Flemish giant bunny help quickly

[Freyadog]

My neighbors doe got out and his dog killed her. She had 9 bunnies. They are 2 1/2 weeks old. I have 4 here to help however I have no idea how much to feed them and how often. I am giving them fresh goats milk at the moment in a bottle. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Sachasmom]

Does she have another doe to use as a Foster?

Goats milk is good. You can add a bit of Karo Syrup to it too, I don't normally though.

Couple of things about hand feeding. Make sure the kit stays warm while you feed it. ALWAYS feed it upright, it is too easy to have them aspirate the milk if you feed them on their backs. Goats milk is not as nutrient dense as rabbit milk is, so you will probably have to feed them two or three times per day. Make sure the box has hay in it, they will start to nibble on that in another couple days.

The good news is it is way easier to hand feed two week old kits than it is to feed day old kits. Don't feel bad if you loose some or all of them though, hand feeding is really hard!

 

[Freyadog]

thank you so much for the help. I honestly did not know what to do. thanks again.

 

[chickenlover95]

Goats milk is good but, I would use a syringe instead of a bottle. The reason is because the bunnies can easily get the milk up their little noses and into their lungs.

 

[mekasmom]

It is very difficult to handfeed baby bunnies. They usually die. Give them a few cc in a feeding syringe twice a day. And offer rabbit pellets and hay. They can be weaned at three weeks if necessary, so start offering hay and pellets now. The sooner they can eat on their own the better their chances of survival.
Good luck.

 

[ChickenPotPie]

I'm sorry to hear about the loss of your neighbor's doe.

I lost my doe several weeks ago. Problem was that she was my foster doe so she was raising her own plus another kit from my BIS rabbit. So, I had no other doe to nurse the kits. They were three weeks old.

I put goat's milk in an animal water bottle along with some goat milk kefir. The kefir is for boosting probiotics in their gut. I found mine at Whole Foods. It was pomegranate flavor and sweetened. You can use a bit of yogurt with live cultures if you can't find the goat milk kefir. Mix in a bit of kefir or yogurt into the milk, shake it up a bit and hang it on their cage. Hold them up to it so they get a bit on their mouth. They'll lick it off and get the idea.

So, I never bottle fed mine. The milk/kefir in the water bottle was much easier. I cleaned it and replaced it with fresh milk/kefir every day. You may want to do it more often the way the weather is warming up.

Keep timothy hay in their next box so they can begin to nibble as soon as they choose. Along with pellets in their mom's feeder, I added non-cooked, old-fashioned rolled oats in the mornings. This helped keep their tummies happy, encouraged them to eat, and their stool more normal.

So, goat milk and kefir (or yogurt), free access to timothy hay, pellets, and rolled oats in the mornings.

Good luck.