Need Advice from Experience Breeders

[murph72]

I purchased a lionhead doe to keep my mini lop doe company since her original bonded mate had developed EC and they had to be separated. I had a great surprise five weeks ago when I found a litter of six little bunnies in a nest that my mini lop made. They are all doing well and are thriving and I immediately removed the "doe" who obviously was mis-sexed by the breeder.

Well, today I went up there and found a SECOND litter of bunnies hidden in a hay bale in the pen (It's a building, not a small cage, just so I don't confuse anyone). There are five of them in there! Obviously she became pregnant before I found the first litter and separated the two bunnies.

My questions:

1. Will she be able to raise two litters?

2. Are the five week old bunnies a threat to the newborns?

3. Should I be scooping up the nest in the hay bale and putting them in a nest box?

4. Is there anything I can give her that will get her to produce more milk for these two litters?

Added info that might be helpful:

She is an EXCELLENT mother. Her nests are filled with a lot of hair, her babies are well taken care of, and she had three false pregnancies in the previous two years prior to her having her first real litter.

She will be two in March.

Her older babies are eating pellets and hay and are drinking from her water dish. I do not see them nurse, but she never nursed them when I was in the building with her.

If there is anything else that I can tell you, please let me know. I'm totally new to this and I was really appreciating my first litter...I just worry about her and don't want anything to happen to her or the other little ones.

Thanks

Dyan

 

[polly]

1. Will she be able to raise two litters? If the first litter is 5 weeks now i would separate them from the mum. By now they should be eating and stuff by themselves so it would be wiser to take them away from the mum and the newborns

2. Are the five week old bunnies a threat to the newborns?At this age they shouldnt be but the newborns are the ones needing mama's attention. The 5 week olds will be ok away

3. Should I be scooping up the nest in the hay bale and putting them in a nest box?

You can but if mama is happy, the babies are safe and warm i would be tempted to leave them as long as you keep an eye that they are ok

4. Is there anything I can give her that will get her to produce more milk for these two litters. By 5 weeks she will be either not feeding milk or weaning the 5 week olds off her anyways. Just make sure your doe has plenty of food as much as she can eat while feeding esp for the second time and keep an eye on her to make sure she is ok.



The main thing is to take the 5 week olds away from her now and let the new litter have her attention.

 

[murph72]

Polly,

Taking the 5 week olds away from their mom won't be too traumatic of a weening will it? I hate to hurt the first batch just to help the second.

Thank you for your advice.

Dyan

 

[aurora369]

Great advice Polly! I second her advice.

I agree that the 5 week old babies should be okay to seperate from mom. Make sure they stay together till they are 8-9 weeks old though. They are old enough to be away from mom, but not old enough to be seperated from each other and sent to new homes. That being said, now is an excellent time to start lining up homes for the babies so they have somewhere to go once they are 8-9 weeks old.

The new babies should be the focus of mom's attention. I would recommend putting them in a box, but keep them in the same area. It helps to keep them together and prevents any of them from wandering off and freezing.

Keep feeding her like you've been feeding her. Lots of hay, veggies, pellets and water. What ever she is used to.

I would love to see some pictures of your two surprise litters! Please!

--Dawn

 

[murph72]

Dawn,

Thanks for your advice. I will seperate them tomorrow then and put the wee ones in the nest box.

I took some pictures this morning on my phone and I'm sorry to say I don't know how to add them here. However, I did take some last week...so this is the little ones at 4 weeks. They have gotten out of the enclosure that you see and are now all over the building. I'm thinking that tomorrow I'm going to just add the sides that I have for that system. They are those gates that you make from the cubes. I'm hoping that they can't get through the holes...I guess we'll see.

Hope the pics work.


Sitting in the food dish:

A group shot:

Looking to escape:

Momma Punkin prior to having all this entertainment:

They are absolutely dear and I already have several people who are just dying to have a mini lop/lionhead mix. Mainly, my students that I teach, who are all juniors and seniors in HS...plus my current student teacher as well. So, finding them homes should notbe a real problem. I'm not sure if they will be more lionhead orlop, but I can't wait tofind out.

Dyan

 

[aurora369]

Thanks for the pictures!! They are so cute. I miss having babies, I fostered for a rescue for a year taking in moms and babies.

I know from experience that little babies can fit through the NIC panels. I would just overlap the panels so the gaps are half the size, that's what I used to do using cable ties to hold them in place. I found they could fit through the holes up to about 3-4 months.

I think that little set you have will be perfect for them to stay in until they go to there new homes.

If you have people interested, start having them over. Let them play with them and choose which one they want. Then that gives them a couple weeks to get everything set up on their end. Make sure they are really interested and not going to back out on pick up day.

--Dawn

 

[polly]

they are gorgeous. Aurora told you the rest keep the babies together but away from mum. By the way she sounds like an amazing mama bun

 

[Wee Wabbits]

Hey, I agree, take the five week olds away. You will really want to watch the mom because having two litters back to back can take a lot out of her but mini lops are usually pretty tough and she should be fine. As I'm sure you know give her all the pellets and hay she wants and make sure she never runs out of water. I've also read that parsley increases milk production. I give my does parsley as well as rolled oats mixed with molasses to keep weight up and to keep the doe from becoming anemic. Enjoy your lionlops. They should be really cute.

 

[BlueGiants]

You got excellent advice. Seperate the first litter from Momma and the new litter. She's going to start rejecting them if they try to nurse now anyway, and you wouldn't want anyone to get hurt. :shock: Her milk will now change to a high colostrum milk, just for the newborns. She won't let the first litter nurse anymore.

Keep the first litter another 3 weeks (until they are 8 weeks old) and find them good homes. Then start looking for homes for the second litter!!! :biggrin2:

Good luck with the new abies. Keep a close eye on the doe. Make sure she isn't losing weight. Her hormones will keep the milk flowing.


edited to add: And we know what needs to be done to the buck!

 

[murph72]

I have separated the mom and first litter. They seem to be doing fine on their own. Momma and the new babies are also fine. The breeder that sold me the "doe" Lionhead said that she can easily sell the babies as pets since they are so cute.

The buck is living in his own cage now away from Punkin and her little ones. He certainly can not impregnant her from a building away.

 

[TinysMom]

bumping for an update on the babies...

 

[undergunfire]

Be sure to give your students/fellow teachers a HUGE care packet. I think the rescue near me has an awesome one to download....it's really, really, really awesome. If you'd like to check it out, let me know .

I would also ask your students who will be taking care of the bunny(s) once they go to college (if they plan to go)....since they are juniors and seniors. Do they know bunnies can live to be 10+ years with the proper care and do they know they need to pay for a spay/neuter?

Baby bunnies are cute now, but they do grow into a larger "not-as-cute-as-a-baby-bunny" (...to some poeple). I guess I just worry that they are high school students wanting one on an impulse :?.

 

[murph72]

In the case of my most interested student, I think her mom wants the bunny as much as she does.

I would be interested in the care information that you have. I have two of them already, but I'd always be interested to see if they missed anything that I should put on there. Thanks for sharing.

As for spaying and neutering, that is not an option around here. There isn't anywhere that does it safely. The neutering is a maybe at best and the spay is a definite, "I'd never let my girls go to them for that kind of risky procedure" kind of thing. We're in a very rural area with vets that aren't specialized in rabbits. I could tell you some very scary rabbit vet stories that I'm sure would make your hair stand on end. So, for us, au natural is the safest way to go for now.