I need to handfeed the babies

[Legacygirl]

How often do I need to hand feed thebabies. I am in situation where I need to hand feedthem. They are two days old.

 

[Wee Wabbits]

Generally twice a day. Just curious, why do you have to handfeed them?

 

[TinysMom]

I will have to look up the amounts and post themin just a bit - but first of all - have you done all you can to getmama to nurse?

I like to put mama and babies in a nice big basket (smaller than alaundry basket but not much smaller) and have treats in there for mamato munch on and relax.

I then make her stay there with her babies for 5-10 minutes by lightlyputting my hand on her back or head. I also offer her the treats andpet her and sort of coo at her to help her relax.

The vast majority of the time - mama's milk will come down and she'll let the babies nurse.

Peg

 

[TinysMom]

(It is very very very hard to hand feedbabies - especially in the first few days. I would do everythingpossible to try and get the doe to nurse as it is heartbreaking to feedbabies by hand and have them inhale the milk and die.

Also, this is why most breeders will breed TWO or MORE does at a timeso that they can foster to another mother if need be. You may want toconsider that for future breedings!)



From an animal help website:

Baby rabbits should be fed Kitten Milk Replacer (KMR), which you canbuy at pet stores, or sometimes even a local veterinarian's office.Unless you are familiar with and skilled at tube feeding babies, use aneye dropper or sterile oral syringe, which can be purchased at mostpharmacies.

Feed baby rabbits no more than twice a day. Baby rabbits normally feedonly ONCE a day, but you're not mama and the KMR is not as caloric asrabbit milk---so if baby does not take in the total amount quoted belowin one feeding, you may split the feedings in half, AM/PM - but no morefrequently as it can cause severe gastrointestinal distress.Overfeeding is a leading cause of death in infant rabbits.



Newborn
5 cc KMR plus 1/2cc acidophilus

1 week old
10-15 cc KMR plus 1/2cc acidophilus

2 week old
26-30 cc KMR Plus 1 acidophilus

3 AND 4 weeks old until weaned
30 cc KMR plus 1cc acidophilus (You may wean at 4 weeks of age)



Baby rabbits feed from their mothers while lying on their backs. Youmay loosely wrap baby in a soft face cloth or hand towel and lay it onyour lap or in the crook of your arm. If bunny will NOT eat this way,of course, do the best you can. It is ABSOLUTELY CRUCIAL to let thebaby eat at it's own pace---especially if it is not suckling from you(i.e. if you are using a dropper or syringe to feed it...). If yousquirt the liquid in too quickly you can aspirate (get liquid in) thelungs and the rabbit will suffocate.

After each feeding it is important to make the bunny defecate andurinate to keep the intestinal tract and urinary system runningsmoothly. Use a soft cloth or a cotton ball moistened with warm waterand gently stroke from between the bunny's front legs all the way downover the anal area until the bunny starts producing stool and urine,and keep stroking until the bunny stops. You are replicating thebehavior of the mother rabbit who would lick her young to stimulatethem to go to the bathroom (as well as to keep the nest clean). Thestool will be soft and may be varying shades of green and yellow. Besure to clean baby's mouth with a damp cloth or paper towel, so that nomilk dries in the hair.

Baby rabbit eyes open at about 10 days of age. You may startintroducing them to hay and pellets at this point, but no veggies orfruits yet. Just leave some hay and pellets in a corner of the boxwhere the babies can easily get to them. Make sure it the pellets areplain, high fiber and fresh, with no added "goodies" such as driedbanana chips or seeds. Don't ever leave a deep water dish in which ababy could drown; instead, use something shallow and rinse and fill itfrequently.

 

[Legacygirl]

No it not the mom's milk prblem. Thereare five babies. Two of them are nice size, three of them aresmaller than the first two. They are all warm, wigglyetc. The three baby are almost like runt, but not totallyrunt.

 

[TinysMom]

You could try taking them out and seeing if mom will give them a second feeding partway through the day.

I don't remember what breed you're working with - but could they bepeanuts? Peanuts will often live to be a few days old but never reallybe able to thrive.

I'll try to find my link on peanuts so you can see what they look like.

Peg

 

[TinysMom]

Here is a description although I've seen better information - I'll keep looking - this is talking about Holland Lops:

You will recognize peanuts inyour litter by several characteristics. First, at birthpeanuts weigh about 3/4 of an ounce, whereas other kits weigh about 11/2 ounces or more (the two newborn bunnies to the far left in thepicture are peanuts). Peanuts may have bulging skulls withears that are set further back. Also their hips are oftenunderdeveloped and their back legs may cross. Since thepeanuts will die anyway (they lack growth tissue so they neverdevelop), some breeders remove them from the kindling box asbirth. Others allow them to remain with the litter until theydie a natural death. But either way, peanuts are ultimately anon-issue on your quest for ideal true dwarf Holland lops.

from:

http://www.thenaturetrail.com/Dwarfs.htm

 

[Legacygirl]

No they are not peanut. The mom is mini lop the dad is holland lop.

