Is 7 weeks too soon to take babies away from mama (hollands)

[TinysMom]

I have two holland lop does that have 7 week old litters. Of the two litters - we have two girls and five boys.

Both mamas have started humping their babies and are very "amorous" - unfortunately, I no longer have a herd buck for my hollands....so it isn't like I can rebreed them to help them out (unless I go with a lionhead).

Is it ok to take the babies away from them now and let them just live together (babies)?

I normally wait until mamas wean them (these mamas are still nursing them and grooming them - but also started humping them aggressively this evening).

I'm just not used to having mamas do this at this age....usually I wind up removing the babies around 8-9 weeks cause I tend to think the longer they're with mama - the better off they are.

 

[I_heart_Fraggles]

At 7 weeks as long as there eating and drinking I would think it would be OK to remove them. Mom humping them is a sign that she is done playing mommy with them.

 

[RAL Rabbitry]

I would remove the doe and leave the babies together.

 

[Nancy McClelland]

:yeahthat:

 

[HappyFarmBunnies]

We always remove the babies when it gets to that stage to give both Momma and babies a break from it all. However, if they are still nursing then we put the babies back in with Momma at night to nurse and cuddle and schnogle together. We do that up until 8 weeks at which point we wean permanently and keep everybody separate.

If you don't want to put babies back in to nurse with Mom (if Mom's behavior is proving to be too aggressive) then it's totally fine to wean them permanently at 7 weeks!

 

[TinysMom]

I put the babies back with the mamas to nurse a while ago and that went well - but then the mamas both started acting like they were going to hump them again....so I removed them.

I may let them nurse another day or so...and then continue to take them away.

Right now all 7 are living together in a big cage and doing quite well.

 

[HappyFarmBunnies]

If they are 7 weeks though, it won't be long before they will start competing for space and domination in the same cage.

 

[TinysMom]

That is probably true - but they are currently in a large dog kennel type cage....for now. I will separate them around 8 or 9 weeks....depending upon how they do.

Right now they still like to snuggle together (both litters have played together since shortly after their eyes opened).

 

[CCWelch]

I must be a bad rabbit mom, I wean all of my rabbits by 6 weeks and this has been my normal practice because that is what I was taught 30 years ago. However 30 years ago everything was considered mature at 6 months,too with only the exception of your giant breeds. Most dwarf and mini breeds did not exist yet.

 

[mistyjr]

Yup, I would take momma away from the babies! Make sure they have food, and lots of hay!

 

[Jaded]

7 weeks is fine aslong as the babies are eating and drinking by themselves.