Rabbit had babies

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Sarah P

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Aug 31, 2019
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Hiya, first off I am NOT experienced at all so would really appreciate some advice and please correct me if im doing anything wrong :) I got a foster bun that turned out to be male and mated my 1 year old female lop Lola. (As soon as I noticed and confirmed it was a male he was removed) Lola had 3 babies on Friday morning, today is now the 31st, at 7pm at night, and she has not fed them, she has a nesting box, they were born in the box with no fur, but I had saved some fur from brushing and fixed that she started pulling hair out lastnight and went over to them but she freaked out and ran away then went back and started scratching in the box and wouldnt stop I got her to stop but she hasnt touched them since, she has never liked her feet and tummy touched she gets up straight away and i think that's the issue? she is also a first time mum, as I knew she was pregnant I went ahead and purchased wombaroo milk replacer in the mail as isnt available where i live but it doesn't get here until Monday, so about 5 o clock today I layed my girl on her back and held her legs and let the babies have a feed, they fed for a few minutes then she couldn't handle anymore so I put them back, as far as I can tell 1 got a good feed and the other 2 not so much, anyway I live in a rural area and my local store had goats milk but no powdered goats milk and only a dropper, I am wondering if this will be fine to use until Monday when the milk replacer comes, and if so how do i go about feeding them with a dropper and goats milk? Do I water it down at all? Or Should I hold mum down and get the babys to drink for the colostrum and then hand feed? Any advice would be appreicated! I also would like to add that I know she isn't feeding as the tummy is wrinkled and I have stayed awake the past 2 nights to make sure she was okay and didn't dig and scratch them and she didn't go near them at all, i am very dedicated to this I love my bun alot and only want the best for her and her babies :)
 
Uhm, when she already fed them I wouldn't intervene, it can take up to 48h for thr milk to drop, and it might need some feedings until everything is routine. You can take out the nestbox and return it for feeding twice a day if she dosn't realize how to treat the nest, but imho that's rather rare.

Many does will not feed when anyone is near. Meddling around too much can put them off their, in case of first timers, rather shaky track that their hormones direct them along. What does need most is food, rest and privacy.
Normally, they feed around dusk and dawn, give her privacy. When there is one kit that got fed better than the others you can take it out for one feeding, be sure that it stays warm (digestion doesn't work when they are chill). That doesn't hurt it and the others have a better chance to feed.

If she already fed the kits I would definitly not try to handfeed them, if there is no real need, it can make things worse very easily. When handfeeding, I used condensed goat milk, mixed with egg yolk and syrup - rabbit milk is nothing like that of cats, it's really rich stuff.
 

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