Should I foster the baby to another doe?

[Wee Wabbits]

Hey guys,

I've been trying to breed a doe for quite some time but haven't had any success till now. I discovered that she gave birth to one baby. I have two other does right now that have babies. One doe has 6 babies, the other 4. I was thinking about putting the baby with the doe that has 6 because she is an exellent mother. The doe with 4 tends to be on edge and has killed babies in every litter she has had except the one that she currently has. I am tempted to keep him with his mom, but I'm afraid that where it is just him, he might get cold and I'm also worried she might kill him. He was slightly cold this morning when I found him.... so I piled more fur on him. Very active though. (I'm just guessing it's a guy) There is tons of fur in the nest box..... and she actually put him in the nextbox this time and is feeding him. He has one small bite on his back but it has healed up well. I think he is a couple days old, I discovered him this morning, I had given up on her having a litter this time because she has had no success in the past. What would you guys do?

 

[polly]

I would keep a close eye on it but keep it with mum if she is feeding it and looking after it. i have a doe just now with 1 kit this is the first time she has had an alive one that she has raised and she is amazing as a mum. its by itself too, as long as there is plenty of hair it should be ok.

I wouldn't put it with the skittish one, and the other is quite busy with 6 but you could move it if you don't think its getting fed well, i think the signs look good though

See what others say too

 

[Wee Wabbits]

well this morning it was cold but there wasn't much fur, so I added lots of fur to the nest, and when I checked it this afternoon it was really warm so don't think I need to worry bout that. It also has that famous ping pong look to the belly so it's being fed. So I plan to leave him with her for now. If things start looking bad then I'll have to do something. I'll keep you posted I guess.

 

[polly]

When we added more fur to Lucy's nest she then decided to pull again, this was the result!!

Hence 1 baby very toasty.

thats great she is feeding it she sounds like she's gonna be a great mama.

i am hoping this will make my bun feel like a good mum and hopefully she will have more live babies in her next litter (whether it works like that or not i am not sure but hey if we don't try we don't know!!)

Keep us posted and let us know how she is doing

 

[RAL Rabbitry]

If it were my doe and she is being a good mother and only had one kit

I would give her one or two of thekits from the temperamental doe

to raise. I hate seeing one kit by themselves.

Roger L

 

[Starlight Rabbitry]

Also, by giving that kit a "sibling", they will keep each other warm.

Sharon

 

[Wee Wabbits]

Ok I added two babies from Tiny's (the grumpy mom) litter to Arowyn's (The one with the lone baby) because she isn't feeding them very well. She hates nursing her babies.... Very frustrating. Anyways, Right after I put them in, Arowyn jumped in the nest and nursed them. She is a very good momma it looks like. So Tiny has 2 babies and Arowyn has 3. And then I have my other doe, Bee Bee, who still has her 6. I'm very afraid that some of Tiny's babies are going to die, because they are skinny. She feeds them for only a couple mins a day and then jumps off, Not all of them get to eat. I put her on the nest and try to get her to relax and feed them, but she won't let her milk down. She is such a grump...... She has raised litters in the past.... but some of them get really skinny and die because she is such a pain..... So hopefully moving two to Arowyn's nest will prevent that from happening again. So anyways that's the update on these guys so far.

 

[RAL Rabbitry]

Glad to hear that the dam of the single baby accepted the two new ones.

If the grumpy doe is that bad of a mother you may want to think about

giving the other mother the other two kits and find a pet home for the doe

that doesn't like being a mother. I personally won't breed a doe with a

bad track record.

Roger

 

[Wee Wabbits]

I'm debating what to do with Tiny. Generally I don't breed grumpy does but her babie are very good show quality babies with sweet temperments. I've only showed her two from her first litter at one show and got 2nd and 3rd place and the following litter there are a bunch that look better then the first. She is a great mom as far as putting them in the nest and covering them with fur, etc. And once they are out of the nest she is very good. I think she just forgets to feed them or hates the feeling of them suckling. She's raised big litters in the past. Her last litter I had 6 that made it to maturity. A couple died..... but 6 isn't a bad number. It's just hard deciding what to do because she has a nice pedigree and great kits for show. And the babies are very sweet. I guess for now whenever I breed her I just have to be prepared to possibly foster some of her kits to others.

 

[clarzoo]

I am glad Arowyn is being such a good Mom for you. If you are worried about Tiny's kits, I'd just pull them and put them with Arowyn. It sounds like she could handle them. Or you could take the babies and the nestbox out of Tiny's cage and only bring them to her to nurse if you are worried about her hurting them when you aren't around.

Good luck!

 

[Starlight Rabbitry]

Tiny may not be producing enough milk to feed them. I would give her babies to Arowyn.

Sharon