2 year old doe not feeding

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Scooter1A

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this is day 3 and i can't get her to feed the remaining 3. is it possible her milk never came in? if she doesn't feed the last 3 now they are all goners. she licks them and she went to the back of the hay and cried earlier. when she had the 6 2 were big and born dead. I put the 4 in the nesting box and I don't think she ever fed. they are getting colder so i guess she never got milk. thoughts?
 
eco2pia said:
She cried? what do you mean by that? Like she is in pain, rabbit shriek style, or like she is making little grunty noises at the kits or?
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no Lulu seems to be very emotional. It's a whimper. She isn't sick, eating like a horse. Threw a bunch of binkies when I let her out today. So, now all kits are dead. It has been blowing 35 mph here for a week and so the tarps had to be left on for days at a time. I dunno, I will try one more time with her. She seems fine but she looks a little sad. I told her it was OK, poor girl.
 
Scooter1A said:
no Lulu seems to be very emotional. It's a whimper. She isn't sick, eating like a horse. Threw a bunch of binkies when I let her out today. So, now all kits are dead. It has been blowing 35 mph here for a week and so the tarps had to be left on for days at a time. I dunno, I will try one more time with her. She seems fine but she looks a little sad. I told her it was OK, poor girl.
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I once had a Doe who got depressed after hir first litter was stillborn and she didn't eat or drink. It was awful to see
How exactly did they "whimper"?
 
RabbitsOfTheCreek said:
I once had a Doe who got depressed after hir first litter was stillborn and she didn't eat or drink. It was awful to see
How exactly did they "whimper"?
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it was just Lulu that whimpered when she went behind the nesting box where she had some of her kits and they weren't there anymore. I heard her back there and it was a soft cry/whimper. I can't really describe it but I've heard her do it before. One time she poked her eye in the grass outside and when I picked her up and held her she did it. Today the buck got water on her and she did it again. I think it was a very emotional day for her. She's still eating alot. I will roam the woods with her tomorrow and she can eat what she wants and act like a rabbit. What would make her milk not come in? That's my question.
 
Possibly due to stress? You did mention that the tarps were noisy lately. Stress can cause all sorts of weird physiology.

I have one doe that I do keep in outbuildings, but if ever there is a thunderstorm I go out in the rain to bring her in. She's so sensitive to noises that she won't even get pregnant if she's kept in the barn with a buck all summer, because the chickens clucking upsets her. However, in the winter she gets to go to the greenhouse, away from noises other than her rabbit roomies, and has had successful litters.

My suggestion, if you really want a successful litter from her, even if you don't normally let rabbits into the house have her in for the week before she's due, until at least a week after she's birthed. The house offers a more controlled environment, with more predictable activities. Keep her in a more quiet place, not near the kitchen or TV, but maybe if you have a foyer for a back door you hardly ever use... An out of the way spare room, the basement, something like that.

Also, I'm practically becoming the site's unofficial spokesperson for dried nettle. I have had unimaginable success with it, it has worked every time for insufficient milk, and I can see progress even in the next feeding! About a tablespoon or more a day, until all kits' tummies are bulging, and you don't even need to keep it going once the milk is in. All my does love the taste and are eager to eat it.
You can buy it at health food stores, but if you have it growing as a weed nearby, you can also pick it and give it to her with the stalk - just let it wilt a little first, since the oils it excretes are what causes the stinging and the rash but they evaporate by the time it's wilted.
 
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Robochelle said:
Possibly due to stress? You did mention that the tarps were noisy lately. Stress can cause all sorts of weird physiology.

I have one doe that I do keep in outbuildings, but if ever there is a thunderstorm I go out in the rain to bring her in. She's so sensitive to noises that she won't even get pregnant if she's kept in the barn with a buck all summer, because the chickens clucking upsets her. However, in the winter she gets to go to the greenhouse, away from noises other than her rabbit roomies, and has had successful litters.

My suggestion, if you really want a successful litter from her, even if you don't normally let rabbits into the house have her in for the week before she's due, until at least a week after she's birthed. The house offers a more controlled environment, with more predictable activities. Keep her in a more quiet place, not near the kitchen or TV, but maybe if you have a foyer for a back door you hardly ever use... An out of the way spare room, the basement, something like that.

Also, I'm practically becoming the site's unofficial spokesperson for dried nettle. I have had unimaginable success with it, it has worked every time for insufficient milk, and I can see progress even in the next feeding! About a tablespoon or more a day, until all kits' tummies are bulging, and you don't even need to keep it going once the milk is in. All my does love the taste and are eager to eat it.
You can buy it at health food stores, but if you have it growing as a weed nearby, you can also pick it and give it to her with the stalk - just let it wilt a little first, since the oils it excretes are what causes the stinging and the rash but they evaporate by the time it's wilt
Robochelle said:
Possibly due to stress? You did mention that the tarps were noisy lately. Stress can cause all sorts of weird physiology.

