URGENT - Please help....litter born today 7 kits......

[Lovinbunnies]

Hi, We have a 2 darling Holland Lops that we have bred once before this year and 3 healthy kits were born. We decided to breed the mom again and she delivered her second litter this morning but shockingly she had 7 kits. One of the kits is smaller than the other but not sure if it is really a "peanut". Of course, all the kits are a bit smaller than the last litter because the litter size is more than double. She gave birth this morning around 9:15am All kits look great and are very wiggly. We will be watching closely over the next few days and we want to make sure that our little mama rabbit is able to successfully feed all these little mouths.
Here are my questions for any of you experienced breeders -

1) Is a Holland Lop really able to successfully feed a litter this large?
2) If our Mama isn't able to feed all babies, are there alternative ways to supplement and is this even a good idea?
3) Any tips, thoughts, wisdom you would like to share would be greatly appreciated.

Our bunnies are outdoor bunnies and our Mama successful kept all the kits warm and fed from her last litter. They really thrived and are darling bunnies.

Thanks in advance to any who are able to respond.

 

[majorv]

She should be able to feed them all. You could supplement but I wouldn’t do it unless absolutely necessary. There really isn’t a good substitute for mom’s milk, unless you have another nursing doe to foster some of them to.

Be sure the doe always has fresh water and unlimited pellets, especially since she has a large litter to nurse. Since they’re outside check on them in the evenings to make sure they’re all in the nestbox and covered. We saved several kits who got pulled out of the box because they didn’t let go of mom when she jumped out of the box after nursing.

 

[Lovinbunnies]

She should be able to feed them all. You could supplement but I wouldn’t do it unless absolutely necessary. There really isn’t a good substitute for mom’s milk, unless you have another nursing doe to foster some of them to.

Be sure the doe always has fresh water and unlimited pellets, especially since she has a large litter to nurse. Since they’re outside check on them in the evenings to make sure they’re all in the nestbox and covered. We saved several kits who got pulled out of the box because they didn’t let go of mom when she jumped out of the box after nursing.

Thank you so much for replying. We all feel better and excited. They are so dang cute!

 

[Cassy315]

Hope the buns are doing well. Mom should be fine feeding them. Just make sure they are being fed. I had to recently hand rear babies and it is a ton of work and extremely tiring. Good luck and enjoy them

 

[Augustus&HazelGrace]

Give her old fashioned oats, this will help her produce enough milk for all of them. I would give about a 1/8 of a cup per day. up it if you feel like the babies need more milk.