 

[TinysMom]

Imentioned peanuts earlier and should discuss what to do withthem. All peanuts die; they are not viable. Youwill recognize peanuts in several ways. First, they are about1/3 the weight of viable kits. Often, their back legs arecrossed, their ears are far back on their heads and their skulls are abit budging. If left with the dam, some of them will nurseand become fuller looking, but they do not grow. It's eveneasier to tell after a week when the other kits have grown and thepeanuts have not. I prefer to leave peanuts with adam and let them die a natural death. Other breeders removethem and dispose of them when they die. Still otherseuthanize them right away.

From:

http://www.thenaturetrail.com/baby-rabbit-care.htm

 

[aurora369]

I would highly recommend taking the big babiesout of the nest and getting mom to give the smaller babies an extrafeeding. Place mom in the nest box and giver her treats/petsor what ever will keep her calm. Let the babies nurse for atleast 5 minutes. Put the big guys back in when mom is donefeeding the little ones.

As long as all the bellies are round, there is not much you can do tohelp. The little ones will catch up when they get a bit olderor you will just have two bigger buns.

--Dawn

 

[TinysMom]

I was reading about this breeding and thought Iwould share a story with you. I hope you don't take it as if I'm tryingto criticize you - because I'm honestly not trying to do so. (I crossbreed lops and lionheads to make lionlops).

I was at a show here in Texas last year when there was this big fuss ata table during the judging. The judge was probably having a bad day asshe really isn't normally like this - and she didn't know that this wasthe first time the person had shown.

But she was commenting on a holland lop rabbit - only she was like,"This really shouldn't be on the table. It is bigger than a holland lopand it looks like a mix between a holland and a mini lop". She went onto criticize the rabbit and it was almost as if she could find nothingright about the rabbit.

Needless to say, the kid was devestated.

The judge went over to see the kid (young man almost) later and talkedto him. She explained to him what to look for in a holland lop andtalked to him about talking to some of the lop breeders that were thereto look at their rabbits and be able to feel them and see what she wastalking about. She actually became rather nice and helpful.

She asked the young man and his mom who he got the rabbit from and ifthe breeder had known it was for show. When she found out that thebreeder had known it was for show - she made a comment about how thatbreeder's name would be "mud" if this got around. But she assured themom and kid that this was not a holland lop but instead some sort ofholland/mini lop mix.

I share this because I saw the same kid and his mom at the last show Iwent to. He had a different rabbit and it went on to take BOV in oneshow and BOSV in the second show.

I forget which show it was - but the same judge was doing the lops. Ihad to be nosy and sort of listen in a bit after the show when shetalked to the young man - for she remembered him.

It turns out - that no one will go to that breeder anymore for rabbits-not for 4H and not for show. The breeder does sell some as pets...buther business has dropped off dramatically.

I say all this because you mentioned in another thread about wanting tobreed for show. I wasn't sure if you were aware of just how differentmini lops and holland lops are - not just in size - but in the crownand the ears and stuff like that.

So if I were you - I'd sell this litter as pets....but not as show or breeder rabbits...

I'd hate to see you get a bad reputation before you can build a good one!
Peg

Legacygirl wrote:

No they are notpeanut. The mom is mini lop the dad is holland lop.

 

[Legacygirl]

My plans was to sell the babies as pet. Beside Iput the nest box back with the mom, she doing fine, I think most likelythe babies will all be fine including some of the small ones.My goal mainly is breeding Mini Rex, Dutch, Himi striclypurebreds. Julie is just a pet. Right now I am having hardtime finding a seal mini rex buck.

 

[gentle giants]

I'm not trying to be critical either, but I haveto add some to what Peg said. Unless you are an experienced breeder,and have a specific goal in mind, like actually creating another breedfor instance, it's really not a good idea to breed different breedstogether. There are only so many pet homes out there, and there arealways so many unwanted rabbits in the shelters. I am super picky aboutwho I breed together in my own rabbitry, I had one litter last year andhave had two so far this year. When you sell a rabbit as a pet, unlessyou have some sort of a measure in place to try and keep track of therabbit, and it's not always possible, you never know if the person keptit, or got bored with it and dumped it somewhere within six or tenmonths.