’m a bit of a worrier about things😂
The mum knows my scent and is used to it so I know it won’t put her off, she’s always very chilled out and calm when I’m near them
 

Attachments

  • 036AC503-3937-47A9-864A-DC8172A175AC.jpeg
    036AC503-3937-47A9-864A-DC8172A175AC.jpeg
    151.9 KB · Views: 8
Yes. Otherwise they would be dead by now.
Better stop meddling, do not try to feed them some random milk replacer, seriously.
 
Yes. Otherwise they would be dead by now.
Better stop meddling, do not try to feed them some random milk replacer, seriously.
I wasn’t planning on feeding them replacer.. I only took them out the nest for a quick photo and that’s it.
 
Yes they look fed, they are 3 days old now and look well like she takes care of them so you don't need to worry anymore and don't even have to take them out of nest every day, it was necessary to check if they fed first couple days just to be sure she has milk and taking care of them, now they should be fine. You can just check every couple days without taking them out, maybe you will want to change soiled hay in their nestbox on day 7-10, since they are only 4 it shouldn't be too bad if you prepared it as suggested. Then you can prepare some box with a napkin or paper towel to put them in while you are cleaning their nest quickly, then put them back. You can take more photo then, they will have some little fur but still with eyes closed.

Now just make sure their mother has everything she needs to produce milk, unlimited hay, unlimited high protein pellets (junior pellets usually have 16% protein and higher calcium) and plenty of fresh water, also her usual greens and treats.

Make sure she is not stressed, has shelter protected from sun and make sure your male and she are very separated, even if you already neutered him he still can get her pregnant up to 6-8 weeks after neutering, it would be very difficult for her produce milk for her babies and build bones for the next babies in her belly so she will be very exhausted and her next babies can have some birth defects, please take every precaution they have no contact until babies are 8 week old at least. If you are thinking to breed her again please let her recover at least a couple months after she stopped nursing, even commercial breeders give one month to recover. We had some threads even here when people let them breed with very short recovery period and babies were born weak or deformed and mother was sick, it is very unhealthy to let them have more than 3 litters per year.
I say that just in case I don't remember now you probably said that you are going to neuter them.
 
Last edited:

Latest posts

Back
Top