2 week old kits not being fed

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majorv

majorv

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We have 3 Brit babies who just turned 2 weeks old. I know for the first 1 1/2 weeks mom was feeding them. We noticed yesterday they werethin...with so much hair we didn't realize just how thin though. I think we wouldve noticed it earlier, too,but the momis always in attack mode when you open the cage door so I didn't touch them that much, just made sure they were breathing and moving.

I don't know why she stopped feeding them. They're eyes are open but I can tell they are weak because when they walk they fall over. I pulled out some KMR and put a little acidophilus in it and got them to each take about2cc's last night. I went home atlunch today and gave them some pedialyte because I'm sure they're dehydrated. They tried to eat a piece of hay but didn't get very far with it.

My question is - is there anything else I can do? I keep the nestbox in the cage thinking that mom might feed them. She doesn't attack them so I think they're safe. At 2 weeks, do you think they have a chance of making it?
 
I think you will need to up how often you hand feed them to give them a chance.Though I'm not sure how many times a day you need to do it.

Do you think mums feeding them at all?
 
I don't think so. I looked in a few times during the late evening (she couldn't see me) and I saw her sittingin the box for a long time...not in a pose where the babies could nurse though. It would be hard tohand feed them more than twice/day because I work. I'm not even sure how much to give them. Most articles I see are geared for a 5-6 lbrabbit when fullgrown so I take 1/2 or a little less.I'm starting with 1.5 to 2 cc's at a time at first since I don't really know how long they went without eating.They get to a point where they refuse anymore anyway.
 
I didn't notice anything wrong. She's also eating and drinking normally.

I was just wondering if anyone has had any experience with this age and hand feeding.
 
I wish i was home to help :(
I think you should feed them as much as possible mom. It will be another week before they start eating pellets.
 
I'm thinking I will have to give up. I thought the babies would be safe with mom, but this morning the biggest of the 3 - the one who had the best chance of surviving - got out and was right in the path of mom's "running track".I took thenestbox out, but it looks like the littleone may have internal injuries from being run over. :(

I don't know...in the back of my mind I wonder how healthyany of them would be if theydo make it.
 
They'll have had the colostrum so should have the most important stuff from mums milk health wise. Does the mum still have milk? If so your best bet is to move the nest box to a separate cage/hutch so they are safe and then hold the babies to her one at a time twice a day to feed. Leave a supply of milk and softened pellets and they will feed themselves in a few days anyway.
 
I had this happen to me.......a litter of two - mama killed one so I had one left.

I fed the formula shared here and Dukey is now 7 months old and you'd never know the difference between him and bunnies that stayed with their mama. In fact, he's really REALLY affectionate with us and is just a delight.

By the way - Dukey is a flemish giant.,..and is on track for his weight, etc.
 
Well we are down to one baby left. Im up at 1:30am to hopefully help this little one make it through the night.

Im warming him up in a towel on a heating pad then ill feed probably 2-3mls of pedialyte mixed with KMR. (He only weighs 1.4oz Poor little guy). Shouldn't they weigh more at two weeks? Idk about Brits though they are the smallest rabbit breed. . .Ill probably heat up a towel in the microwave and put him back into the cage.

Oh i will also wipe his rear with a warm wet paper towel (we do this with kittens im assuming it works with rabbits too) to stimulate bowel movements. Do i still need to do this at 2weeks almost 3weeks old?

I looked at the recipe, can the goats milk be store bought? Im not sure where to buy this though? This little man couldnt eat no where near 7-13ml i think his belly would burst lol

Is there anything im doing wrong or need to start doing?
 
I think you're doing everything right. I think by this age you don't need to wipe their rear anymore, but not sure.

I hope this little one survives and starts eating solids soon x
 
We checked both mom and a Tan doe who'd weaned hers recently and neither has milk. The last little one was still alive when I got up this morning. I put a little bit of orchard grass next to him in case he's strong enough to start nibbling. Right now we're adding the acidophilus to the KMR and then mixing in a little pedialyte because he doesn't seem to like the taste of the KMR...fingers crossed this works! :pray:

We don't have access to fresh whole goats milk.I'm not sureif a 'whole foods' market would carry it.
 
Yep, goats milk is often sold as a healthy alternative to cows milk so that would be a good place to try. They might be able to tell you if they stock it by phone to save you a wasted trip.
 
I bought powdered goats milk at a feed store and then made it up as I needed it.

Good luck!
 
The powdered goat's milk sounds like a good alternative for us, too. We won't have a chance to try it out because our last little one died last night. We thought he might make it because he was taking in fluids.

We had a chance to talk to a well known Brit breeder,told him about our first time experience with breeding them, and he wasn'tsurprised by what the doe did.Personally, I don't want to deal with a breed that is this high maintenance...it's so hard to watch little kits die one by one, despite your best efforts.
 
majorv wrote:
The powdered goat's milk sounds like a good alternative for us, too. We won't have a chance to try it out because our last little one died last night. We thought he might make it because he was taking in fluids.

We had a chance to talk to a well known Brit breeder,told him about our first time experience with breeding them, and he wasn'tsurprised by what the doe did.Personally, I don't want to deal with a breed that is this high maintenance...it's so hard to watch little kits die one by one, despite your best efforts.
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All we can do when this happens is try again. If this was the doe's first litter, she may just not be experienced enough yet.
 
it was her first. People said try her again, so im going to but this time well have another doe ready to take care of the babies
 
Sorry you lost the baby. You guys did everything that you could do in that situation. Best of luck next time breeding the doe. My fingers are crossed for you guys.
 
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