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Can kits bloat?

H

honeycow

New Kit
Yesterday I had a first time Flemish giant give birth to a litter of 12 kits. Two ended up dying but the rest seemed in perfect condition. I just checked them again and they have the biggest bellies ever. Did mom just do a super good job of feeding them or is something wrong? They seem almost unnaturally big.


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Last edited:
honeycow said:
Yesterday I had a first time Flemish giant give birth to a litter of 12 kits. Two ended up dying but the rest seemed in perfect condition. I just checked them again and they have the biggest bellies ever. Did mom just do a super good job of feeding them or is something wrong? They seem almost unnaturally big.


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Click to expand...

They had probably all just been fed. But kits can bloat so it's impossible to give you an absolute guarantee that all is well. The only thing you can do is wait and see. With such a large litter feeding may become more of a problem for the Doe as the Kits milk intake increases. So you will need to start weighing all kits daily to make sure they are all gaining weight and that some of them are not missing out on feeds.
 
Thank you. I'm fairly positive they are bloated. I have been stimulating then to urinate and I think there tummies have been getting smaller.


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honeycow said:
Thank you. I'm fairly positive they are bloated. I have been stimulating then to urinate and I think there tummies have been getting smaller.


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I'm sorry to hear this ... poor things, I hope all turns out OK
 
honeycow said:
Thank you. I'm fairly positive they are bloated. I have been stimulating then to urinate and I think there tummies have been getting smaller.


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Have you checked that none of the kits have a fused anus, this can happen as a congenital birth defect ? If this is a first litter for the Doe she may not be as efficient at caring for the kits, especially 10 of them and so she may not be stimulating them to urinate/defecate. Hopefully now that you have done so things will improve.
 
Jack's-Jane said:
Have you checked that none of the kits have a fused anus, this can happen as a congenital birth defect ? If this is a first litter for the Doe she may not be as efficient at caring for the kits, especially 10 of them and so she may not be stimulating them to urinate/defecate. Hopefully now that you have done so things will improve.
Click to expand...

I'm assuming there anuses are not fused as they all have been pooping. It is her first littler so I'm hoping that the only problem is that she isn't stimulating them. The last time I checked on them was before bed last night and it seemed like one or two were almost better and some were close. I'm about to go check now and am praying there aren't any dead babies.


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7efb128ce850a3d03e277c06c7f70bb7.jpg

This is a picture of what I believe to be the most bloated kit. I did get him to pee shortly after I took this photo.
They are all still alive, active and most seem to have smaller bellies so hopeful things are headed in the right direction.


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honeycow said:
7efb128ce850a3d03e277c06c7f70bb7.jpg

This is a picture of what I believe to be the most bloated kit. I did get him to pee shortly after I took this photo.
They are all still alive, active and most seem to have smaller bellies so hopeful things are headed in the right direction.


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Click to expand...

Yes, that does look to be abnormal. I hope they will all continue to do better now
 
Kits can bloat, no one really knows why though. The mother rabbit does not stimulate the kits to potty, they do this themselves by the friction of naturally rubbing against each other and the nest material

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