Fostering Kits?

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tarheel506

tarheel506

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Yesterday I took on 2 wild kits that a client brought to the clinic. Her cat had brought them to her house, and she wasn't able to find the nest they came from. I've been syringe feeding and they seem to be doing pretty well...I think they're probably 5-6 days old.

I have a doe due in a day or two, and I'm wondering if fostering might be an option? By this point the age difference will be pretty significant, and I don't know if that will effect the doe's acceptance of them, or if the size difference would be an issue (i.e. will they be able to push my kits out of the way and hog all the milk?)

I've not fostered kits to another doe before, but I've heard people have better luck with fostering than formula feeding. This doe tends to have big litters, so there's a chance the nestbox will be full and the idea will be moot anyway, but does anyone have any thoughts? Thanks!
 
she should foster them no problem, just a matter of plunking them in and removing the nestbox for an hour or so.

BUT... and here's my big caveat.. you don't know what those kits might be carrying disease wise.
I am EVER SO THANKFUL that I didn't lose my doe.. I fostered some wild kit to her and just after they started out of the box and munching on things they showed signs of poor health.

So glad I had them in isolation.
watched the doe like a hawk as i ended up culling the kits as they progressively got worse.

The doe was fine. All but one of her kits were fine until freezer camp came and went. But it could have gone very very badly.
Now I consider any "rescued cottontails" to be critter food. I won't ever risk one of my rabbits again.
 
If it were me-- I would not foster wild kits to your domestic doe-- a few days difference in age, or a little difference in size is OK, but a lot of difference in either is a recipe for problems...
and like mentioned above-- introducing disease into your rabbits is always very discouraging... and should be purposely avoided...
 
Thanks for your responses, and good point. I was hoping that the time I have waiting for mine to kindle might be a bit of a quarantine period, but if yours didn't show signs of illness until they were out of the box then 5/6 days probably isn't enough. They seem to be hanging in there...they got a little chilled this evening but I adjusted the heating pad and looks like they're bouncing back. Hoping they make it!
 

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