Fed vs. Unfed KIt Pictures : Kindling and Care of Does and Kits

I apologize for the picture quality, but I think these pictures may help people who are new to breeding rabbits to determine if the new kits are being fed. Rabbits, being prey animals, are very secretive about feeding their vulnerable young and people with their first litters often worry that the kits are being neglected.

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Two well-fed kits. Notice how their bellies are distended and smooth and rounded.




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Two unfed kits. Notice the flat, wrinkly, slightly sunken appearance.




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I hope this is helpful. If someone has better pictures, I would be happy to see them posted on this thread.

Maggie, these are awesome! Bad picture quality or not, I can still tell the difference, and it is very useful information. I just checked out little ones today, and I wish I had seen these before. Just from touch though, I could feel they are plump, and I know momma is taking good care of them!

Thanks for posting these!

Glad the pictures were helpful, Geri. It was partly because of your new popples that I went through my files and dug these pictures out.

Yay, thanks Maggie! Appreciate that!

Thanks for the pics. There isn't much you can do about mamas who don't feed them though. Trying to hand raise is seldom succesful and even if they survive they don't usually amount to much after that.

Thank you so much Maggie.
You posted them right on time, now that I have some little bunners.

Thank you so much for posting pictures dear! That is really helpful! I figured if their swollen bellied and look like they're about to pop they've been fed but if I saw the wrinkles I probably wouldn't have been too worried since I'm so used to puppies having wrinkles even if they'e well fed...now I know what to look for!

Perhaps this could be a sticky ?? so it doesn't get buried in the pile of threads ???

Thanks for posting! As a first time breeder I know this will come in handy

Thank you! That is helpful. I'm constantly worried about this with my babies!

Here's another pic of a freshly-fed baby:

How often do you check them? If you have noticed wrinkly bellies twice in 24 hours, do you move them to another doe? Just curious.

sommrluv wrote:How often do you check them? If you have noticed wrinkly bellies twice in 24 hours, do you move them to another doe? Just curious.

Good question, but I don't have an easy answer. If the kits are less than 24 hours old, I would wait a bit. Momma's milk doesn't always come in right away after kindling. If they were still not fed by halfway through Day 2 and I had a suitable foster mother available, then I think I would try fostering them to her... especially if the birth mother was a first-timer.

Magie thanks for mentioning that. I was a bit worried about my last litter when I noticed they weren't as round as they should be at the end of day one but I guess her milk is flowing now. They look a lot better today.

I had noticed that my does only fed their kits twice a day....maybe that's why there are wrinkled bellies?

Rustina, most rabbits only feed their kits once or twice a day. That is normal. Their milk is so incredibly rich that the kits grow fast on just two feedings. Perhaps you saw the wrinkled bellies shortly before feeding time.