newbie needs baby feeding help

OK so I am a newbie to having rabbits. I have 3 adults in a humungous hutch outside with a yard for them to play in. While feeding the other day I found a nest!! I saw movement and pulled aside and saw 4 rabbits approx2-3 weeks and 6 pinkies. I made the huge mistake of bringing the mom and all babies inside Into a small hutch. That was 3 days ago. Woke up this morning and all pinkies were dead, one even bloodied. The other 4 babies are active and doing well. However, I notice them trying to scurry under her to feed and she kicks them off. I even tried gently petting her while one nurses and she will not let them. I know they only feed small amounts but I don't know if she is feeding at all now that I interfered. What do I do??? She seems to be rough with them. Running around right over them. So right this moment I have her in a hutch and they are in a Rubbermaid alone. I am clueless what to do. Put them back in and let them be, or keep them separated and feed them myself? If I need to feed what? I feel terrible that this happened

If the older babies are only 2-3 weeks old, you had two does give birth. Assuming you didn't get the does already bred, the first thing you need to do is figure out which of your rabbits is a buck. Does will rebreed immediately after giving birth if a buck is near, so the dam of the 2-3 week old kits will be kindling again in a week or so. The doe that had the pinkies is probably rebred as well. Figure out who the buck is and seperate him asap.

The does behavior toward the older kits is perfectly normal. Rabbit does only nurse once or twice a day. The rest of the time they ignore the kits. This is their survival trait to keep predators from finding the nest. Once the kits leave the nestbox they will start to pester the doe for more frequent feeding. She will normally reject those. Give her something to get up on so that she can get away from the kits when they are bugging her.

I'm assuming of course that you have the right doe with the older kits.

The normal rabbit gestation is 31 days so be ready for more kits soon.

I'm sorry you lost the youngest babies. It happens and rabbits have a higher learning curve then most other animals. Don't beat yourself up about it.

Thank you much for your response. I must be off on my age estimate of the babies because the two rabbits left in the hutch are most definetly boys! Lol well that makes me feel better that her behavior is normal. I have the babies separated right now and momma is looking nice and relaxed! I am going to give momma some time to recover and raise these babies,and then take her to get fixed. I love animals, we have dogs, chickens, rabbits and a hedgehog but this has stressed me out ha!! <br /><br /> __________ Sun Nov 29, 2015 2:59 pm __________ <br /><br /> So now after reading your reply and went and looked at the large brown one, whom we took in for a friend who said was a buck. However he is not very friendly so I never have looked underneath. Just checking it out and it is missing hair everywhere (possibly from making a nest?) I am probably wrong about everything and that is probably why the pinkies died. I feel terrible. So should I just leave the doe inside where she is with the 4 babies? And leave the outside where they are? I probably can't put them all back together in large hutch correct?? Uughhh!!!

How long are they separated yet?

I keep my 3 does in one hutch, two of them have litters 3 weeks apart, now 7 and 4 weeks old.

If they did get along before and they were not separated for too long I would try to put them together again - except the buck(s), of course. But first be sure what's boys and girls, it needs just a few seconds to get a bunny pregnant (don't ask how I know :? )

I was going to ask how two bucks get along fine, mine started to fight and castrate each other when maturing (although I didn't see any serious fights, just the results).

If you are not sure what you're looking at make a picture and post it here.

The best I can do is give you my mom's thread...

formula-feeding-baby-bunnies-pics-vids-t3691.html#p35923

Good luck! :clover:

If the older babies are over two weeks they probably don't need formula feed. Mom should continue to feed them until she is fairly close to kindleing her next litter. Might not hurt to read it just for reference though. That thread has great info.

You do need to prepare for two more litters. I would bet money the rabbit with missing fur is a doe as well. It's pretty common to miss sex rabbits.

I would go ahead and make sure the doe with the older kits has a nestbox now, just to be safe.

If possible sex the other rabbits.

Thank you all for responding. The 3 adults have always got along great..so I probably was wrong all along. However, because I am a nervous wreck after seeing those poor pinkies this morning, I did go get some kitten formula to test and see if they 4 babies were hungry and not one was interested in it. Sooooo....I would assume they are not hungry. I hope. So I gave the doe a box to get away for her sanity and put the babies back in with her. They are asleep for now. I think I am going to see how they are in the morning. Being that they are older can I tell if they just ate in the morning? I have learned a big lesson I will never interfere again.

besh":1s9myrjo said:

I have learned a big lesson I will never interfere again.

Click to expand...

There are times where interference can mean saving the life of some kits, and there are also times where it could do more harm then good.

Alforddm was not at all exaggerating when describing rabbits as a mammal with a steeper learning curve than most. :|
I could almost guarantee that there is not one single seasoned rabbit breeder on here who has never lost any kits.

What I'm saying is, don't beat yourself up over it, OK? We've all been there too. :grouphug2:

From reading your thread, I can't really say for sure what I would even do in your place, but you have been given some excellent advice.

One thing I would do for sure would be to be double checking my rabbit's genders very carefully. Mature males are probably the easiest to determine gender of, since they have long hairless visible testicles.

If your doe is the mother of those kits, she will probably only nurse when she's sure to not be disturbed. If she is the mother of both litters, she would have already weaned the older babies.

If the kits are 2+ weeks old they should have started nibbling on solids too. At 4 weeks, they definitely would have been eating quite a bit

Old fashioned oatmeal and grass hay(timothy, orchard, etc) are some of the easiest to tolerate foods for early weaned kits.

Thank you zass! I did see the the kits nibbling a little on the timothy hay today a little bit. I have some oats I will give them in the morning. I just hate to see them try to latch on and be kicked off. I did take one baby to the big brown one outside and did the same thing, try to latch on and got kicked off. At this point I just know I screwed up. I pray that these 4 survive because my little girl is already attached to two of them I have them lights off for the night. Seem OK. Oh man, I never had rabbits until now and I just love these Lil boogers. So what do most people do, get rabbits fixed or stay with all females?? Just trying to decide what to do going forward.

It sounds like these rabbits are pets. If that's the case, I would think about neutering the buck. That way, they can all still enjoy their play area with no worries about kits.

Another option is to keep the buck separate. Separate cage, separate play time. With children, it can be tricky to be sure they are kept apart, though.

Having only does is another option, but know they don't always get along and could have to be separated.

Growing up my younger siblings used to mix the rabbits all around.
And my mom never knew where to put does and kits.
It happens.

Well unfortunately I came home to one of the babies very lethargic and unable to stand up well I immediately decided to feed. I got maybe 3cc in this one. Praying he makes it. That made me feel like she is not feeding them. So I went ahead and fed the other 3 also, they were champs, chugged it down. Gave them 5cc each. I put them all back in the box in the coop with the doe for the night. Will offer them formula again at dusk tomorrow. I gave them oats, and hay this morning. Seem to be nibbling. I can not believe rabbits have stressed me out so badly lol

Good luck with them, Besh! :clover: Keep us updated!