I have one doe that I do keep in outbuildings, but if ever there is a thunderstorm I go out in the rain to bring her in. She's so sensitive to noises that she won't even get pregnant if she's kept in the barn with a buck all summer, because the chickens clucking upsets her. However, in the winter she gets to go to the greenhouse, away from noises other than her rabbit roomies, and has had successful litters.

My suggestion, if you really want a successful litter from her, even if you don't normally let rabbits into the house have her in for the week before she's due, until at least a week after she's birthed. The house offers a more controlled environment, with more predictable activities. Keep her in a more quiet place, not near the kitchen or TV, but maybe if you have a foyer for a back door you hardly ever use... An out of the way spare room, the basement, something like that.

Also, I'm practically becoming the site's unofficial spokesperson for dried nettle. I have had unimaginable success with it, it has worked every time for insufficient milk, and I can see progress even in the next feeding! About a tablespoon or more a day, until all kits' tummies are bulging, and you don't even need to keep it going once the milk is in. All my does love the taste and are eager to eat it.
You can buy it at health food stores, but if you have it growing as a weed nearby, you can also pick it and give it to her with the stalk - just let it wilt a little first, since the oils it excretes are what causes the stinging and the rash but they evaporate by the time it's wilted.
Click to expand...
Good advice. I will start picking stinging nettle leaves when they come up this spring. I will wait a while and try one more time with her.
Click to expand...
 
Robochelle said:
Possibly due to stress? You did mention that the tarps were noisy lately. Stress can cause all sorts of weird physiology.

I have one doe that I do keep in outbuildings, but if ever there is a thunderstorm I go out in the rain to bring her in. She's so sensitive to noises that she won't even get pregnant if she's kept in the barn with a buck all summer, because the chickens clucking upsets her. However, in the winter she gets to go to the greenhouse, away from noises other than her rabbit roomies, and has had successful litters.

My suggestion, if you really want a successful litter from her, even if you don't normally let rabbits into the house have her in for the week before she's due, until at least a week after she's birthed. The house offers a more controlled environment, with more predictable activities. Keep her in a more quiet place, not near the kitchen or TV, but maybe if you have a foyer for a back door you hardly ever use... An out of the way spare room, the basement, something like that.

Also, I'm practically becoming the site's unofficial spokesperson for dried nettle. I have had unimaginable success with it, it has worked every time for insufficient milk, and I can see progress even in the next feeding! About a tablespoon or more a day, until all kits' tummies are bulging, and you don't even need to keep it going once the milk is in. All my does love the taste and are eager to eat it.
You can buy it at health food stores, but if you have it growing as a weed nearby, you can also pick it and give it to her with the stalk - just let it wilt a little first, since the oils it excretes are what causes the stinging and the rash but they evaporate by the time it's wilted.
Click to expand...
Would you suggest feeding nettle during her whole pregnancy to help her milk come in or just before kindle? I agree about the house set up. I should have put her in the basement.
From what I have read here it seems alot of folks have trouble getting milk to come in or sometimes not enough. As soon as it starts growing here I will start picking and drying. Is it ok to feed her some when she is not pregnant? I used to drink the tea myself and I noticed how much it made me pee. And how green it was. I have heard many good things about nettle. Cool. As a kid we would have to go thru it to get to the creek, the sting didn't last too long. Our horses used to freak out when they knew we would have to go thru it so we cleared that path for them. Amazing plant.
 
tambayo said:
For getting the sting out of stinging nettle some let it soak in very cold water for an hour.
And the other good one for just kindled does is raspberry leaf either fresh or as a tea from dried leaves.
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My rabbits will eat the dried leaves too. My hay comes from a horse person who gives me the edge of the hayfield. It often has lots of raspberry in it. The rabbits love it and often pull the raspberry to eat first stalks and all
 
This is branching off here a little but should I wait 2 weeks or more to try again with her? Are spring nettles as good as fully matured nettles for her? Also I should mention that her babies are big, crazy big like 5 inches long sometimes.
 
Scooter1A said:
Would you suggest feeding nettle during her whole pregnancy to help her milk come in or just before kindle? I agree about the house set up. I should have put her in the basement.
From what I have read here it seems alot of folks have trouble getting milk to come in or sometimes not enough. As soon as it starts growing here I will start picking and drying. Is it ok to feed her some when she is not pregnant? I used to drink the tea myself and I noticed how much it made me pee. And how green it was. I have heard many good things about nettle. Cool. As a kid we would have to go thru it to get to the creek, the sting didn't last too long. Our horses used to freak out when they knew we would have to go thru it so we cleared that path for them. Amazing plant.
Click to expand...
I usually wait to see if the milk comes in naturally, and if it's enough to feed all kits. That said, if I had a case I knew ahead of time would be a problem, like yours, I'd give a couple days in advance just to be sure.

