My doe is kindling any tips

My mini rex doe will be kindling in 6 days. This will be my first litter, any tips on how to care for the doe and litter.

Well, there isn't much to do.

Provide a nestbox and plenty of hay from day 25 on, then just don't stress the doe, keep up the daily routine and stay calm.
You can give her more food, and when it's about time offer her a Tums (fruit flavoured is said to be accepted well) to make sure she has no calcium deficit when kindling, I made oatmeal cookies with powdered eggshell (coffee blender) for that purpose.

When she starts nesting and pulling fur keep an eye on her, when she kindles check for kits outside the nest and put them in there, when one is chilled warm it up first. When she's done check the nest, remove uneaten afterbirth or dead kits and replace soiled bedding, and male sure the kits are well covered in fur. You can add fur you save from brushing or false pregnancies,

Then just give her rest, lots of food and privacy, it can take up to 24h (in rather rare causes up to 48h) until the milk drops, and some does do not feed as long as someone is around, that's the thing about privacy, they are prey animals after all.

Good luck

my opinion is,
be sure she has everything she needs,
-clean nest box,claen bedding, and privacy ...
She is much more likely to "make mistakes" if she feels
she has to watch out for "intruders"..
she needs to focus "all" of her attention on kindling.
-you can peek in every half hour to 45 minutes, to see if kits are on the wire, and need moved to the box..
...[if she is used to seeing you a lot, it probably won't hurt..] but, does kindling ,are vulnerable and nervous .
when she is done , double check to make sure all kits are in the box ,and together...
and depending on temperature, see that they are covered with fur..
-don't cover them with fur if temps are 80- just make sure there is fur on the sides of the kit pile,
so they can squirm under if they get too cool...
on day two, check the kits, remove dead kits, count them etc...

the biggest thing is don't stress. And I know this sounds so "happy sappy advice" but I stressed so much over a litter and there was no need to. If this is her first time then yes, check every hour or so for issues, make sure she feeds them, always have kitten mix just in case bottle feeding becomes a thing, not likely. check for stillborns right after kindling, and thats basically it. Nature takes care of basically everything

http://hillsidefarmhawaii.com/blog/2018/20180801.html

We've had good luck with this recipe to make replacement rabbit milk, should you need it. It's pretty much made with basic kitchen supplies except for the bone meal. You can find that at a hardware store in the gardening section. I keep a small box of bone meal at hand just in case we need to make up bunny milk. And an eye dropper works better than a syringe for feeding newborns. Just be careful not to get milk up their nose or they suffocate.

It's really best, though, to let the mum bun do all the work. Support the mum bun all you can. Mine get as much feed as they want and lots of water. Sometimes they will get some calf manna after giving birth, if I have any on hand. They continue to get as much feed and water as I can get them to eat until the kits are about five weeks old. Around then she will start weaning them and the demand on her for feeding will lessen.

Depending on the doe, you can be more present and hands on, but the key to that is 'depending on the doe'. Our rabbits are handled literally at birth so they are really used to us and don't mind us fussing with them, the kits or the nest. However, if the doe isn't used to being handled or if she acts nervous, make sure she has food, water, nesting material (hay, dried grasses, wool pulled earlier, etc.) and a nest box to put it in. Then pretty much leave her to it. Quietly drifting in to see if there's any kits on the wire is good if it doesn't upset the doe. If you have a spare nanny cam you could set it up in the nest area? That would save having to disturb the doe.

Once she has them, don't worry if she stays as far away from the nest as possible, that's normal and you may not ever see her feed them. Check them to see if they're fat, if they're fat and not wrinkly, then they're being fed. Don't take visitors to the nest to see the babies for at least the first two weeks if you can help it. Especially if you have a nervous doe.

Update: I woke up this morning and saw my rabbit give birth.there are 3 kits, two broken black and one black, I'll keep you posted

Addisonsminirexs":ytdnusgl said:

Update: I woke up this morning and saw my rabbit give birth.there are 3 kits, two broken black and one black, I'll keep you posted

Click to expand...

I hope her and the kits are doing alright ,