My doe had a litter of 7 three days ago... (her first litter a few months ago all died because she wasn't feeding them. We're hoping this time goes better and hoping it will since she was pretty young for litter #1). My question is if the babies are warm and wiggly, but their bellies don't look very full, do you think they're being fed? Our last litter all died by day 3 so I think I'll know the answer by tomorrow... If they look very weak and lethargic tomorrow, should I begin supplementing with kitten's milk/syringe or will it be too hard to keep them alive that way for 7 weeks?
Baby Bunnies being fed?
- Thread starter bchoate
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dogwoodblossoms
Well-Known Member
If they don’t look like they’ve swallowed a small golf ball and are wiggly and crying, their hungry, give them the kitten milk. Give mama Calf-Manna it’ll help her milk production.
What is calf-manna?
dogwoodblossoms
Well-Known Member
Let me give you a link. It’s used for cows, horses (I believe), goats and rabbits. You can get it at tractor supply and other place probably even countrymax https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/manna-pro-calf-manna-10-lb?cm_vc=-10005
https://www.mannapro.com/calf-manna
https://www.mannapro.com/calf-manna
dogwoodblossoms
Well-Known Member
They look well fed but check on them once to twice a day. I also strongly recommend to still get the Calf-Manna it will help her produce more milk for the babies in the future and she needs to feed a lot of babies.
They're being fed. If they hadn't, after 3 days they wouldn't have survived. To see if they're getting enough milk to have full bellies, you would need to be checking soon after mom nursed them. If they still don't look to have really full bellies even right after nursing, mom may not be producing enough milk.
If you haven't already, her pellets should be increased to free fed or close to. Mother rabbits need a lot of extra calories to support nursing kits. She should always have grass hay available. I wouldn't do calf manna. It's a corn based feed which can sometimes cause digestive problems. To increase dietary calcium and protein for nursing does, alfalfa hay is a better choice in my opinion.
As long as the mom is feeding them, it's best not to start hand feeding, unless she can't produce enough to keep them healthy, Hand feeding is a last resort due to the high risk of aspiration pneumonia occurring.
If you haven't already, her pellets should be increased to free fed or close to. Mother rabbits need a lot of extra calories to support nursing kits. She should always have grass hay available. I wouldn't do calf manna. It's a corn based feed which can sometimes cause digestive problems. To increase dietary calcium and protein for nursing does, alfalfa hay is a better choice in my opinion.
As long as the mom is feeding them, it's best not to start hand feeding, unless she can't produce enough to keep them healthy, Hand feeding is a last resort due to the high risk of aspiration pneumonia occurring.
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dogwoodblossoms
Well-Known Member
It just looks he has discharge on his skin from his mom during birth. But I’m not 100% sure.
It's skin is wrinkled from extreme dehydration. You need to take immediate action with that kit. Either try helping it nurse from it's mom, or if that doesn't work, hand feeding.
Because of how dehydrated it is, it's probably to the point of being hypoglycemic. I would get some plain unflavored pedialyte to restore it's electrolytes first. So I would syringe a little of that first, then once it perks up, then do milk feeds. And doing this very carefully to try and minimize the risks of aspiration occurring.
https://wabbitwiki.com/wiki/Baby_rabbits_(domestic)
https://jaimielistens.com/how-to-feed-orphaned-baby-rabbits/
I looked at the photo again, closer up. Is it wrinkled or is it flakes of dry skin?
It’s flakes of dry skin
I agree that it could be fluid from the birth, that the mom didn't clean off and now is dry and flaking off. I would just keep an eye on the kit to make sure that's all it is and the skin underneath continues to look normal.
