Rabbits!

[tracyjg]

I have lost 3 today. There is only 1 left. We moved the cooler into the laundry room where there's more heat. The kits lost weight when I weighed them these morning. They where all alive. We put my hay in there in afternoon to try and keep warm. It was in 30 today very cold and doors where open and closed all day on washing incubators and my sons class it was very busy. Black 1.1 black 1.1 pink 1.0 pink 0.7 lost all but pink 1.0 her weight stayed the same. The heater stoped working. My parter tryed to put pc pipe in the drain of the cooler to hide the cord so she couldn't eat it again. Bad rabbit.

 

[tracyjg]

It's been a challenge for me.trying to take care of everyone and recovering.a lot of times I by myself with every pets and my child.why partner at work or in classes with my son.having sick baby chicks at the same time and we lost some of those two weeks ago it's a great hardship. And having more chicks born around 3rd. I need to figure out a better way at keeping my kit baby's alive.

 

[Bunnylady]

Wow, it sounds like you really have your hands full!

I'm sorry you have lost those kits. I hate to say it, but my experience makes me think that you will probably lose that last kit as well. It's very, very unusual for a single kit to survive, even during warm weather and with the best of care.

It is extremely difficult to hand raise baby rabbits - most experienced rabbit breeders give up even trying. Often, you work so hard just to keep them alive, and just about the time you think they are ready to start eating on their own, they die on you. If the doe is alive and she has milk, you are always better off getting her to do the work.

These days, I am doing things that I never would have believed possible when I first got into rabbits (about 30 years ago). When possible, I just give the doe a nest box a few days before her litter is due, and leave her alone. Unfortunately, sometimes I can't do that and still have live baby rabbits. Some people say they can raise rabbits outdoors when the temperature is well below freezing, but all I can say is, it doesn't happen here. So if I have a litter due during cool weather, I put the doe and her nest box in a carrier cage, and put the carrier in my hall closet. A lot of people will tell you that if you disturb a doe enough, she will kill or abandon her litter, and that certainly can happen, but most of my does have gone ahead and had the babies, cleaned them up, pulled fur, etc, just like they are supposed to.

Sometimes a doe gets everything else right, but doesn't seem to know that she needs to nurse her kits. I always check on my litters at least once per day. If I notice that a new litter doesn't seem to have been fed, I put the nest box in a carrier that is only slightly larger than it is, put the doe in the nest box, and close the carrier. Most of the time, the babies find the doe, and she feeds them. Most of the time, I have only had to do this a couple times before the doe figures out what she needs to do. Every once in a while, I will have a doe that simply wants nothing to do with her kits, or doesn't have any milk; that is why I breed several does to kindle at the same time, to have at least one more rabbit for "backup" in case something goes wrong.

Another thing I do, is to keep the nest box in the closet during cool weather. Early in the morning and again at about sundown, I take the box out and put it in the mother's cage. Most of my does just hop right in and feed the kits, but I stick around just to make sure. If the doe doesn't get in the box within a few minutes, I do the carrier bit. Once the babies have been fed, back to the closet they go. I can usually do this up until they are about 2 weeks old, by which time, they are furry and mobile enough to safely leave with their mothers.

I don't know if anything I do will be of any help to you, but maybe my set up will give you an idea of something that can work out better for you next time around.

 

[tracyjg]

The last kit pasted away a few hrs after her two siblings did. But I do have questions. My female seems so big know. And the male is losing a lot of weight now.she wasn't that way before the kits. She is starving all the time now. And someone else said she could possibly have another litter in 31 days because they female and male where together intell my partner got up around 4.00am he moved the kits. Later in the morning I learned of it and got up. She was not moved intell 7.40am.because the office is the same temp outside. 30 temperature. The laundry room is 72-80 inside with heater over head on. Laundry room also has a small heater for chicks and heat lamps.we put kits at the end in their for the night and mins later two died. One was dropping fast. Then my last one died.my bedroom where the incubator our is simaler temp wise but no individual heater because incubator give its on heat..it didn't really appear like she was feeding them and was very lost. They where not gaining weight but losing it at a fast past. Female is back in office on a book shelf it a pet carrier.but kits would of gotten run over. They didn't have much room in cooler either. And male and female where not near each other. They have been together all their life.from when breader shipped them to feed store. We thought they where girls and sisters. We have the same issue with my other two.a few months ago my other girl cinco climed on her house and jumped and broke her bone in her leg. It took her months in recovery. I needed he cage for one of my roosters.to stop breeding for a minute.and put her back with midnights and found out he was a boy. I was right there so I picked midnight up and put him in a big boxes he loves.but we thought she would have kits a month before my surgery. It's crazy but I stopped it in time.albino no one new. I was gone to hospital. Partner was gone for hrs to get me settle at hospital.she was a surprise. We didn't know intell after fact. I only check and feed twice a day.

 

[tracyjg]

The kitchen where they were originally. Is colder but it's a big area the kitchen hooks to dinning room and living room it's open no doors a but to back patio door that gets a draft every time we go in and out of it or let dogs out. Several times a day. We where having a lot of issues with a syringe. Every time I have had to hand syringe a bird it died. I don't think it was working with kits either.

 

[tracyjg]

Albino and smokey where bought in April and a few week later midnight and cinco Demi's where bought. My understanding is the feed store buys from same breeder each time. Cal ranch feed store. There all over the place. Some of my chicken where also bought there. With them we learned a lot of them had a breeding issues with umbilical cord attached to small intestines and appendix which didn't go away at birth pulling it away making baby die.so I am not surprised if there may be a defect. But we just don't know what went on.

 

[tracyjg]

She was not feed to pregnancy guide lines because we didn't know. And nesting box was in cinco cage.and cinco thinks it's her bed.

 

[tracyjg]

At the moment I am waiting for my Easter eggers in the incubator. I am trying to debate to put another set of eggs in the incubator or just give them to my friend who has a large family.because if I am dealing with bunny issues I don't want to also be dealing with chick issues at same time opposite sides of house that need my attention at same time. And I am only one person. Carrying for all my pets and my son alone.why he is at work.

 

[tracyjg]

A lot of the kits had cuts on them. The first one that died the littlest one was the worse.my closet is very full.

 

[tracyjg]