Tips for Handraising Kits

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1/2 Cup evaporated goat's milk
1 egg yolk (kinda hard to cut in half, so...)
1/2 Tablespoon corn syrup

I recently tried out this formula recipe (copied from Miss M) to supplement a large litter where the runts (born 1/2 sized) weren't getting quite enough. They were furred out but eyes not open yet when I started. Probably 6 or 7 days old. I decided to feed the two largest kits along with two the smallest, because I wanted to know if if the largest kits would continue to thrive.

Everyone did well, and the ingredients have the advantage of being available at stores that are open 24-7 (Walmart for example)

I lost one kit out of 11 before I decided to supplement, and the smallest remaining kit was almost skeletal when I started. It hadn't fed well in several days.
I used a medicine dropper and fed enough to swell their bellies (not quite as full as their mother would have) only once in the morning and once in the evening. I held the kits in an upright posture. (Sorta like a human sitting position.)
They happily took it from the dropper, but would not lap it from a dish.

After three days on nothing but the formula, the smallest kit was finally strong enough to compete with it's 9 remaining siblings and get a full belly from Mom. The largest kits also continued to thrive and grow faster than the rest of the kits. In other words, the formula didn't seem to harm or inhibit their growth in any way.

I continued to give them formula for about 10 days, after which I found they had full enough bellies without my help. I did continue to offer them all a meal of moistened oats once/day separately from their mother.

At 5 weeks I have 10 thriving kits that have transitioned well onto pellets and hay. [album]2573[/album][album]2579[/album]
I did not lose a single kit after I began feeding the formula.
The doe is still nursing a bit, but I have no fear of weaning issues.
The runt is still a little smaller than the rest, but the difference seems to be shrinking daily.
The biggest kits are still growing faster than the rest. They are all a bit smallish for meat-type kits (typical from this smallish doe), but not thin.

I didn't potty any kits, or do anything to keep them warm because there were 10 of them in an excellent nest built by their mother. I did keep them all inside the house (doe included), but I doubt that was necessary. I moved them all outside when the kits reached 4 weeks old.

I suppose the only tip I can add is that it's always best to get as much help from a doe as you can.
 
I've used this formula recipe for kittens, dogs, a goat, and even a couple of piglets. It works great! But I don't use evaporated milk, just store bought whole cow's milk. The amount of milk and water is half as much water as milk, and one egg yoke for about every pint of mixture. I have also substituted molassus for the corn syrup because the molassus is packed with iron. It still tastes good to baby animals, and still keeps the poop softened up as does the corn syrup. For' different animals you may have to adjust the amount of water. If you note th4ey have hard poop, add water. If the poop is runny, decrease the water.

I buy pet nursers for small animals, and just use a baby bottle for goats or pigs.

Also, I completely raised a goat on human infant formula once. . . . .Similac to be specific. She did great and had no problems at all. I reasoned that if human babies can benefit from goat milk, why not the other way around? It worked really well.

-- Sun Jun 01, 2014 12:36 am --

Sorry about the repeated stuff. That's what I get for trying to copy and paste! :)
 
katievictoria":3q3wgwlv said:
Sorry about the repeated stuff. That's what I get for trying to copy and paste! :)
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I fixed it! :D

katievictoria":3q3wgwlv said:
I don't use evaporated milk, just store bought whole cow's milk.
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That sounds like a great, versatile formula!

Some baby rabbits can process cow's milk well enough to make it, but it isn't usually well tolerated by them. That's why we discourage its use for rabbits. :)

I experimented with using straight evaporated goat's milk in the formula, because I had read other places where people had diluted it, and many of them did not have good results.

I figured... baby rabbits take in so little milk from their mothers, and yet they grow so quickly. I remembered reading that rabbit milk was very, very rich, which would explain this. I thought maybe the added water was the problem. So I left the evaporated goat's milk as it was, which was double strength straight from the can.

The original recipe I saw was 1/2 cup evaporated goat's milk, 1/2 cup water, 1 egg yolk, and 1 Tablespoon corn syrup.

