A few questions regarding first litter

[MidwestMatthew]

Saturday morning we found our pregnant doe had had her first litter. I counted 7 kits to begin with, but later found another one that had been hiding. All 8 were born alive, in the nest box, and seemed to be doing well.

The problem is, I'm not sure they're eating. It appears the doe's milk has come in, but at least a couple of the kits seem a bit dehydrated. I did the "light pinch to the nape of the neck" thing and it took at least 2 to 4 seconds for the skin to return to normal. They're spending a good bit of time asleep, but wake up easily and get active when we check on them. Is there anything we can do (or check) to make sure all the kits are nursing OK?

Also, the mother and father were both black and white Broken New Zealands. The kits are mainly pink with varying amounts of black spotting, but one is all black. He's one of the smaller ones of the bunch. Does it mean anything that he's so different from the others?

Finally, how cold is too cold for the kits? They have plenty of pulled hair, but it's going to be dropping into the mid-50's here within the next week.

Thanks for any advice on these issues or anything else we ought to know about our first litter!

 

[macksmom98]

With that many siblings and some hair I feel they should be fine in mid 50's weather. You can always bring them inside if you are worried about them. They will only nurse once or twice a day, so removing them from mom wont hurt them as long as you bring them to her for those feedings. Pictures of the dehydrated looking ones would be helpful to know for sure, but if that is what your gut is saying they probably are. You can take them all out and when bringing them for feedings put those in first, to make sure they get a good spot at the milk bar Or you can assist with feedings and bring the doe on your lap and put the babies between your legs under her. You can also flip her on her back on your lap and let the babies on top, but its more risky and they can easily go flying if mom decides to put up an argument. What you really want to avoid is any hand feeding. Rabbits are not like kittens or other animals that can bottle feed. Its much harder with low success rate, so I would do everything possible to just assist in the other ways I mentioned.

 

[MidwestMatthew]

Thanks for that information. Pics attached, although they seem a little better this afternoon. Sorry the pictures aren't the best, my wife was having a hard time holding them still so I could get their stomachs.

 

[MoonSpiritMom]

They look fed to me. Bellies are rounded, skin might be a bit loose but you have no idea when they were fed last so you could just be catching them half way between the feedings.

Rabbits only feed about twice a day.. once before dawn and once after sunset usually.. so they go about 12 hours between feedings give or take. a rabbit has 8 teats so each kit should be getting enough. Runts are common in larger litters. I actually have 2 in one litter right now (they are 9 days old) but they are feeding well, always plump when i check on them.

If you put your hand over them in the nest and they start to pop up.. they are just fine. you can't really have energy if you aren't being fed.