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5 day Old Kit's Weight related?

S

ScarlettxLane

New Kit
Hello Girls and Boys,

Im looking for some advice, My Doe had 6 Kits on Friday 5th feb 2011.
3 days later i noticed that the doe wasnt feeding two of the litter and one was left out was very cold and barely moving i took it out and decided to hand fed it as she wasnt feeding her and otherwise she would die, i fed her and she lasted for 9 hours before she passed away! that night the second one was left out and sadly died too!
However now i have noticed she is doing the same thing to another two in the litter not feeding them! I phoned the local vet and she told me to hold my doe down and attach the kits to her! But i did they moved from teet to teet, but no milk!! the teets seemed very red and not swollen like i would of expected!

I decided it was time to weigh them this evening to keep a diary of weights and when she was in the nesting box, But the weights are as follows

Rabbit one and two weighed 50 Grams
Rabbit 3 and 4 weighed 65 Grams

is this normal weight's for Kits of around 5 days old?

Do you have any advice on how to get my doe to fed her kits?

Any Help would be Greatly Appreciated :D

Thank You x
 
Most of us will never have had en experience with kits, so probably your lack of responses will be down to the fact that people don't want to post if they have nothing to offer you by way of advice.

If you would like to e-mail me I can send you some information that was written by a rescuer I know. I can't actually offer you any hands on advice as I have no experience.

You may even be better posting on a breeder friendly forum even if you aren't a breeder as they will probably have more experience.

My e-mail address is therabbitcrossing@yahoo.co.uk

Helen
 
Hi sorry I didn't see this as I wasn't on last night. It's hard to go by the weights as you don't say what type of rabbits the mum and dad are.

If it's her first litter she may have been struggling with 6 it sounds like she might not have enough milk. Make sure you up her food intake. Usually my does get unlimited feed when they have a litter I also give veg like kale and carrots for extra moisture. Other than that it sounds like she is coming out of the nest with a baby still attached to the nipple which is why you are finding them cold and not with the others.

The vets advice is sound but generally holding them down will stress them. Give her some veg or stroke her while putting the kits under her for a feed. Also fresh grass is good for her too.

Sometimes the nipples can be blocked and the babies clear them when they latch on. You may need to try the above a few times a day before mum and babies get what they should be doing.

Hope that helps.
 
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