Doe nursing, is this normal?

[squidpop]

The kits are 16 days old and they chase the doe all over the cage. The doe looks very stressed by kits constantly chasing her and pushing under her so she is constantly jumping up and moving to get away from them. She looks overheated and like she is panting and uncomfortable. I put a divider across the center of the cage high enough so she can jump over and nurse but the babies can't jump over to her side because they are too small, that seems better for her but then I wonder if she is feeding them- they seem healthy. She seems like she is really full of milk, like swollen with milk and uncomfortable-too hot. The kits seem healthy so I think she must be feeding them but is it normal for the doe to seem so stressed and uncomfortable? Is it normal for her breasts to be really swollen with milk? They aren't red and don't look inflamed- just really full of milk.

 

[grumpy]

The kits are 16 days old and they chase the doe all over the cage. The doe looks very stressed by kits constantly chasing her and pushing under her so she is constantly jumping up and moving to get away from them. She looks overheated and like she is panting and uncomfortable. I put a divider across the center of the cage: Just lay the nest box on it's side. She can get away from them fairly easy. With a divider, she may injure her teats when she jumps the barrier. high enough so she can jump over and nurse but the babies can't jump over to her side because they are too small, that seems better for her but then I wonder if she is feeding them- they seem healthy. She seems like she is really full of milk, like swollen with milk and uncomfortable-too hot. Does nurse younsters until they are nearly five weeks old. Some good milking does may nurse even longer. The kits seem healthy so I think she must be feeding them but is it normal for the doe to seem so stressed and uncomfortable? No...it isn't normal. Is it normal for her breasts to be really swollen with milk? You may just have an excellent milking doe on your hands. If you're not careful, she may end up with mastitis. Allow her the freedom of nursing the youngsters without having to jump over a barrier. They aren't red and don't look inflamed- just really full of milk. When you wean the litter, remove one or two kits at a time, every other day or so. DON'T remove them all at once. The doe will have a problem if she's not entirely dried up.
Grumpy

 

[squidpop]

Thanks Grumpy, she's much better now. I think part of the problem was she needed a higher place to jump onto to get away from them than the nest box on its side. The babies where still able to get up on the nest box on its side so I put a box in that was just high enough so Lulu (the mom) could jump up but the babies couldn't, it seems to be a big relief for her. I also think since the Lulu is a Jersey Wooly and had all that wool fur and milk she was getting over heated- so I put a cold paving stone from out of the refrigerator in her cage and she's learned to sit on it when she's hot. I tried a frozen water bottle but it Lulu hated it and kept pushing it away- she likes the cold paving stone though.

 

[AnnClaire]

Also, is there any reason to have the doe in full coat? With my Angoras, I give them a shearing during the summer months to help with keeping them as cool as possible ... we have 100F+ temps for weeks on end. I also stop breeding in May as I just can't see having the does go through pregnancy and nursing in that heat or the kits suffering in the hot nest box.

 

[squidpop]

I did shave her a little before she had the babies, but since she pulled fur to line the nest she is a bit bald on her sides. 100F must be horrible for rabbits and everyone else, where I live in New Zealand it rarely gets over 80 degrees. I used to live in Virginia but I can't even remember what 100 degrees feels like. Lulu looks like she feels hot when it reaches anything over 75 degrees, she's not used to hot weather. I'm now wondering she is getting to hot because I have been feeding her too much, she might be a little too fat as well as carrying all that milk. She acts like she is starving all the time and frantic for food so I've been giving her extra pellets every time I check on her but I'm going to cut that down now that the babies are almost 4 weeks old.