To foster or not?

Advertise with us
Shop deals on ebay
shop deals on amazon
Rabbit Talk Forum

Help Support Rabbit Talk Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Disney

Disney

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 29, 2011
Messages
387
Reaction score
1
I have 2 new litters that are a couple days old. One is a experienced doe. She has 6 kits, 1 DOA and 2 peanuts, so 3 remaining now. And a first timer who had 3 healthy and 1 peanut. She has not nursed yet. Yesterday morning I expected them to be fed but they werent so I put them on my lap and let them nurse by holding her. This morning, same story. Hungry, wiggly kits while the other litter is fat and growing bigger. I put them on my lap again.

So now what? Do I keep repeating this process or do I foster them to the other doe? She never raised 6 kits before, most she had was 4.

Also the first timer struggled with nesting. She started early at 2 weeks in. So I first assumed it was a false pregnancy but she kept doing it untill she labored. She hardly pulled any wool and she birthed the kits in 2 different spots. She does check up on the kits when Im touching the nest so she is concerned but not aggressive like the other doe who wants to kill me.
 
I had a similar situation, but my mom straight up panicked when she had the babies. Does the mom have a ton of milk that is making her uncomfortable? We had to massage the mammary glands to help her let her milk down and we held a hot compress to her stomach to help her relax. I also had another doe at the time that we would hold over the box with the struggling kits to help them stay alive until their actual mom let her milk down and actually fed them. By the time the kits were a week old, the mom was a pro! I hope that helps!
 
I'd foster

Because the unfed kits might be weaker, I'd pull out the well fed kits for a day so the weaker ones don't have to compete with them. Rotate days until the weaker ones catch up then try keeping them altogether, but minitor weight closely to prevent a runt
 
Totally foster, don't risk those other kits. 6 Isn't that much more work, they have enough tits for it to. It'd be different if she already had 6 but as an experienced mother she should be chill with it. Plus if you feel its to much, you could always put them back or even switch them out so the fat ones go to the mom that might take some time to nurse. It's all very flexible, don't worry and just make sure to keep an eye out on both litters. (tip: when they all look the same and the thin ones catch up, if you wanna keep track of the parents just sharpie one litters ears) Good luck and God bless
 
if you have two small litters I'd foster whether the does in question aren't caring for their kits or not.

Fostering two small litters into one larger litter means you can rebreed the failing doe sooner as well, next time she might get her act together. I'd breed her with another doe just in case she doesn't.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top