some very quick advise pllllease

beth my nethy x dutch was accidentally mated when my friend was careless a few weeks ago. we were worried sick as she is tiny and one of the potential fathers is a six month old huge contintental, the other potential is a dutch.

she had 7 in total, 3 born dead as far as we know, and 4 surviving, i have gone out this morning and another one is dead. yes i know it happens but its still heart breaking.

there is a huge disparity between the remaining babies. two are HUGE and pink with light fur coming through the other remaining is a tiny dutch (as was the one who just died). the two big ones have massive bellies and are clearly thriving the other one just looks so tiny and clearly doesnt have such a big belly.

should i intervene? can i help mom by feeding the small one some extra? what do i give it? my other rabbit has 8 with her, (accident again courtesy of captain bunny next door sneaking in) and they are all thriving, should i put the small one in with her or does she have enough on her plate?

help please

thank you

Yeesh, you got very lcuky she managed to survive the birth with such a large potential dad.

There are things you can do to help, but I wouldn't suggest supplementing.

Before I make any suggestions, how old are the babies? Is mum on unlimited food? How is mum acting generally, and specifically when you look in the nest? Are the kits in a nest box?

thank you so much

mum gave birth on sunday. she is a nervous bunny anyway, we had her because she was never handled and left in a hutch and couldnt be rehomed with children. she is in with other does. we seperated her adn she became stressed so we have gone for a happy medium, we allow her some time with the others during the day but she is shut away for periods.

she is a very attentive mommy, always checking (unlike rosie my other who has a 'very' relaxed attitude to motherhood!!), shes there if i am checking and seems to like the help of the matriach of the group as i dont think she is very old herself. hetty, the mother hen, talks to the babies, pulls out her own fur and generally keeps beth company and encourages her.

if beth is with the other rabbits then she sits near the stairs to protect the babies who are upstairs in a sheltered part of the hutch (ie the bedding area) covered in hair, paper and hay.


i feel useless

food

my rabbits are fed on rabbit royale, mixed with readigrass (not too much) and pigmy goat food, for its fruit and veg content, especially when they are pregnant or during motherhood.

they are given cabbage/greens and carrots.

beth is constantly fed at the minute as im at home alot so she is regularly checked

photo

ive just taken a photo but it wont let me upload it?

im about to go out

is there anything i can get for her or the babies while im out??

x

Sorry I can't offer any suggestions, tend to believe in the "leave well alone unless" approach but have you checked mum over to ensure she hasn't torn from the birth etc?

Are the does completely separated from the males to prevent anymore "accidents" happening? A doe can become pregnant straight away after giving birth

Good luck and hope the kits do well.

Is she getting hay? Rabbits should have unlimited access to hay - she'll need lots while she's nursing. It should usually make up about 80 - 90% of their diet - but whilst nursing I believe you can give a few more pellets x

Supplementing rabbits is not ideal. The set up is not ideal or conducive to successfully raising rabbits, it also sounds like her personality is not conducive to you being able to help her feed. In addition to all that, her diet doesn't sound the healthiest, but if she has access 100% of the time to a pellet food then that, for now, will be good enough

Basically, I think what I'm saying is that there is no obvious and easy way to help this kit, due to the set up and the personality of the bunny.

To be honest, I don't know what to suggest.

Normally I would suggest to help the mum by standing her over the nest, relaxing her with treats and waiting for her to finish feeding. I would suggest doing that with the struggling kit in the middle of the day (i.e. away from dawn or dusk when she is most likely to naturally feed) to give it some extra.

Or I would suggest having one person hold mum with her nipples accessible and another person holding the baby to her nipples to get a feed (again at the middle of the day).

It might just be that the baby is not going to thrive due to genes, or it might be that it is a completely different kind of rabbit (if she is a nethie cross and the dad is potentially a giant you could end up with both small and large rabbits in her litter).

