Doe squeaks when nursing

One of my does is on her second litter with 4 kits that are 5 weeks old.

A couple of weeks ago, every night when she feeds them (when we go sleep) she loudly squeals in a way that sounds like a clucking chicken. We were worried at first thinking it was the kits but noticed she was just feeding them normally while screaming.

The kits are well fed and also eating solid food. She did not squeak with her first litter and also didn't do it the first days with this one.

I wasn't so concerned since it seemed like an antic (she's very vocal in general) but now I wonder if it may be mastitis and I couldn't find anyone with a similar situation. She hates to be held so I didn't check her belly directly yet, but she doesn't seem to be in pain if I touch her teats.

Is this a cause for concern? Did any of you have a similar situation?

Naelin said:

One of my does is on her second litter with 4 kits that are 5 weeks old.

A couple of weeks ago, every night when she feeds them (when we go sleep) she loudly squeals in a way that sounds like a clucking chicken. We were worried at first thinking it was the kits but noticed she was just feeding them normally while screaming.

The kits are well fed and also eating solid food. She did not squeak with her first litter and also didn't do it the first days with this one.

I wasn't so concerned since it seemed like an antic (she's very vocal in general) but now I wonder if it may be mastitis and I couldn't find anyone with a similar situation. She hates to be held so I didn't check her belly directly yet, but she doesn't seem to be in pain if I touch her teats.

Is this a cause for concern? Did any of you have a similar situation?

Click to expand...

If she's typically vocal anyway, and is still letting them nurse, I wouldn't worry about it. If she lets you touch her teats, you can check her without grabbing and manhandling her: just feel around to make sure there is not a teat that is hard or especially hot. We had a doe that would honk and grunt when her babies even moved, once they started coming out of the nest box after her. She was so honky that we nicknamed her Goose.

Alaska Satin said:

If she's typically vocal anyway, and is still letting them nurse, I wouldn't worry about it. If she lets you touch her teats, you can check her without grabbing and manhandling her: just feel around to make sure there is not a teat that is hard or especially hot. We had a doe that would honk and grunt when her babies even moved, once they started coming out of the nest box after her. She was so honky that we nicknamed her Goose.

Click to expand...

If this a new thing then yes, sounds like she may be uncomfortable. Although a doe will usually produce only the amount of milk the litter requires (supply and demand), a doe with lots of milk but a small litter may not be milked enough and that could cause congested mammary glands. Five weeks is definitely old enough to wean if they are eating well. It might also be a good idea to give her some herbs to help dry up her milk. You don't want a congested gland to progress to bacterial mastitis which would also possibly sicken the kits via the milk. Sage and mint usually work to help dry a doe up.

The opposite of too much milk is if she recently started the squeaking and doesn't have congested mammary glands it may be that her milk supply is waning and the toothy buns are nursing too aggressively.

In either case, I'd wean immediately.

Skai said:

If this a new thing then yes, sounds like she may be uncomfortable. Although a doe will usually produce only the amount of milk the litter requires (supply and demand), a doe with lots of milk but a small litter may not be milked enough and that could cause congested mammary glands. Five weeks is definitely old enough to wean if they are eating well. It might also be a good idea to give her some herbs to help dry up her milk. You don't want a congested gland to progress to bacterial mastitis which would also possibly sicken the kits via the milk. Sage and mint usually work to help dry a doe up.

The opposite of too much milk is if she recently started the squeaking and doesn't have congested mammary glands it may be that her milk supply is waning and the toothy buns are nursing too aggressively.

In either case, I'd wean immediately.

Click to expand...

Since the doe has always been "vocal," before pulling the bunnies away, I'd be inclined to first check her out to determine if there's actually a problem. If she doesn't like to be held, feel around under her belly while she's sitting in the cage. If she has an infection, yes, remove the bunnies. But if none of her teats are hot, hard, swollen or tender, I'd just keep an eye on her.

You can also pay attention to the bunnies' behavior and body condition. Bunnies whose dam stops feeding them early often go through a phase where they become a bit bonier for a while. I've supplemented a few litters whose dams dried up for one reason or another at 2-4 weeks, when I noticed the bunnies getting skinny-looking. It sounds like the OPs litter is well-fed so far.

Five-week-old kits usually survive without the doe, and if she stops feeding them, they're on their own anyway. But in my meat and show rabbits, I hope for more than survival. In my experience, weaning at that age definitely doesn't encourage good growth rates or robust health. And, removing the litter suddenly may even precipitate a problem if there isn't one. I'd find out if there is a health problem, before fixing it.

Thank you both for your input!

I checked her out today (it turns out she lets me touch all of her belly as long as I do it from one side at a time lol) and all of her mammary glands are nice, soft and definitely not sore enough for her to care when I pressed them a bit. The babies are doing great, all well-fed and round. I didn't notice any bonyness at any point. She is in an excellent mood as she usually is when she has babies around (She is two entirely different rabbits whether she's nursing or not... she LOVES having babies)

The nursing honking started a couple weeks ago and persisted, in my limited experience I assume if there was a problem it should be quite obvious at this point, right?