My babies seem thin

[jil101ca]

My 7 babies all seem happy and healthy. They allhave nice fat tummys but i can feel their ribs and spines. They aredrinking about 30 mls a day spilt up into 2 feedings. I give them allthey will take. I add some heavy cream for fat and use cecal water tomix the forumla with. They are also starting to nibble on hay andpellets, some more then others. they seem to be growing very slowly.Some of my new babies (6 days) from a smaller mom are the same size.Any suggestions??

 

[aurora369]

Well, there is no real replacement for mothersmilk. So they are probably small because the formula is justnot as good as mom's milk would be.

You could try and see if the new mom would give the older babies alittle nurse once a day to suppliment their formula. That mayhelp them to plump out a bit. That's the only thing I canthink of doing.

Otherwise they may just plump out once they start eating more solid food.

--Dawn

 

[TinysMom]

This week the guy at the feed store told me tofeed alfalfa hay to my little ones as soon as they start eating. Hesaid sometimes they get in rabbits that he feels are too small (I'm noteven going to go there right now) and they put them in the back awayfrom customers with a bunch of the alfalfa (unlimited access) and itplumps them right up and they get to the size he is willing to sellthem at.

Peg

 

[jil101ca]

I'm not even going to try to get Blacky to nursethem. They are 3 weeks now and she is not the nicest girl. I don'tthink she would accept them . If they were younger that might haveworked.

they are getting alfafa hay already., just starting to nibble on it andsome pellets abit. I guess they will fill out as they eat more realfood. I can't complain at least they are living and doing ok other thanbeing thin.I just thought maybe someone knew of something different.

 

[gentle giants]

If Blacky will trance, you could turn her overand just sort of set the babies on her belly. They will catch on quick,you can bet on that one! LOL

 

[TinysMom]

I would not even try it with three week old babies.

I had a situation where the wrong doe was put in the cage w/ somebabies about that age and she attacked one and it wound up dying.

They'll plump up on their own.

(No - I was not the one that put the doe in the cage w/ the babies..).

Peg

 

[Wee Wabbits]

You can give them very small amounts of oatstoo. I do that with my runts and I give them unlimited hayand pellets and they usually catch up to their siblings fairlyfast. Where they haven't been on real mothers milk they mightnever be quite as big and healthy as the other bunnies but you neverknow, they might just grow slower as a result. Good jobkeeping them alive though.

 

[jil101ca]

Well I'm not so worried about them today. Theyare really starting to get interested in the hay and pellets. I noticedthat their spines and ribs are not quite so prominant. They still seemsmall to me but are still healthy (touch wood).

 

[pamnock]

gentle giants wrote:

If Blacky will trance, you could turn her over and just sortof set the babies on her belly. They will catch on quick, you can beton that one! LOL

It's better to place the babies under the doe in the natural position that they would normally nurse.

When the doe is on her back her milk is less likely to let down and onepowderful kick will send babies flying and potentially injure them. --I learned that the hard way

Pam