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Baby rabbit questions

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1Baby rabbit questions Empty Baby rabbit questions Sat Mar 30, 2013 5:55 pm

pfarms

pfarms
Full Time Member
Full Time Member

Ok, I have done a lot of reading and things seem to contradict each other. Half of what I read says to check the nest and make sure there are no dead baby's and check to see if the belly's are full once a day. Other things say never to touch a nest.

What do I do?

http://dtfarm.webs.com/

2Baby rabbit questions Empty Re: Baby rabbit questions Sat Mar 30, 2013 6:14 pm

Schipperkesue

Schipperkesue
Golden Member
Golden Member

Touch if you like, but prepare to pull back your hand if you hear growling!

I have never had a rabbit reject her litter if I touch them, but I don't interfere too much. If they are not thriving, then they die. Simple as that. I don't want to raise a weak rabbit. They are poor contributors to the herd.

When a litter is born, I take out a treat for mom and distract her while I put my hand in the nest. Warm babies means full babies. Cold babies means dead babies. After a few days when mom is used to me sticking my hand in, I take the whole box out and have a look. Sometimes there will be a dead one pushed into the corner and I remove it. I have a look to make sure they are all in one piece and put them back.

They only nurse once or twice a day. The milk in their tummies makes them warm and the fur insulates then.

Have fun! They are so cute when they open their eyes and start to peep out of the box.

3Baby rabbit questions Empty Re: Baby rabbit questions Sat Mar 30, 2013 6:56 pm

bckev

bckev
Addicted Member
Addicted Member

I always didthe treat thingand never had a problem. It is real important to do when it is real hot or you will end up with a fly problem because of dead babies.

4Baby rabbit questions Empty Re: Baby rabbit questions Sat Mar 30, 2013 7:23 pm

Schipperkesue

Schipperkesue
Golden Member
Golden Member

Kevin, you make me laugh, but then I see you live in Oliver! We don't worry about too hot 'round these parts! Summer litters in a building could be problematic. I have a summer Rabbitry outside and have no problems.

5Baby rabbit questions Empty Re: Baby rabbit questions Sat Mar 30, 2013 7:54 pm

pfarms

pfarms
Full Time Member
Full Time Member

Oh good. I am so excited to know how many she had! I just didnt want to do anything wrong. Mom has done well though. Today when I saw she had babies I went and got a treat and gave her. I also switched her feeder to the creep feeder. Her nest box was an inch away from my hand and she just sat there. Didnt seem to mind at all.

I found out about the growling with the blue already! Man is she pissy when she is pregnant.

http://dtfarm.webs.com/

6Baby rabbit questions Empty Re: Baby rabbit questions Sat Mar 30, 2013 11:40 pm

bckev

bckev
Addicted Member
Addicted Member

I actually had to pull fur out of nest boxes in the summer so the kits didnt get too hot and die. It was a real problem at times. I would try not to breed in july for that reason, it was sometimes so hot the rabbits weren't interested in breeding,

7Baby rabbit questions Empty Re: Baby rabbit questions Sun Mar 31, 2013 2:10 pm

pfarms

pfarms
Full Time Member
Full Time Member

I checked the babys today. She had 10! I did not expect that many. Is that normal for a first time or does that not matter?

http://dtfarm.webs.com/

8Baby rabbit questions Empty Re: Baby rabbit questions Sun Mar 31, 2013 7:40 pm

bckev

bckev
Addicted Member
Addicted Member

That is good. I aimed for 8, which is the amount of teats. I had does pull off 12, but quite often if you have too many you end up loosing a couple or having some runts.

9Baby rabbit questions Empty Re: Baby rabbit questions Sun Mar 31, 2013 11:36 pm

Schipperkesue

Schipperkesue
Golden Member
Golden Member

10 seems to be par for the course for my does. Most commercial meat Rabbitries cull down to 5 or 6 of the strongest and largest kits. I usually do not and am in no hurry for them to grow. Part of the slow food ideal!

10Baby rabbit questions Empty Re: Baby rabbit questions Sun Mar 31, 2013 11:45 pm

SucellusFarms

SucellusFarms
Full Time Member
Full Time Member

My New Zealands usually have 12 babies, but my current litter is the first time all 12 survived. They are a month old now. One is definitely a runt, but they are all doing well. I don't like to count them right away, but I can see that dead babies and heat would be a problem. My does usually eat or toss any dead ones out of the nest.

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http://www.sucellusfarms.ca

11Baby rabbit questions Empty Re: Baby rabbit questions Mon Apr 01, 2013 7:17 am

smokyriver

smokyriver
Golden Member
Golden Member

I just had a litter if 16 when I finally got a good count, but have lost 4 so far from it. I also had a litter of 10 and lost 4 a litter of 6 and list 1 and another litter of 6 which all survived!

http://Www.poultrypalacecanada.com

12Baby rabbit questions Empty Re: Baby rabbit questions Mon Apr 01, 2013 10:08 am

pfarms

pfarms
Full Time Member
Full Time Member

My castor had hers yesterday.. How fitting huh? LOL. She had 8 babies. Glad to know 10 is par. The blue is due on the 17th this month. On another bright note, my other black otter doe is eating pellets (thanks for the advice Sue) and gaining her weight back quickly.

http://dtfarm.webs.com/

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