[X-Posting] Bunnies! Or, OMG PANIC our dates were wrong!!!

[RJSchaefer]

One of the rabbits ripped it up. Probably the mother.

I bought some KMR. Got a baby medicine syringe. Letting them lick a drop at a time off the tip. After warming them both up and giving each a ML of KMR, they're both mewling and crawling.

After this, I may start immediately separating the kits. I've read it's a common method in larger scale operations. Will definitely cut down on this heartache. =(

 

[aprille218]

Most of the time bottle feeding kits doesn't work. If you can id the mother and bring her to the babies once daily it is better for them and her.
Aprille

 

[Bunnylady]

It might have been the mother, or it might have been the other doe - if she's pregnant, she might be trying to make a nest for her own litter-to-come. I have had that happen, which is why, even when I do colony-style breeding, I put a doe in a cage by herself when she shows signs of being pregnant.

I usually pull the kits and nest boxes out, and keep them in the house; I just take the kits to their mothers for brief periods to feed. A few of my does have had trouble getting used to this, but most have adjusted very quickly. When I started in rabbits almost 30 years ago, I never would have believed does would sit still for that!

Sorry about your losses.

 

[RJSchaefer]

Syringe feeding was working for one, but not the other. This one was stronger to start with.


It wasn't working for this one, who is significantly smaller/weaker.


When my oldest daughter got home, we put on long sleeves and retrieved the mama. She's kind of mean, has been since we got her, so we needed the extra protection.

Anyway, we flipped her on her back and put the kits next to their own teets. Mama seemed to go into some kind of zen state and didn't move a muscle. Daughter asked how we'd know if they were done - I figured they couldn't be much different from baby humans, so I waited until they fell off. Gave mama a bit of carrot to munch on, then put them back a few minutes later.

Both of them have nice, super-fat bellies now.

 

[SA Farm]

Syringe feeding was working for one, but not the other. This one was stronger to start with.


It wasn't working for this one, who is significantly smaller/weaker.


When my oldest daughter got home, we put on long sleeves and retrieved the mama. She's kind of mean, has been since we got her, so we needed the extra protection.

Anyway, we flipped her on her back and put the kits next to their own teets. Mama seemed to go into some kind of zen state and didn't move a muscle. Daughter asked how we'd know if they were done - I figured they couldn't be much different from baby humans, so I waited until they fell off. Gave mama a bit of carrot to munch on, then put them back a few minutes later.

Both of them have nice, super-fat bellies now.

Great!

 

[JitPatsyGold]

Thinking about rescuing a couple of rabbits. Can they be put in my coop run with my two hens?

 

[SA Farm]

They can, but it's not highly recommended. There are people on here who have/ are doing it though. The main thing is to keep the rabbits out of the chicken feed.

 

[RJSchaefer]

I'm no expert, but I wouldn't keep the bunns with the chicks on a permanent basis. When we had ours in cages, we'd let them out into the coop/run to exercise, but that had to be limited. The rabbits made a game of chasing around the chickens, until, one day, the chickens realized they had to upperhand. It got a bit ugly.

Update on my bunnies. My broken black died. It just never warmed up. I had a tissue box lined with hay and wooly fur inside a larger container lined with the original nesting material (too matted to use for them) on top of a heating pad on low. The black stayed nice and toasty, but poor little broken black was always cold.

Mama was receptive to nursing for the first day and a half. Now she wants nothing to do with them and has no milk. Black is being syringe fed again, on KMR, and I'm still trying to get her to nurse her kit. I'm afraid it's going to die as well, probably from pneumonia.

Next time this happens, we're letting nature take its course. Too much work for too much heartache. =(

 

[SA Farm]

I'm no expert, but I wouldn't keep the bunns with the chicks on a permanent basis. When we had ours in cages, we'd let them out into the coop/run to exercise, but that had to be limited. The rabbits made a game of chasing around the chickens, until, one day, the chickens realized they had to upperhand. It got a bit ugly.

Update on my bunnies. My broken black died. It just never warmed up. I had a tissue box lined with hay and wooly fur inside a larger container lined with the original nesting material (too matted to use for them) on top of a heating pad on low. The black stayed nice and toasty, but poor little broken black was always cold.

Mama was receptive to nursing for the first day and a half. Now she wants nothing to do with them and has no milk. Black is being syringe fed again, on KMR, and I'm still trying to get her to nurse her kit. I'm afraid it's going to die as well, probably from pneumonia.

Next time this happens, we're letting nature take its course. Too much work for too much heartache. =(

Agreed on the rabbit/chicken front.
I'm so sorry for your loss. It's tough to lose the babies - particularly when you invest so much time and effort into them

 

[UnlabeledMama]

Oh, how sad.

I'm sorry!