A few questions

[Dan N TN]

Our kits are 4 days old and I keep wanting to pick them up and check them out but, the wife keeps on saying don't mess with them. The doe comes up and watches my every move whenever I move the fur around in the box to catch a peek at them. She doesn't seem to get stressed about it. Can I pick them up and check them out yet?

It has been getting pretty hot here in TN lately and even thou I have them in a barn with good shade I've placed a small"snail" type blower fan about 15 feet away and let it blow on them. They jump around every time I turn it on and I'm not sure if it's because they like it or if it bothers them. They calm down after a few minutes and go back to doing whatever it is that they were doing.... usually sprawled out taking it easy. Is the fan okay on them?

Can someone post some pictures of their "bulk" water systems with a list of things that I can NOT get from Home depot or Lowes? I am going to be keeping some of the doe kits and I am also going to pick up another breeding pair or New Zealand reds and would like to come up with a bulk water system and some ideas would be wonderful.
Thanks for taking the time to read my post.

 

[Rustina]

It is OK to check out your baby rabbits, if mom seems overly interested in what you are doing, give her a yummy treat to distract her while you look. The fan is OK and is a good idea, if they settle down fairly quickly I wouldn't worry about it bothering them.

 

[SarahMelisse]

It is OK to check out your baby rabbits, if mom seems overly interested in what you are doing, give her a yummy treat to distract her while you look. The fan is OK and is a good idea, if they settle down fairly quickly I wouldn't worry about it bothering them.

X 2

I give my doe her daily oats or a dandelion flower treat to distract her and take the whole box out so I can take my time.

 

[Diamond]

I am new to rabbits and my first litter is almost 4 weeks old. I was a little cautious at first about handling them but no harm came to the kits; mama rabbit was quite aggressive at first but she has gotten over it. I find it is necessary to remove all the kits from the nest box about once a week and completely change out the bedding (I saved some of the fluffy hair from the top layer each time). When I first did this at 1 week I found a dead kit in the bottom of the 'pile' of kits, who know how long it had been there, so I resolved to be more assertive with my next litter and handle them ALL daily from day 1 to check for sick/ dead kits.

 

[grumpy]

DAILY nestbox maintenance is something that needs to be done with warmer weather coming on. A dead kit in the box is a fountain of bacteria that needs to be removed ASAP!

The doe may gripe and growl....but check her nestbox anyway.

Grumpy.

 

[ollitos]

I take the kits out twice a day to check them over. I had one kit with very wet poops that were sticking to him. It irritated his skin so quickly and he had a raw and very inflamed penis just in the time between the twice daily checks. If I hadn't picked him up to check him over for a couple days, I'm sure he would have had an infection and most likely would have died.

And it's good to hold them and handle them so they get used to being touched and aren't afraid as they get older.

Congrats on your litter!

As for the watering system, try http://www.bassequipment.com/Waterers/default.aspx I ordered some stuff from there but it hasn't arrived yet.

 

[MaggieJ]

If you are hesitant about the importance of checking the kits, read Grumpy's post again.

The easiest way to do a thorough check is to give the doe a treat and while she is busy, remove the whole box and go out of her sight with it. Count the kits and check them over well. Remove any dead ones asap. If the bedding under them is damp or soiled, this is a good time to replace some of it. Give the doe another treat and replace the box. She will (usually) learn pretty quickly to associate treats with nest checks and she will learn to trust that you will return her kits.

Do a thorough clean out on Day 9, just before their eyes open. This helps to prevent the eye infection known as nestbox eye. Usually you can salvage some clean fur from the top "blanket" but everything underneath is likely to be pretty gross by then.