Thank you for the info. Carrot (aka Thalulah) has been at her usual place, I'm relieved to know that's normal. I could hear the babies last night, they made some noise, and one was even "walking", I could almost see him/her in the middle of all the fur, wanted to come out!! haha.
Carrot made her nest inside a cage (transport box), so the babies are kept warm and together.
I've heard our scent might make the mother abandon the babies, so I'm not sure I should put my hand inside the transport box (nest) to check them. Isn't it better to let her do the job checking them (?) What if I cause her to abandon them 'cause I touched them, or my scent is there somehow? And it'll be really hard to see them, they're at the bottom of the box. But I'll follow your advice, if you think I should do it, I will.
Carrot seems drained, she passed LOTS of blood. I offered pellets yesterday (I figured she'd need them) she didn't want them, she hasn't wanted them or hay since she got sick.
I figure that probiotic with vitamins can be helpful now, but I'm afraid of how much to give. Would you have any guesses? I'm SO afraid of making a mistake...!
Nope the mother rabbit won't mind if you touch them(thats birds). I handle my kits from the time they are 15 minutes old to the time they are 8 weeks old going to their new home. I like my rabbits to personable and loving. I do not breed mean or skittish rabbits into my herd , especially with a doe, because I feel like the temperaments pass from the parents, and especially the mother!
What I do is I take a basket and I put a towel on the bottom and I put that to the side. then I pet the mother letting her know its ok and I'm not going to hurt her babies she may get in your face about what your doing but thats ok. Then i like to take the fur off the top and put the kits in the basket. This is a good way to make sure there are no dead kits in the nestbox, if there is a dead kit it will be cold and this can make the other kits cold. For the first 2 weeks(or until they open there eyes which will happen around 10-14 days) I keep them in the basket a keep them away from mom for 5-30 minutes (with the newborns handle them less they are going to be drained of energy. Once they open there eyes I convert my carrier to a laundry basket with a sheet and maybe a towel in it, thats how I carry them up to 6 weeks when they are ready to be weaned and put in the new cages. When weaning make sure you know the sex of the kits. For the first week I put 2 doe's together and 2 bucks together. If you have an uneven amount of kits I put two together in a separate cage and the last one stay with mom a little longer and then is fully weaned. Make sure to watch them in this stage they can get depressed from being taken away from their momma.(keep and extra eye on the ones that are super attached to mom)
Also make sure you get rid of any dead kits. In one of my litters I missed a dead kit and the mother rabbit smelt it and dug it out of her box taking some of her alive kits with it. Lucky it was before we got or A/C in and the barn was warm. We were very lucky that we were able to save the litter most kits that are out of the nestbox get chilled and will die fairly quickly if its cold enough.
With carrot it is important to let her settle down. Think of a human giving birth, it takes a lot out of them including their appetite. Slowly start introducing the feed back, eventually your going to want to give her a big bowl full of pellets because the babies will be eating them in addition to carrot. No veggies for the babies this
Will make the babies sick they really shouldn't have any veggies or treats under the age of 6 months. Treats that are ok, are cheerios and rolled oats(very little maybe a tablespoon). No yoggies, or apples, that can make them sick and get diarrhea.
Also did Carrot eat the placenta? If she ate it, the placenta gives extra nutrients in the milk that are really important. If she didn't the babies just won't get the extra nutrients. I Have had 1-2 doe's that don't eat there placenta and they have raised a litter of 5 with no problems.
You really shouldnt give her any medicine, the medicine will go right into her milk which will give the kits the medication. I would not recommend giving it to them.
Goodluck! Raising kits are tons of fun. Its a joy to see them from the time they look like tiny pigs to the time they are ready to go to their new homes! (It's even better when you get updates on how the bun is doing it makes your whole day! ) If you have anymore questions feel free to ask, I will try to answer them to the best of my ability or I will ask some of my breeder friends and I will get back to you!