I cut the water completely out. Since I had done that, I cut the corn syrup in half. It's hard to cut an egg yolk in half, so I put the whole thing in there. That's how I came up with the formula recipe I use. :)

katievictoria":3q3wgwlv said:
Also, I completely raised a goat on human infant formula once. . . . .Similac to be specific. She did great and had no problems at all. I reasoned that if human babies can benefit from goat milk, why not the other way around? It worked really well.
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That's great that it worked out well... I don't know if I'd have thought to try it. :p
 
I successfully bottle raised a litter of 5 French Angoras. It was my very first litter I ever had and luckily I was only in high school and not college:). My doe was giving off too much milk and developed mastitis. I had to milk her out each day, give her medicine, apply hot packs to her belly, and bottle raise her litter. There were 6 originally but 5 survived, so I think I did well:) I originally fed them with an eye dropper goats milk but they did not like it, so I switched to sheeps milk, which they devoured:) They all fought for the eye dropper, lol! The kits later progressed to a bowl of milk which saved me a lot of time, although in their eagerness to get to the bowl first they did hop into it. Of course, this resulted in wet, rancid smelling babies so I had to give them frequent baths;) The kits were somewhat delayed in growth but they still looked really nice and one of them even became a grand champion.
 
:lol: Sour milk babies, huh? :p

Sheep's milk! Very interesting! Thank you for sharing that. :) How old were they when you started feeding them yourself?
 
Miss M - I don't remember how old they were but I believe they were roughly a week old, give or take.

Zass - I think sheep milk may be more rich but I think the big thing was that it is sweeter than goats milk and did not have an odor to it like goats milk does if you have a buck on your farm (which we do;)) Luckily one of our ewes had babies so we had that option. I am not sure if they would have survived on goats milk because they just did not like it.
 
Blossomacres":b53kx017 said:
Zass - I think sheep milk may be more rich but I think the big thing was that it is sweeter than goats milk and did not have an odor to it like goats milk does if you have a buck on your farm (which we do;)) Luckily one of our ewes had babies so we had that option. I am not sure if they would have survived on goats milk because they just did not like it.
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Milk sheep are on my list of "things that would make my life complete."
 
Zass":2prddosq said:
Blossomacres":2prddosq said:
Zass - I think sheep milk may be more rich but I think the big thing was that it is sweeter than goats milk and did not have an odor to it like goats milk does if you have a buck on your farm (which we do;)) Luckily one of our ewes had babies so we had that option. I am not sure if they would have survived on goats milk because they just did not like it.
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Milk sheep are on my list of "things that would make my life complete."
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I have been torn between goats and sheep. My beloved Shay leans toward goats because they don't need shearing, and I lean toward sheep because I've read that the milk is less affected by things like feed and having a male around... and I don't want to have to put hot wire everywhere. LOL
 
My mini lop neglected her kits and didn't feed them so my vet said that by holding the doe upside down and letting the babies suckle whilst holding them on her might be a good idea, and if it didn't work he gave us some formula milk and syringes. We have been using this technique so far and it seems to work really well, what is surprising is that the mother doesn't even get too stressed! The 5 babies, (there used to be 8 but as she didn't feed them there were some casualties :( ) are all looking plump and healthy at 6 days old! Also a good was to keep them warm is purchasing a "snuggle safe" heat pad. These stay warm for aaaages and also are REALLY effective!! I just thought I would share this idea as a pose to formula feeding as I think the likelihood of your kits surviving is much better! :) Thanks bye!!
 
Dandelion":18hm85z5 said:
My mini lop neglected her kits and didn't feed them so my vet said that by holding the doe upside down and letting the babies suckle whilst holding them on her might be a good idea, and if it didn't work he gave us some formula milk and syringes. We have been using this technique so far and it seems to work really well, what is surprising is that the mother doesn't even get too stressed! The 5 babies, (there used to be 8 but as she didn't feed them there were some casualties :( ) are all looking plump and healthy at 6 days old! Also a good was to keep them warm is purchasing a "snuggle safe" heat pad. These stay warm for aaaages and also are REALLY effective!! I just thought I would share this idea as a pose to formula feeding as I think the likelihood of your kits surviving is much better! :) Thanks bye!!
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This is a technique some of us have had luck with. :) Others (like me) have ended up with flying kits and a doe kicking so hard she could break her back. So it works with some does.
 
