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Orphaned baby rabbits

G

Greggorio

New Kit
2 days ago my Doe died during childbirth. she hadn't made a nest or anything and when I found her in the morning there were 6 dead babies and 3 cold live ones.
I've followed some online advice and been feeding them every 12 hours with a mixture of goats milk and kitten milk with a little probiotic in it. They seem to be doing ok but the online advice was in their first week to give them 2ml every 12 hours. Someone else has since told me that they should have full bellies.

now what i'd like to know is... is there any other advice I need to know?
Does anyone have a photo of what a full baby bunny looks like as i've read that overfeeding can also kill them. After their 2ml they seem more reluctant to eat but should i keep feeding them anyway? They have lots of loose skin around their stomach but is that normal?

Just anything to help me would be great please as this was my first attempt at breeding and it's all gona rather badly so far... so i'd rather not lose the babies as well if it can be avoided
 
Sorry for the loss of your doe. There are a few people on here that have managed to hand rear, but it is difficult, as far as I know. I wish you and the little kits the best of luck.
 
no experience, sorry, but good luck keeping them alive. might be better not to breed, though, as there are an awful lot of rabbits in the world already! someone will be along shortly who knows about keeping kits alive. you could try the search function on the bar at the top.
 
I live in France so the breeding isn't for pets or to sell as pets it's for meat. Sorry if that upsets anyone. Though I strongly doubt I will ever be able to eat these ones if they survive, they've already got bloody names :(
 
That's not ideal to feed them on. I would suggest going to www.rabbitsonline.net They have wildlife rehabilitators on there that have well trialed ways of hand rearing.

Ideally though, you could try and find a foster mum for them. That will give them a far better chance than handrearing which whilst it can be done, really you expect to fail.

Are you helping the babies urinate? and defecate?

A full baby bunny looks like it has swallowed a ping pong ball.

Oh dear, if this was deliberate breeding it was hugely irresponsibly done from the sounds of it.
 
I'm sorry if you're upset by whatever I supposedly have done but I'm asking for advice not your judgement upon me. I bred them for meat which you may disagree with but I breed poultry and other animals for the same reason so that i can eat meat that i know has had a good and free range life.

As far as an irresponsible breeding... I put the doe with the buck, the doe didn't make a nest atall or pull any fur and died in the middle of the night the day before they were due. I had been checking them continually and had referred to multiple websites to make sure I was doing everything right. so i actually take offence at that comment and whether you agree with my motives or not you could atleast show a bit less hostility frankly.

Also i live in France as i mentioned. The only feed i could get them i have got them. They only had one type of goats milk in the supermarket which was semi-skimmed. I have topped it up with the kitten milk as it is full fat.



Anyway could you do me a favour and give me advice on what to do with these babies and not pass judgement on me.
 
A responsible breeder would have bred at least two does at once so that if one was unable to raise her kits, that would mean there would be a foster mum ready. That's for starters.

However, I have suggested things and asked appropriate questions. You posted your previous post about meat whilst I was typing, so that was irrelevant to me. I have not been hostile. The only comment you may disagree with would be the irresponsibility comment. The rest was perfectly fine and helpful.

As far as I am concerned, I am interested in people being responsible and I am interested in rabbit welfare (life and how they die- i..e humanely), what happens after they die is not a huge deal to me, to be honest.


ETA- it is often recommended that you feed goats milk with kitty replacer however, as I said this is not ideal. No where have I said that's your fault, I just know that knowledge is woeful when it comes to handrearing. The partocular guy on that website I'm thinking of raises wildies (whose guts are the same) and uses a mix of puppy something, and something else with something else and benebac (which I'm not sure you can get there, we can't get it in the UK).
 
Last edited:
will see if i can find a pic.
i have never done it myself, but going on what i have heard/read. I think if you are feeding by syringe the best way is to drop the droplets onto its lips and let it lick the drop off, continue doing that until it dosent drink anymore. Thie risk with syringing straight into them is they can easily inhale it and die from pnemonia
 
vee-jay said:
will see if i can find a pic.
i have never done it myself, but going on what i have heard/read. I think if you are feeding by syringe the best way is to drop the droplets onto its lips and let it lick the drop off, continue doing that until it dosent drink anymore. Thie risk with syringing straight into them is they can easily inhale it and die from pnemonia
Click to expand...

That's very true. Would a teeny, tiny teat work better?
 
teeny tiny teat will be impossible. France is very limited in what you can get. These babies would have been in a bucket of water if I was French. I'm syringing it drop by drop. It takes ages but I have not noticeably seen milk in their stomach BUT alot of websites advise 2ml per 12 hours and they've had that much. They are a cross of giant papillons and new zealand whites so would the size make a difference?

I did not read anywhere where it advised to mate two does at once. Now I know I won't make the same mistake a second time. I may not know everything about rabbit breeding but I didn't go into blindly without reading as much as I could find.
 
Greggorio said:
teeny tiny teat will be impossible. France is very limited in what you can get. These babies would have been in a bucket of water if I was French. I'm syringing it drop by drop. It takes ages but I have not noticeably seen milk in their stomach BUT alot of websites advise 2ml per 12 hours and they've had that much. They are a cross of giant papillons and new zealand whites so would the size make a difference?

