Pollyelly
Member
hi! I noticed my babies have dry skin on their ears, head and on some their body. Is this normal for 6 day olds? I don’t see any red or irrigation. Thanks 
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Bellamy+Lilah
Well-Known Member
hi! I noticed my babies have dry skin on their ears, head and on some their body. Is this normal for 6 day olds? I don’t see any red or irrigation. Thanks
Yes this is normal, they are shedding their baby skin layer. It looks kinda like dandruff.
This is what my babies looked like during that time
Pollyelly
Member
Look at all those cute babies!!! Thank you so much! I was starting to get worried. You can see it well on the little brown baby. I won’t stress and just snuggle them
Bunny gurl
Active Member
It also means they may not be getting fed enough. Look for big round pot bellies and content sleeping kits you may have to intervene and make sure the doe is staying in the nest long enough and not skipping any feedings which typically is twice a day
Pollyelly
Member
Thank you! She’s never had this many so that could be possible, they look chunky and full to me but I’ll make sure. They are more active, maybe they aren’t getting enough. Thank you so much
Bunny gurl
Active Member
Np most times they have round tummies but just need a little more to meet their high nutritional needs for.growth etc right now and it is part of their immune response systems that is building to shed the flaky skin to rid themselves of any toxins bacteria etc and it is the first sign of dehydration not that they are just their.bodies saying we need a little.more to provide your skin hydration. I am not sure if you are familiar with the term we use not sure if it is a well used term but "shelving your litter" I don't do it with every litter just when it is a large litter 1st timers or case of illness etc. You take the litter during the day and return them to mom early evening to feed and large litters can be split up larger and smaller kits divided and brought to feed at different intervals it requires more work for you but it makes a huge difference in any kits who had to fight to eat. I also sometimes supplement with kitten milk replacer to the ones who seem still a little unsettled and need a bit more even a few drops teaspoon or so gives them a little more energy to be able to fight to eat the extra edge and I check kits every time individually to see who needs it and I don't necessarily feed same ones all the time case by case basis lol and it's surprising how quick the weaker ones bounce back and are soon getting to the milk first. I just weaned a huge litter that I did this for one of my 3lb holland lops had 10 live kits I didnt believe it at first count and all alive healthy that poor little doe was some tired after that bunch but I rest all my does for 3-6 months after their litters so she is on vacation now lol I am going to try to upload a group pic of the crazy huge litterThank you! She’s never had this many so that could be possible, they look chunky and full to me but I’ll make sure. They are more active, maybe they aren’t getting enough. Thank you so much
Bunny gurl
Active Member
This is a litter of nd 9 days.old today 
Pollyelly
Member
Oh my heavens. Look at those beautiful babies I will say I am in bunny heaven over here.
Thank you so much for your reply, I will try that. I appreciate it!!
I will say I am in bunny heaven over here. Thank you so much for your reply, I will try that. I appreciate it!!
Pollyelly
Member
Wow! Chunky babies!!!!
Pollyelly
Member
Hi! I think I’m going to get that kitten milk supplement. What kind do you recommend?
Just a word of warning if you plan on supplementing feedings and you have never done it before. Hand feeding kits does carry a high risk of aspiration occurring. They are very prone to aspirating the milk, so hand feeding has to be done with extreme care. If a kit aspirates the milk, it will develop pneumonia, which is usually fatal.
I would not recommend hand feeding unless you have a kit that is really struggling and it becomes necessary to help the kit survive. Then I would suggest you watch videos of others doing it, and would maybe try using a makeup sponge like some use to minimize the aspiration risk. I would also use the formula of adding plain heavy cream to boost the fat content, 3 parts powdered kmr, 3 parts water, 1 part plain heavy cream, and don't overfeed.
https://www.raising-rabbits.com/feeding-baby-rabbits.html
I would not recommend hand feeding unless you have a kit that is really struggling and it becomes necessary to help the kit survive. Then I would suggest you watch videos of others doing it, and would maybe try using a makeup sponge like some use to minimize the aspiration risk. I would also use the formula of adding plain heavy cream to boost the fat content, 3 parts powdered kmr, 3 parts water, 1 part plain heavy cream, and don't overfeed.
https://www.raising-rabbits.com/feeding-baby-rabbits.html
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Pollyelly
Member
Thank you!! I’m going to continue an extra feeding with mama but want to have what I need on hand just in case.
Bellamy+Lilah
Well-Known Member
If I hadn't hand fed my baby bunnies (10 total) supplemental milk, I would have lost 3 of them I'm sure. I lost 1 because we didn't check them enough for the first couple of days because it was the first time we ever had a litter of baby rabbits and were still learning. Someone in my family used to raise rabbits and told us to never touch the babies at all but if we hadn't checked on them when we did, some of them would have starved. When we did check a couple days (3-4?) after birth, 6 of them had nice round fat bellies but the others were very skinny so we hurried to mix the supplement milk and one died right there before we could feed it. I believe the others would have also died if we hadn't started feeding them extra milk when we did. All but that one lived happy and healthy afterward. We ended up checking their bellies every day after the first death to make sure they were all getting enough milk.
We used a powdered goat milk found in the rabbit nursing section of a Rural King store.
The doe didn't mind us handling her babies at all, by the way. She didn't abandon them or quit feeding them and didn't show any signs of aggression or annoyance at all. She would just come over to the nest box and act curious once in a while, not bothered though. That may be just her personality though, it may not be the same experience for all mothering bunnies.
