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Feeding kits

W

Whitelighter

Warren Scout
I started the week with 5 bunnys - I'm now down to 3.

One baby got pummeled by mum and then mum died due to a blocked cecum lat night at the vets.

I'm not losing any more rabbits!

The kits are 5 weeks and 5 days old, and had stopped taking milk from mum. They are eating Excel pellets (which was mums food and they started on it) plus Timothy hay and and much regular hay as they like.

I have already picked up a tip regarding dill, so I bought some this afternoon and they love it. So much so I am worried about giving to much and them going off hay.

What else should I consider giving them, and how much pellets should I be allowing per bun per day. Also, will they miss mum at all? Do I need to compensate for get absence in any way or will they just get on with it?
 
If they have never had fresh veg/herbs before I would strongly advise against introducing them at this critical stage. I would stick with just the hay and pellets until they are at least 10 weeks old. A kits gastrointestinal tract is exceptionally delicate and undergoes drastic changes at the weaning stages. Gut dysbiosis can easily be triggered by sudden dietary changes. This can have tragic consequences.
 
What do you mean by will they miss mum? Kits shouldn't leave their mum until they are at least 8 weeks old, although many people leave them longer
 
elmoandfern said:
What do you mean by will they miss mum? Kits shouldn't leave their mum until they are at least 8 weeks old, although many people leave them longer
Click to expand...

Um, I mean since mum passed away last night at the vets...will the kits be adversely affect by her not being around. And if the answer is yes, what can I do to compensate.

Re: fresh food. They have nibbled broccoli and carrot meant for mum but I tried to keep them away from it.

It's all a bit confusing. The dill and herbs were recommended by some on here, with others saying avoid at all costs, and other saying they shouldn't eat pellets.
 
I'm sure they will miss mum a bit but having a group of three will help :) At 5 weeks they should cope okay.

There isn't really a lot you need to do, make sure the hutch stays warm, and feed them as you already are with pellets and hay.

It's fine for babies whose mum ate veggies to have small portions of those veggies as they would have flavoured the milk and nibbled alongside mum. I wouldn't make any big introductions of new stuff though as their digestive system is still maturing and losing mum is a stress factor. The dill shouldn't cause any harm though :)
 
Tamsin said:
I'm sure they will miss mum a bit but having a group of three will help :) At 5 weeks they should cope okay.

There isn't really a lot you need to do, make sure the hutch stays warm, and feed them as you already are with pellets and hay.

It's fine for babies whose mum ate veggies to have small portions of those veggies as they would have flavoured the milk and nibbled alongside mum. I wouldn't make any big introductions of new stuff though as their digestive system is still maturing and losing mum is a stress factor. The dill shouldn't cause any harm though :)
Click to expand...

Thanks.

They have been huddling together a bit today. Every now and then one sticks his nose out of the dark area, looks around and then goes back to the huddle. I think they are looking for Rosie.

Do you recon a little bit if broccoli would be ok? Rosie ate it while they were still in the nest and quite a bit before they could get out and nick it.
 
Last edited:
Whitelighter said:
Um, I mean since mum passed away last night at the vets...will the kits be adversely affect by her not being around. And if the answer is yes, what can I do to compensate.

Re: fresh food. They have nibbled broccoli and carrot meant for mum but I tried to keep them away from it.

It's all a bit confusing. The dill and herbs were recommended by some on here, with others saying avoid at all costs, and other saying they shouldn't eat pellets.
Click to expand...

I'm so sorry I didn't read your post properly! I'm sorry you lost her :( perhaps you could give them a snuggle safe to keep them warm? Hopefully as they are already weaned it won't affect them too much. Personally I would avoid all veg/herbs etc for now and just stick with hay and pellets
 
You could, but on the other hand not having it definitely won't do any harm so I'd be cautious and if you do offer it only a little.

Hopefully they'll adjust, part of it will be they were copying mum who was confident about hoping around and they are a bit unsure, but hopefully they'll adjust quickly and get a little bolder.
 
It may sound silly but I would also give them a large fluffy toy of some kind to snuggle up to -

all our hand raised buns/hare have really loved this - hiding under it, crawling on top of it etc.

Obviously one has to be very careful they dont eat any fluff from it (at the slightest sign of them eating it remove!!!) but none of our little ones have done.

A sugglesafe to keep warm and a large soft object to be under/over shuld help enormously.

I hjave always offered kits over a few weeks small amounts of herbs - [arsley, thyme, coriander etc and also small amounts chopped dandelion - but it does depend on whether theymight have been having some of the 'constituents' of these via mum originally and scattered in the hay and feed before she died.

i would NOT give anything at all that very water rich (lettuce is a no no anyway, cucumber, long fresh grass def NO) or anything sugary - carrots, fruit etc). Think of the sort of small short nibbly semi dried wild herbs/weeds etc that would naturally be found by a young bun when it first emerges from the nest to the wild world.

Good Luck!
 
Sorry I can't offer any advice as I've never had to rear kits but I just wanted yo say I'm sorry you lost one of the little ones, and mum too. So sad.
But I wanted to wish you and the kits good luck. Keep us updated on their progress.
P.S I like the idea of the large cuddle toy and the snuggle safe heat pad, that sounds like a good idea to me.
 
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