I did not read anywhere where it advised to mate two does at once. Now I know I won't make the same mistake a second time. I may not know everything about rabbit breeding but I didn't go into blindly without reading as much as I could find.
Click to expand...

Learning is good. Often what you read is not accurate and its only by finding knowledgable people and talking to them that you truly learn what really needs to be learnt. Could you get a mentor?

Could you maybe try and order tiny teats from somewhere in the UK? The reason handrearing so often fails is aspiration into the lungs which would be more likely with a syringe.

How old are the does that you are breeding?

On the night you know the are due (normally the 31st day, although they can go anywhere from 28-33) you should ideally stay up and check them at least every 15 mins. Some breeders set up webcams so that their presence does not stress the doe but so that they can see if the mum is in distress or are having problems.

I saw on your other thread about the does going in a run where ducks do. Would there be a way to get them a separate space just for them?

Are you helping the babies urinate and defecate? That's super important.


ETA- having seen the size of baby nethies against baby giant bunnies, they have a huge size difference, so yes, the breed and size of the babies will change how much milk they need.
 
ok erm the doe that died was 2 and the buck was 12-13 months.

I can give the does a moveable run but it's like 100sq metres for 3 ducks and a rabbit. But if you think it'd be best I can do it but for the record muscovies are nothing like any other domesticated type of duck. For a start they don't wallow in water.

urinating and defecating ive got the hang of. online descriptions such and that took me a while to work out how to do it properly.

I could order teats online but I've read and been told that a syringe is just as effective but can just take more time.


You've got to understand that in France my setup would be laughed at. The French keep them sometimes 10 to a cage. I have tried to do the best I can
 
Greggorio said:
ok erm the doe that died was 2 and the buck was 12-13 months.

I can give the does a moveable run but it's like 100sq metres for 3 ducks and a rabbit. But if you think it'd be best I can do it but for the record muscovies are nothing like any other domesticated type of duck. For a start they don't wallow in water.

urinating and defecating ive got the hang of. online descriptions such and that took me a while to work out how to do it properly.

I could order teats online but I've read and been told that a syringe is just as effective but can just take more time.


You've got to understand that in France my setup would be laughed at. The French keep them sometimes 10 to a cage. I have tried to do the best I can
Click to expand...

Was this your does first litter?

I might be wrong, but I though doe's had to be mated younger for their first litter?
 
Was this the does first litter?

That's great you have worked out how to ensure they are dispelling their waste :) I suspected you had because they are still alive, but had to check.

What sort of nest have you got them in?

I know very little about ducks (not afraid to admit that :lol:) but rabbits and other animals in general don't go well together for various reasons depending on the animal (or, in this case, bird).

I hear you're trying, I just think its unfortunate that you've not been able to have a good mentor to help you and learn from good practices.
 
first litter that I've done with it. A french person was going to feed it to his dogs and I bought it from him

nest is a fleece blanket under them withg another one in a circle around them and their actual bedding is cotton wool with a thermometer next to them (I was told over 65-70F was best so they dont get cold but I've pretty much left it to them to keep themselves warm with each other

no chance of a mentor out here. Absolute 0. A mentor would have told me to drown them
 
and my comments in the other thread arent aimed at you guys. I'm a member of www.thepoultrykeeper.co.uk forum and even when someone came asking about **** fighting we still didnt have a go at them. It breached terms and conditions and they were banned. Other then that everyone is so friendly and polite and if you disagree you do it nicely so I got a bit grumpy. Was not my intention to offend anyone least of all people trying to help
 
Ok, 2 years old is far too old to breed for the first time (especially if you're not sure whether or not she has been bred).

I'm not sure with giant breeds so you need to get confirmation (probably from the forum I suggested previously), but I would think 9 months to a year would be right for the first litter. I would suspect she died from a stuck kit (I lost a rabbit to this too and I found it completely heartbreaking).

Cool, ok. I would add hay to the nest because they start to chew on hay at only a few days old, so hopefully it will start them off well as good hay eaters.

Yeh, I guessed you wouldn't get a mentor, however, potentially you might find the forum I mentioned earlier helpful and you should be able to ask your questions there.
 
Greggorio said:
first litter that I've done with it. A french person was going to feed it to his dogs and I bought it from him

nest is a fleece blanket under them withg another one in a circle around them and their actual bedding is cotton wool with a thermometer next to them (I was told over 65-70F was best so they dont get cold but I've pretty much left it to them to keep themselves warm with each other

no chance of a mentor out here. Absolute 0. A mentor would have told me to drown them
Click to expand...

*Cough cough* HER *cough cough*

Sounds like your trying at least.
 
Sky-O said:
Ok, 2 years old is far too old to breed for the first time (especially if you're not sure whether or not she has been bred).
Click to expand...


:( Ok two lessons learnt so far but I learn new things about poultry everyday so it's only right I learn about rabbits as well

Which forum did you suggest again? Is it one with friendly pragmatic people as I get really irate when people attack me as you may have noticed :(


I will go get some hay out. Got loads of fresh stuff cut a few weeks ago
 
i have also heard that baby rabbits loose the instinct to suckle after a day or 2 of not doing it, so i dont think getting a teet rigth now would help.
 
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