Double litter of kits!!!

[NatJ]

I’m going to add some rolled oats and some kitten formula to their water.

Please make sure they have plain water available too!
If they're already drinking some water, then they need water in addition to milk.

At 4 weeks, they will probably be fine. It's not rare for people raising meat rabbits to wean the babies right at 4 weeks. They usually do fine.

I have a rabbit with a litter right now with 6 kits that are just over 4 weeks old

A rabbit's pregnancy is usually 31 days, which is a little over 4 weeks. I think she just got re-bred promptly after giving birth to that first litter.

Is there a buck who shares her cage? (Not a good idea, BTW)
Is there a buck she sometimes gets to visit/play with?
Is there a buck she could have possibly gotten together with for a single minute?
(Assume that a parent, sibling, child, friend, etc could have opened a cage briefly, even if you did not.)

Two weeks ago an old far friend told us that a rabbit can have old sperm inside her for up to a month and become pregnant this way. I blew him off. Could this be what happened?? I went up to the house and got onto my rabbit forum for help. The one person sa one thing, one another...but then, the known ‘expert’. said that it’s actually a second kindle from the same pregnancy.

I'm an expert too! (Or at least, I'll claim to be ) I say she must have just gotten re-bred, with no funny sperm-storing business. Chickens store sperm, rabbits do not.

 

[muddy75]

Oh...did you do that...did you rebrew and take the kits out at 4 weeks?

my doe is due to be bred again jan 28....I got my pair from my sister and brother-in-law who has been raising rabbits for around 40+years......told me best to remove babies at 4 weeks for NZ, i know other breeds may take longer so giving them supplements may be a good idea for a week or 2

 

[Duckfarmer1]

my doe is due to be bred again jan 28....I got my pair from my sister and brother-in-law who has been raising rabbits for around 40+years......told me best to remove babies at 4 weeks for NZ, i know other breeds may take longer so giving them supplements may be a good idea for a week or 2

Ok, I was planning on giving rolled oats and some kitten milk replacer....what would you give?

 

[muddy75]

Ok, I was planning on giving rolled oats and some kitten milk replacer....what would you give?

those will probably be sufficient and as @NatJ said, give them plain water separate from milk replacer

 

[Building Bridges]

View attachment 2002694View attachment 2002695

Oh my goodness!!! I had no idea they were furless a birth!!! I figured they were like puppies. Just goes to show....never too old to learn. Thanks for sharing the photos....they are all adorable!! Hope they do well for you.

 

[Duckfarmer1]

Please make sure they have plain water available too!
If they're already drinking some water, then they need water in addition to milk.

At 4 weeks, they will probably be fine. It's not rare for people raising meat rabbits to wean the babies right at 4 weeks. They usually do fine.



A rabbit's pregnancy is usually 31 days, which is a little over 4 weeks. I think she just got re-bred promptly after giving birth to that first litter.

Is there a buck who shares her cage? (Not a good idea, BTW)
Is there a buck she sometimes gets to visit/play with?
Is there a buck she could have possibly gotten together with for a single minute?
(Assume that a parent, sibling, child, friend, etc could have opened a cage briefly, even if you did not.)



I'm an expert too! (Or at least, I'll claim to be ) I say she must have just gotten re-bred, with no funny sperm-storing business. Chickens store sperm, rabbits do not.

I do not think, in any way that she was exposed to him a second time. I am the only one who cares for the anim. My hubby did it today, because I have the flu...and screwed it all up because he doesn’t even know how to feed them, so I know he wouldn’t have switched rabbits. I don’t think, at this point it really matter how,. Although it woul$ be great to know. It was probably a personal error..I’ll take it on the chin. But now the focus has to be on keeping all ten babies alive! Two other rabbits started pulling fur last Monday...and nothing since...so, perhaps false pregnant? But two?? But if they had a litter, I could give the new kits to that litter....here’s the other big question.....when I did the moving around tonight...you see...the mom and her 6 kits were in a 4’ cage. We moved the 6 kits into a 24” x18” cage. Now I’m thinking that was dumb. The nest box doesn’t fit in that cage...but we divided another large cage for pregna moms, one spot is open. Should I move the move and her new kits down the line into a whole new area.....and put the 6. Four week olds back into their original 4’ space...or is tha5 too much stress to be moved soo many times. I just fell bad having these bunnies on top of each other. I did move all their nesting material with them...and I moved new hay and all the new fur she pulled for the new kits in with the new nest box. Very confusing.

 

[Duckfarmer1]

those will probably be sufficient and as @NatJ said, give them plain water separate from milk replacer

So...do I give them milk replacer at all?

 

[muddy75]

So...do I give them milk replacer at all?

i doubt it would be necessary......i would watch them over a few days to see that they are eating/drinking before making that decision

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Well, this rabbit wasn’t rebred...these babies were just still inside her apparently from the first pregnancy....it makes no sense to me...I was told the ovaries were still fertilized from the initial sperm. I still don’t get it...

This actually explains a 50-year old mystery. I won't go into much detail because I am not a rabbit person, but ... yeah. My parents, city slickers, bought three rabbits for eating, and one of them had babies so they separated the other two. A few weeks later she had another litter and we all freaked out. I don't remember the details but there was no way she could have been bred again. Maybe she was pregnant at the time and they were all females or something. I just remember it was this huge freaky mystery, so this explains it. Thanks!

 

[Duckfarmer1]

So...do I give them milk replacer at all?

Hey, here’s a big question..I had put an ad on our local internet to sell the babies, but that they wouldn’t be ready for two more weeks. I literally just got a text from a girl who wants to see the bunnies on Thursday...sooo.Do I explain...obviously, yes...do I, let her take one now, with the same instructions I’m following...of is that too risking...or do I keep the one she picks for the two weeks as told in the ad. More twists and turns!!