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2x 3 week old kits advice please

B

bunnyrun

Mama Doe
ive got 2 babies at the moment who have lost their mum:cry:so im having to hand rear them, neither of them are eating by themselves, they are 3 weeks old, ive been giving them cimicat is that correct how often should i be feeding them ive been doing it twice aday :?
neither of the babies are lively they sleep all the time,:cry: they are on a heat pad and snuggled up with a teddy, but they are taking the feeds really well:D can anyone reassure me that this is ok or am i doing something wrong:(
 
i think tamsin maybe the person to ask i remember another thread the same dilema and the person can't remember who said tamsin had been a great help perhaps you could pm her hth

amanda
 
hi.. have you thought about asking a rescue? what about a wildlife rescue?they are bound to have experience in raising kits..
love to the babies and hope they grow big and strong:)
 
Hiya,
How much cimicat are they taking at each feed? I feed mine between 30mls to 50mls daily, depending on how well they feed, and I would suggest giving them at least 3, if not 4 feeds throughout the day. If they are not drinking on their own, they could be dehydrated.
Leave some cimicat in a bowl for them as well as water, hay, forage and pellets. Also try soaking some pellets as I find with mine, they tend to favour these when they first start nibbling, as they are softer for them.

Hope this helps a bit. :)
 
i hand reared 6 babies from 2.5 weeks old last summer. their mother had a womb infection and her milk dried up so she could no longer feed them. because they hadn't fed properly for a few days a couple were bloated and all of them were weak. i fed them on lactol every 2 hours day and night to get their strength back and they all survived. if your 2 have never been ill through lack of food from their mother like mine had been, i would suggest feeding them at least 4 times a day. the replacement milk is fantastic but will never be as good as the mothers milk so it is more important that they are fed more often than the mother would.

also start putting in some hay with them if you havnt already, they will start munching on it soon as it will be the start of the weaning process.
 
Jbun -Thanks for your input. Having read most of the research on the net, they are all saying no more than twice a day 30 mls because of gastrointestinal problems but I do know a rescue that did feed more frequently and had a great success with the kits surviving.

At what age would be you feeding 3/4 times a day? Have you had a good survival rate?
 
raine said:
Jbun -Thanks for your input. Having read most of the research on the net, they are all saying no more than twice a day 30 mls because of gastrointestinal problems but I do know a rescue that did feed more frequently and had a great success with the kits surviving.

At what age would be you feeding 3/4 times a day? Have you had a good survival rate?
Click to expand...

Hi, I think feeding a lesser amount, more frequently leads to less gut problems than 2 larger feeds, especially if you have a reluctant feeder. It is quite important though to keep to regular times. I do quite well with my wildies, I think I reared 9 last year from about 1 week old and only lost 1, and 2 domestic from 2 weeks old which both survived. Just had the one so far this year who is in his release pen at the moment. :D
I start off feeding them 4x when they are small, then once they get the knack of it, and taking larger quantities, I feed them 3x until they wean at 4weeks ish.
At work (wildlife hosp) we feed 4x, some other centres feed 3x. I recently went to a two day protocol meeting to discuss rabbit/leveret rearing throughout our centres with some expert input, and this is what was decided was best. :)
 
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