I have not fed any during pregnancy, but that is more due to supply. It does cost money, or is a limited resource when harvested, which is why I feed a small amount if needed.
I have fed nettle to non pregnant does, it mostly didn't do anything - the one doe became a great foster candidate though, because even not pregnant and hadn't been for a while, she would reliably lactate if fed nettle.

If I touch live nettle, I get hives for a day. Amusingly neither of my kids get stung at all. While they were living at home, they were tasked with pulling up anything that got on the path. Now they've moved out, it's long sleeves and gloves for me.
 
Robochelle said:
I usually wait to see if the milk comes in naturally, and if it's enough to feed all kits. That said, if I had a case I knew ahead of time would be a problem, like yours, I'd give a couple days in advance just to be sure.

I have not fed any during pregnancy, but that is more due to supply. It does cost money, or is a limited resource when harvested, which is why I feed a small amount if needed.
I have fed nettle to non pregnant does, it mostly didn't do anything - the one doe became a great foster candidate though, because even not pregnant and hadn't been for a while, she would reliably lactate if fed nettle.

If I touch live nettle, I get hives for a day. Amusingly neither of my kids get stung at all. While they were living at home, they were tasked with pulling up anything that got on the path. Now they've moved out, it's long sleeves and gloves for me.
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Great info. I need another doe.
 
Scooter1A said:
This is branching off here a little but should I wait 2 weeks or more to try again with her? Are spring nettles as good as fully matured nettles for her? Also I should mention that her babies are big, crazy big like 5 inches long sometimes.
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In the wild, she'd be mating already for the next kindle, so it would be possible for her to get pregnant right away. However, it would depend on how cautious you want to be with her next litter.

As a procrastinator, I myself wouldn't breed until I had the enclosure in the house set up and ready -- that way I don't forget and rush about last minute. But it would be up to you based on her needs-as-you-know-it . You mention the abnormal size of her kits, but not her size...
If she's a dwarf, or a very small breed, then you might want to let her rest and heal. I can't imagine she would be happy about mating if she's healing from disproportionately large kits.

If she doesn't seem to have underlying health conditions affecting the size of her kits, I'd begin to wonder if she has a giant in her ancestry, or if she has a genetic mutation that causes accelerated growth. This might make her more valuable as a breeder if you want bigger bodies in your Rabbitry, or less valuable if you don't.
I have had the opposite spectrum over the winter, and had to learn about the conditions that cause dwarf peanuts (who don't survive long).
 
Quick addition, with a little research:

There wasn't much info about medicinal properties in spring plants vs mature, but I'll paste a source at the bottom that addresses those differences it's written for human consumption, but you could interpret some rabbit related data:
-nettle has lots of calcium: if you want to feed regularly remember that too much calcium is not good for teeth and nails.
-young nettle is preferable to humans because of the tenderness: bunnies probably don't mind them being stringy and chewy
- not suitable for consumption when they are flowered because old leaves have cystoliths that may irritate the kidneys. This compound is destroyed when the plant is dried: not sure if cystoliths have any effect on buns, but better to be safe- young leaves can be served fresh, old leaves better served dried.

https://wildfoodsandmedicines.com/nettle-restorative-food-purifying-medicine-guardian/
 
Robochelle said:
In the wild, she'd be mating already for the next kindle, so it would be possible for her to get pregnant right away. However, it would depend on how cautious you want to be with her next litter.

As a procrastinator, I myself wouldn't breed until I had the enclosure in the house set up and ready -- that way I don't forget and rush about last minute. But it would be up to you based on her needs-as-you-know-it . You mention the abnormal size of her kits, but not her size...
If she's a dwarf, or a very small breed, then you might want to let her rest and heal. I can't imagine she would be happy about mating if she's healing from disproportionately large kits.

If she doesn't seem to have underlying health conditions affecting the size of her kits, I'd begin to wonder if she has a giant in her ancestry, or if she has a genetic mutation that causes accelerated growth. This might make her more?? valuable as a breeder if you want bigger bodies in your Rabbitry, or less valuable if you don't.
I have had the opposite spectrum over the winter, and had to learn about the conditions that cause dwarf peanuts (who don't survive long).
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she is a NZ/Rex. I've never weighed her but I'm guessing 6 lbs, maybe more. She has consistently had big ones that died but the others are not very small. Buck is a California. I will give her and me some time although the buck is saying let's go, of course. She will tell me if she's ready, she is good about putting up for him usually twice then that's it, she's done and has always conceived. This and below is great info, thanks.
 
tambayo said:
For getting the sting out of stinging nettle some let it soak in very cold water for an hour.
And the other good one for just kindled does is raspberry leaf either fresh or as a tea from dried leaves.
Click to expand...
Hello. I have access to some raspberry leaves. Do I give those for helping produce milk? Think I've read it helps to expel a dead kit.
 
Yes for milk. Not for expelling kits, i have no warning about not feeding it to pregnant does for bringing on labor, although there is another one you shouldn't feed because of that. Name eludes me right now.

Edit: starting labor herb was lavender.
 
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