Help! Doe kindled one kit, not sure what now?

So, as some of you know from my sister's thread, I bred her 4 pound cross breed to my 3.4 pound Dwarf doe. She was due on the 22nd, but I expected to find babies on the 24th, as she has been 2 days late several times. Well, she was extra late, and kindled this morning, day 34. I watched the kindling. She had only one kit. I was surprised, as she was quite fat and I thought I had seen more kicking then one kit, and her previous litter sizes were 6 and 4. But, there was only 1. He is a rather chunky thing, so it kinda makes sense. I palpated the doe to be sure she was done, she is slightly tight but I can't feel any definite kits.

I was wondering if I should just leave her, or if I should give her lavender to be sure there is nothing else in there. If I do this won't affect the kit, right?

Is there anything extra I should do since he's a singleton? He has plenty of fur in the nest, and it's going into summer here so he should be warm enough. He seems right healthy and fat. The doe is an excellent mama so I'm not concerned about that.

I'm not sure what color he is. His mom's a smoke pearl(double cchl so technically a blue seal) and his daddy's a REW(parents broken black and the other either a tort or a sable, i don't remember which). I'm not sure if he's a sable point or a smoke pearl. He's very light, almost whitish, with pinky-grey skin. I didn't think the REW carried dilute but I guess it's possible.

Giving her lavender won't hurt the kit, you don't give it to her that long. Leaving a stuck kit will cause infections (or worse) then you get to start giving Pen g shots.

A single kit will not be able to keep itself war even in 70 degree weather. I suggest taking from her and keep it in a warmed nest. Return it two or even three times a day to feed then take it again to the warmth for a few weeks. I've done it with a cardboard box, straw and dryer link for the nest. Drape an electric heat pad over one side and cover with bedding. By doing that way the kit can wiggle away or closer to the heated end of the box to regulate it's body temperature.

Sorry I'm no good with genetics. You'll have to have someone else help with that. :?

Thanks so much!
Will the doe still feed him if I do that? She's rather high strung. If worse comes to worst I can flip her to feed him.
Can I use his nestbox? The only thing I have is a heated blanket, I'm hoping I can use that against the side of the box.
How long does he have to be kept warmed? 1 or 2 weeks?

I agree with Homer about the need to provide heat for your singleton kit. If a kit isn't warm, it cannot digest the milk.

If you don't have a heating pad, you can use a hot water bottle instead, but you will have to change the water when it cools. What I did -- being a low-tech kind of person -- was to take a screw-top bottle (a wine bottle works well) and preheat it with hot tap water, empty it and refill it with fresh hot water. Don't burn yourself! Pull a sock over the bottle for insulation and then lay it along one side of the nest box so the kit can choose how much heat it needs. Since no electricity is involved, you may be able to leave the nest box in with the doe -- you'll have to use your own judgment about the temperatures.

:good-luck:

Thanks so much!
I'm borrowing a hot water bottle.

-- Fri Nov 25, 2016 9:53 am --

I'm rather nervous, I just took the nest box away and my doe is rather worried. She seems stressed that it's gone. She's super motherly towards it. Do you think she'll still feed it when I put it back tonight? If I have to resort to flipping her does that mean he won't be able to go back to her ever?

There probably won't be a problem -- she'll likely be super-relieved when you put it back and hop right in and feed the kit.

With a hot water bottle, you may be able to leave the nest box in the cage. Be sure to put the hot water bottle only at one side of the box -- the kit has to be able to get away from it if it is too hot. If it's one of those rubber bottles, be sure to put a cloth around it so the surface is not too hot. (This is why I like the glass bottle - a sock works perfectly as a cover and the bottle lays neatly along one side of the box.)

When I've had to do it I don't take the box out. That keeps the kits scent there. I use a make shift nest in the house and carry the kit back and forth. Another thing you can try is bring her to the kit. Set in a chair and put a towel over your lap and put the kit in the depression between your legs. Have your sis give you the momma and lay here across you legs. Spread you knees slightly brings the kit up to touch her and it will start to hunt for food.
:good-luck:

Ok, I have a plan.
During the day I will put him with mom with a hot water bottle. At night or if it's bad weather I'll bring him inside with the bottle. Hopefully he will do well. This is the first singleton I've had so thanks so much for helping. If it weren't for you he might have died.

Your plan sounds just fine to me, LFB. :goodjob:

Did the doe make a good nest with lots of fur? If not you may want to add some nesting materials such a lint from the clothes dryer, teased cotton balls or batting or feathers from a pillow. Another choice--if the doe will let you--is to gently pluck fur from the doe's dewlap and belly and add that to the nest. Normally this fur is loose right after kindling and "helping" her sometimes reminds her that she needs to do this.

Yes, she has made a beautiful nest with a ton of fur, it covers the whole box and I have to really dig through the pile to find him! :lol:

He has done great over his first night, he has seemed to stay nice and warm. His mommy is doing an excellent job, she is always cleaning him, and he's so fat! He also has pooped, so he seems to be digesting fine.

That's good news, LFB! Very pleased to hear he is doing so well.

Homer":3o10jdm8 said:

A single kit will not be able to keep itself war even in 70 degree weather. I suggest taking from her and keep it in a warmed nest. Return it two or even three times a day to feed then take it again to the warmth for a few weeks. I've done it with a cardboard box, straw and dryer link for the nest. Drape an electric heat pad over one side and cover with bedding. By doing that way the kit can wiggle away or closer to the heated end of the box to regulate it's body temperature.

Click to expand...

This is actually wrong. I have a single kit who has been outside since day one. She was never brought inside and its not got past 60 degrees here probably colder with all the wind. Overnight in their room it was 39 the night after she was born. She's healthy and growing great and mom like always has been amazing. So if you're going into summer. Let mom raise the kit and just check it to make sure it's not over eating. Rabbits know what they are doing and typically don't need any human interference. After all in the wild it's bound to happen the a doe only has one kit on occasion.

You are extremely lucky then. I've seen it happen more than once before intervening.

Really?!?! This is the second single kit I've had raised alone and both did wonderful and grew huge. The most recent one, well I'm surprised she made it with all the smoke and cold. Well I'm always one to give chances ya know? I knew the doe was a good mom so I wasn't worried in the least, until I found out she could be overeating! Which thankfully I must've got really lucky...

Buttons, I am confused. First you say that the kit was never brought inside and then you refer to the rabbits' "room" as being only 39 degrees.

It's not impossible for a singleton kit to survive in a good nest without supplementary heat, but it is taking what I see as an unnecessary risk when it is so easy to provide a hot water bottle at least. A chilled kit cannot digest milk and as often as not that will be fatal.

Buttons, I'm glad your kit did well, but I'm happier helping my kit, knowing he will be safe. I don't want to lose him.
His momma is doing fine with him, he goes right back outside in the morning, and she always jumps right in to feed him. He's super fat and happy.

The rabbit room is the back portion of the goat room. Its a brick walled dirt room built directly under our kitchen. There is a half wall barrier berween the goats and rabbits. However the rabbits still feel the cold and incoming wind. It does stay a few degrees warmer than outside but not enough to make a considerable change, possibly 2 or 3 degrees. Mom built a very fur dense nest and when I added more hay after noticing rhw kit was a bit cool she pulled even more fur and the kit was fine. She's about 2 weeks old now and has yet t come out of the nest box which is fine she has another week or two in there.