Feeding little babies

[KatzNetherlands]

We went and got our new baby yesterday, and ended up bringing home two.... They seemed small but this person typically has small bunnies, so I didn't think twice about it. When I got home I compared them to Lydia, who is just over 7 weeks old, and was very surprised at how little they were in comparison. So I got on to look at their info and found out that they are only going to be 6 weeks old tomorrow! She said the mom will not feed them anymore and that they are eating and drinking....

I have been watching them since I brought them home.. and they do eat and drink, but I added some oats in with their pellets and they LOVED them... They also LOVE the timothy hay(didn't notice any of that in the cage they were in when I got them)They are a little skinny, but not bad, but you can tell mom hasn't been feeding them....

So, is feeding them pellets(18%) and oats(just old fashioned cooking oats) and timothy hay enough for them? That is what I feed my other rabbits, I am just not sure for babies so young. They are doing good, I really think it was good I got two and having them in with Lydia is helping because they copy everything she does...

Any tips to make sure these girls turn into fat little pudgy bunnies?

 

[MaggieJ]

They should be fine. In my colony this winter, the kits were often weaned at four weeks because the doe had more buns in the oven... and they did fine. The timothy hay should go a long way to preventing any GI disturbances and the rest of the diet sounds fine to me too. Young rabbits often look a bit lanky and scrawny... there's a stage they go through where they seem all feet and ears.

 

[akane]

Most of my does quit nursing by the time they are 4-5weeks old. My colony rabbits have their next litter when their previous litter is about 5 weeks so they completely cut the kits off shortly before that. My kits grow fine being weaned that young and I don't feed them anything special. You want to keep their diet a bit limited and bland for now. Try not to add things they aren't used to eating. They should actually grow just fine on only unlimited pellets but the oats and hay are fine additions. Did you get a sample of the pellets they were on to adjust them or are they being moved cold to your pellets? I always send a couple weeks worth of pellets with if I end up selling young kits since their digestive tracts do not adjust fast to diet changes. That's one reason 8 weeks is the recommended and in some places legally required minimum age for selling rabbits.

 

[KatzNetherlands]

They are straight over onto my pellets, but seem to be doing okay. All my rabbits, jrs and srs get unlimited timothy hay, and everyone but Walter gets a little bit of oats mixed in with their pellets(1 tsp per 1/2 cup for adults, 2 tsp per 1/2 cup for jrs) Walter doesn't get any because he is a chunky boy and needs to lose some belly before he gets any treats.... I think he had alot of treats where he was at before. I think he is a bigger than normal buck anyway, but he probably weighs anywhere from 8oz to 1lb overweight! He is a sweety though and when healthy will probably be sold as a pet.

The babies are doing good. We named them Lilah and Brier. I weighed them yesterday and they were 7 & 8 oz, and today they are 8 & 9 oz.. so they are gaining! That made me super happy! I think they will be okay...

 

[ladyhen]

We need pictures!