Supplementing is also a possibility but nothing you could buy would really supplement against mum's milk but someone did show me this recently which may be of use. http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/orphan.html

Another option, possibly the option with the most potential success, might be to find a foster mum for this little kit.

thanks for the advice

i know what you mean about it being natures way its just horrid to watch.

yes all bucks are out of the way. i went to my graduation ceremony and a friend popped round to feed. she told us one was out which wasnt a problem when we got back three were out, two bucks and a doe. we are lucky the continetnal didnt kill the dutch but only one bite on him. i wasnt best chuffed.

they have stacks and stacks of hay but might nip and get some timothy hay as a treat for them. she is constantly fed bless her, just that the others are huge and this one is tiny.

can they get pregnant from more than one buck if they both managed to get to her???

wish i could upload the picture its quite funny. the big one is lying on its back like a pink pig and the other so tiny next to it.

meandmedog said:

i know what you mean about it being natures way its just horrid to watch.

yes all bucks are out of the way. i went to my graduation ceremony and a friend popped round to feed. she told us one was out which wasnt a problem when we got back three were out, two bucks and a doe. we are lucky the continetnal didnt kill the dutch but only one bite on him. i wasnt best chuffed.

they have stacks and stacks of hay but might nip and get some timothy hay as a treat for them. she is constantly fed bless her, just that the others are huge and this one is tiny.

can they get pregnant from more than one buck if they both managed to get to her???

wish i could upload the picture its quite funny. the big one is lying on its back like a pink pig and the other so tiny next to it.

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Yes. They may only be half siblings.

wow thanks

your advice is invaluable. we do the best we can by our bunnies who are all very very loved.

she is a lot better than she used to be and let me stroke her head earlier without complaint. i will try putting baby onto her tummy when my friend arrives as im alone at home at present.

we did wonder why they were so different size wise and i guess now can tell who the daddy is!!


they love their food and we have had problems in the past with them leaving it, especially the pellets, they seem to thrive on what they are given but im open to feedback please.

i know its natures way but i want to help in anyway i can x

You can't upload photos - you have to put them or flikr or similar and paste the coding on here x

surrogate mother

my other rabbit has 8 babies and all are thriving at 9 days old. is it worth putting some of beths in with her? just wondering if the bigs ones would be best or is that too much for mom with 8 already?

I think some pictures would be very useful. If one has a giant dad and one has a dutch dad then they will likely be very different sizes naturally, but can still be healthy.

There's a guide to posting pics somewhere, I'll just see if I can find it.

meandmedog said:

my other rabbit has 8 babies and all are thriving at 9 days old. is it worth putting some of beths in with her? just wondering if the bigs ones would be best or is that too much for mom with 8 already?

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I would say definitely not. That said, if she is easier to handle, then potentially you could use her to supplement the less thriving one, but do leave her with her 8- don't add more.

Potentially there are risks to that, but if you ensure it very much smells of the right mum when you put it back in the nest then hopefully it will be ok, especially as they all live together.

Posting photos guide http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/showthread.php?t=136183

thats a good idea

rosie is more amenable and takes a very relaxed approach to motherhood. she isnt in with my other does tho as the there are two dominants and it didnt work out. shes on her own, rolling around her hutch mainly looking very very pleased with herself! lol x

photo hopefully

24082011604.jpg

meandmedog said:

rosie is more amenable and takes a very relaxed approach to motherhood. she isnt in with my other does tho as the there are two dominants and it didnt work out. shes on her own, rolling around her hutch mainly looking very very pleased with herself! lol x

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:lol: She sounds cute. If you try and use her to supplement the other one, then take her right away from her hutch, put a bit of vanilla just above her nose and see if the kit will feed from her. You may have to help it toilet too.

When you put the kit back I would try and find some soiled hay from mum and stroke that on the kit. Also, if mum let's you, just a tiny dash of vanilla above her nose might work too.

The vanilla just helps because they smell that instead of scents from other rabbits that may cause problems.