I have a little one that is falling a little behind and I was going to start supplementing between feedings. But I can't find the evaporated goats milk in my area, what else can I use? The only thing I could find is puppy formula at Walmart, and they had goats milk in the refrigerator section along with reg. cows milk.
 
KaceyP79":190ml1vn said:
I have a little one that is falling a little behind and I was going to start supplementing between feedings. But I can't find the evaporated goats milk in my area, what else can I use? The only thing I could find is puppy formula at Walmart, and they had goats milk in the refrigerator section along with reg. cows milk.
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You can use the goat's milk in the refrigerator section. It just won't be as nutrient-dense.

Maybe check with the evaporated milk (should be on the baking supplies aisle) one more time, just to be sure they don't have it. It can be easy to miss. The evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk, and powdered milk should all be together there.

Puppy formula is probably made from cow's milk. I would not use it or any other formula based on cow's milk, as cow's milk can cause fatal diarrhea in baby rabbits. They can't process it very well.

You will find members who have successfully raised kits on kitten milk replacer (kitten formula), but the risk of diarrhea is just too great for me to take the chance unless nothing else is available.

Good luck with your little! :)
 
I have a litter without mother taking care of them, how can I supplement cecotropes? My other rabbits eat them straight from their behind, so I can`t just gather cecotropes around..
 
Nika":yhhmr184 said:
I have a litter without mother taking care of them, how can I supplement cecotropes? My other rabbits eat them straight from their behind, so I can`t just gather cecotropes around..
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While cecotropes would be more helpful, you can actually use the regular feces as well. Most does will put a few into the nestbox for the kits to nibble on, and you can collect some and make them available to the kits.
 
I had a young doe, who I was convinced had not gotten pregnant, birth very early this morning. Being certain that the breeding last month was a failure, I hadn't been watching her very closely. I got up about 8:30 or 9 and went out to feed and water them all when I found kits all over the cage. They were all cold, and appeared dead. But, I gathered them all up and took them inside to warm them in hopes that they hadn't yet died. There were 6 kits. 3 started moving, but after an hour or so, only one was still alive. So, out of a litter of 6, I had one left. I quickly logged in here to see if I could find anything posted that might help, when I ran across this thread. After a quick online search, I found several stores in my area that carried evaporated goat's milk. The easiest one to go to was Walmart. When I got there, they had the canned evaporated milk, but they also had whole powdered goat's milk. I figured there would be much less of a storage issue with powdered over canned, so I got that, and just mixed it a bit stronger than the label indicated. I added the egg yolk and syrup and tried it on the kit. He balked a little at the glass dropper, but when I wet his lips with the formula he perked right up. He still hasn't quite yet developed much interest in the dropper itself, but I have managed to get some into him. I got him to pee, and he is defecating on his own.
This is my first litter. It was devastating to lose so many, but at least I did get one. I'll be working tomorrow to try and get the mother to nurse him. She seems completely disinterested. But, this being her first, I'm hoping it's just inexperience. She's still outside in her cage, but I have the kit inside, warm and sleeping atm.
Lesson learned: Don't give up too easily on a doe. Things aren't necessarily as they might appear. <br /><br /> -- Fri Dec 11, 2015 3:42 pm -- <br /><br /> Well, my single kit didn't make it. I was getting hopeful that he would after his eyes opened yesterday. But, he died this morning. I suspect formula inhalation was the cause. He was a bit excited at his feeding Thursday evening and I let him have it too quickly. I saw a drop come out his nose and then he sneezed repeatedly and shook his head. Early this morning, he was still alive, but nowhere near as lively. When I got home from work, he was dead. It bugs me that my lessons come at their expense.
 

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