Runts....

My 2 runts are dying. They look like little skeletons now. I held mom down 2 days in a row to let them feed but they never got big tummies- though they did get some I could see. Last night we had horrible thunder storms when I got home from work. While I was holding mom down we had a huge thunderclap & she kicked one of the babies across the room- thank goodness for the pile of hay on the floor to soften the landing!

Today when I got home the storms were even worse-Welcome to FL in the summer! The runts look so much worse- still moving but sooo skinny. I know they are not going to make it. I just can't decide if I should do anything about it. I feel like I should just let nature take its course but as a vet tech I feel obligated to end their suffering. I could take them to work & euthanize them tomorrow- but that would be stressful for them. I could use a pencil (cervical dislocation)- I just am not sure I'm up for that. I will probably just bring stuff home to euthanize them tomorrow after work (I get off early). They may not make it that long...

The other 5 kits are fat & sassy- though one is definitely the smaller of the 5. I will have to keep an eye on that one now.

How old do they have to be before we can sex them?

Its not unusual to loose a few in a big litter. Sorry it happens.
They can be sexed from as early as 3 days old. My daughter is a expert at it and she's 12 and been doing 3 day old sexing for a little more than a year now. She is running at 99% accurate at 3 days and 100% at one week.
Its not hard just takes practice.

I dont have a links off hand to pics that show and tell how to do it but google can help you out.

It does sound like they won't make it. To euthanize or not is entirely up to you... some prefer to while others prefer to just remove a kit once it dies.

There are an exceptional few who can sex them at very young ages; however, my understanding is that most people cannot sex rabbits until they are three weeks old or so, when the parts in question are a bit larger. If you google "sexing rabbits" you will find the info you need including pictures, and even a video.

Well the babies died, hopefully before mom ate them...because they are gone.

The ultimate in recycling I guess.

The doe knows she must clean up the nest... they deteriorate quickly in the heat.

Sorry you lost them... but it did sound hopeless.

For future reference, at home euthanasia of young kits can be done by placing them in a closed container with starter fluid on a paper towel. Starter fluid is mainly ether. I've never actually done this, but it is a widely used method and, as far as I know, it is humane.

Here's a good link on sexing kits:
http://www.rudolphsrabbitranch.com/sexing.htm

or a good quick bang on something hard works well to. Just follow through and it's very quick.

I would check the nest box thoroughly. Whenever I have peanuts die they always get buried and if you didn't literally go trough the nest piece by piece you would swear they've disappeared.

DevonW":gu0swgxv said:

I would check the nest box thoroughly. Whenever I have peanuts die they always get buried and if you didn't literally go trough the nest piece by piece you would swear they've disappeared.

Click to expand...

Thanks Devon- sure enough I went through the nest piece by piece & they were there (totally camouflaged) :shock: