Might have saved a litter

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Truckinguy

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I went out to feed the animals last night and found a brand new litter of five cold and still in the nest. There seemed to be no movement but I brought the nest box inside and put the kits in a plastic container with a small heating pad. There was just a flicker of movement and they were stone cold but not frozen. After a few minutes they started moving so slowly and soon were moving around a bit. When they were wiggling around pretty good I put them back in the nestbox with the heating pad on top of them and kept them in for the night.

This morning I turned on the heating pad again for a few minutes in the nest box to make sure everything was nice and warm and took it outside and put it back in the colony. They were squirming around pretty good and when I put the nest box down the doe was right in there and started fussing around in there.

When I came out tonight to feed the animals, I checked on the litter. They seemed ok and the doe jumped in the nest box again and I watched her nurse and lick them. When she jumped out, I took each of them out quickly and checked them. They all seemed to have taken lots of milk and had tight bellies. They seemed nice and warm and I tucked a little more fur around them before I came inside.

It's supposed to be fairly warm tonight and tomorrow so I think they have a pretty good chance. Fingers crossed!
 
Well done, Truckinguy! :goodjob:

Isn't it a wonderful feeling when you manage to save a litter - or at least give the lil guys a good chance at life. :D

Post an update in a day or two, please!
 
Good save!

I wish every rabbit raiser knew the "they aren't dead until they are warm and dead" rule.

With full bellies, a nice nest, and lots of siblings, I bet the little guys will do just fine. :)

Good luck! :clover:
 
Good job. Wish things always turned out so well.


I lost a litter from a first time doe today .... She had 13 a week early. Nothing I could do.
 
That is excellent! Well done and thank you for sharing. A reminder that there is always hope and a little help can go a long way! What a good mama ... both of you :D
 
MamaSheepdog":1tnysmqo said:
I wish every rabbit raiser knew the "they aren't dead until they are warm and dead" rule.

True story. I've had to explain that in humans more than once.

Glad the little buns seem to be doing ok.
 
Just got in from feeding everyone and closing up the chicken coops. Checked the nest and there are still five wiggly warm little popples in there. Momma was very concerned about what I was doing in the nest box and hurried over to investigate and when I was finished she climbed in and checked that everything was to her satisfaction. They are starting to get that fine satin sheen on them as the fur starts to grow and are very active so I"m cautiously optimistic at this point. :)
 
Here they are, The Frozen Five. They're doing well, fat and furry and Momma is being very protective of them. They must have just been fed because they had fat bellies and seemed kind of drowsy which allowed me to get the picture. I"m quite happy with their progress. :D

Sorry about the editing, the pic was too big and I had to edit it down but I can't seem to center it.
 

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