Chip Updates

[RabbitsOfTheCreek]

I decided that I wanted a place where I could post the progress of how Chip is doing, so I'm making this post/thread.
The last time I fed Chip before the show was Saturday morning. I'm on Kindle so no pictures for that.
We came home from the rabbit show a few hours ago (Like three and a half I think) and went downstairs to feed Chip.
How he looked when we got him out of the nest box:

After we fed him on Natzumi and before he peed and pooped:

And about 10-20 minutes ago we fed him on Cinder (She didn't have much milk, I'm sure that the fatties Skunk and Groudon recently ate) and then fed him on Natzumi again till he was full (He had peed right before these feeding):


He is definitely drinking and I know he's a runt but he's just not really growing at all

 

[RabbitsOfTheCreek]

This is how he looked less than half an hour ago

 

[arachyd]

You're doing very well with Chip. What a cutie!

 

[RabbitsOfTheCreek]

You're doing very well with Chip. What a cutie!

Thank you!

 

[RabbitsOfTheCreek]

This is how he looked a few minutes ago after a feeding (second one today)

 

[RabbitsOfTheCreek]

This is the most recent picture I have of him
He's the tiny one in front of the hay roll :]

 

[RabbitsOfTheCreek]

Five minutes ago

 

[TracysBunBun]

Such wonderful progress. He sure is a cutie!

 

[RabbitsOfTheCreek]

He's really fluffy!

Such wonderful progress. He sure is a cutie!

 

[TracysBunBun]

He's really fluffy!

He looks it!

You asked how often. I certainly am not an authority but we did Buns based on how we raise lambs. When Buns was that small we offered her milk frequently...but she had no mother. We did this because it is what we did with our lambs that the mothers forget about...we bottle feed. We give them sugar water to jump-start them and get them warm inside. We strip colostrum out and keep it in the freezer so if the ewe doesn't have enough or isn't good to handle...we can still give it to the baby. Do you do harvest colostrum from the rabbits too? we probably feed more frequently than you would rabbit but this is how we do lambs.

Once we feed them a dose of colostrum we get them on their mom or replacer. Mom is preferred over the bottle & we hope not to have any but definitely no more than 5 in a crop year. We make a point to hook the baby or babies on their mother until we can tell they are doing well on their own. On the bottle, we feed them multiple times through the day in the beginning but get down to 2. we do this because they need it but also to keep them strong. It is worrisome to get them going well, so we would not like to have a chance to backslide. Once on the bottle, they flourish and in little time catch up and assimilate into the herd. Once they are weaned, they stop running when they hear the clinking of the bottles! Our ewes need to have a minimum of twins but frequently have triplets and quadruplets. We had a set of quints that survived but lost one at 2 months to a coyote. The runts usually grow pretty quick once they get hooked on the bottle. Ewes can forget their first baby by the time they have the second. This is why God refers to people as his sheep/flock because really they are not very bright, will follow without thinking...

 

[RabbitsOfTheCreek]

Do you do harvest colostrum from the rabbits too?

What do you mean?


Also, he gets fed about twice A day, and some days three times


I've never heard someone say ewe before lol

 

[Mariah's Meadows]

@TracysBunBun I have tried milking a rabbit before and it is a very fruitless task. Does can be very grumpy during the time she'd be producing colostrum the most, so it's best to leave them undisturbed. But it is an interesting idea that I'd have never considered!

@RabbitsOfTheCreek Chip is looking so dapper and strong! What a wonderful job you are doing with him

A ewe is an adult female sheep and is pronounced like "you." We used to have a cute sign with a sheep on it saying, "I love ewe!" Always made me smile.

 

[RabbitsOfTheCreek]

He has been getting only one extra feeding a day, before I go to bed at night.

He is definitely eating hay and drinking water, but I am not sure if he is eating any pellets. I offered one to him and he didn't take it, and I don't usually see him eating pellets I don't think.
He did steal one from my oldest rabbit Jeff though lol! (I'm trying to make them used to each other so I can try and bond them if Chip ends up being a Buck)

 

[RabbitsOfTheCreek]

This was him last night though

 

[RabbitsOfTheCreek]

I went to get him out about ten or fifteen minutes ago or so and he was sitting on the food bowl munching on the pellets so I guess he is eating them

 

[MuddyFarms]

He should be old enough to not need any help with feedings now. Have you tried skipping feedings to see how he does on his own?

 

[RabbitsOfTheCreek]

He should be old enough to not need any help with feedings now. Have you tried skipping feedings to see how he does on his own?

No, not yet

 

[RabbitsOfTheCreek]

He should be old enough to not need any help with feedings now. Have you tried skipping feedings to see how he does on his own?

A few days ago we decided stop extra feeding him

 

[RabbitsOfTheCreek]

@ladysown
@MaggieJ

You have both been proven wrong

 

[MaggieJ]

@ladysown
@MaggieJ

You have both been proven wrong

Believe me, I am delighted to see how well you have done with Chip. Ladysown and I were saying that frequently a kit who has trouble feeding in a small litter may have something wrong with it and lack the will to live. There are exceptions, and Chip may be one of them. Hope he continues to do well.