HELP!!!
- Thread starter sarai
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Does she still have milk, or are you sure she has dried up? If first, you can feed the kits on her, put a towel on your lap, a few kits between your legs and then the doe on top. Careful to not let her hind claws get near the kits.
I would also feed herbs that might boost milk production, not sure which ones are the right ones.
Otherwise:
kindling-and-care-of-does-and-kits-f47.html
Read the stickies about handfeeding. You can get condensed goat milk cans at Walmart or so (last time I was in the US I stacked up), since they are already 2 weeks they wont need colostrum.
A normal syringe can do in a pinch, the smaller the better.
There's also the option to foster to other does if they have litters that are just a few days apart in age, but I have no own experience with that yet.
I would also feed herbs that might boost milk production, not sure which ones are the right ones.
Otherwise:
kindling-and-care-of-does-and-kits-f47.html
Read the stickies about handfeeding. You can get condensed goat milk cans at Walmart or so (last time I was in the US I stacked up), since they are already 2 weeks they wont need colostrum.
A normal syringe can do in a pinch, the smaller the better.
There's also the option to foster to other does if they have litters that are just a few days apart in age, but I have no own experience with that yet.
golden rabbitry
Well-known member
you can also use kitten mix. If bottle feeding is something you wanna go for, a miracle nipple on a syringe works best. I've never had much luck with feeding them on the doe but bottle feeding has been pretty easy. Only thing is they tend to need more small and often feeds than one big meal
A lot of experienced rabbit raisers have found kitten milk replacer to have too much water and not enough nutrition for baby rabbits. If you are going to feed it, I suggest getting the dry kind and at least mixing it up double strength. Rabbit milk is so rich and thick that baby bunnies only feed once or twice a day, compared to kittens who need fed every 4 hours. My hypothesis of why mortality seems so much higher on kmr is is that the kidneys of baby rabbits aren't developed enough to handle that much water.
a pipette works better than a syringe.
Goat milk with egg yolk mixed in I find works really well.
give them oatmeal and hay as well.
Goat milk with egg yolk mixed in I find works really well.
give them oatmeal and hay as well.
A bit early for weaning, but old enough to nibble on other foods so they should be okay.
Next time you need to hand feed, here's a recipe that can be made with somewhat basic kitchen supplies: http://hillsidefarmhawaii.com/blog/2018/20180801.html
I've tried the kitten milk with not very good results, but they like the kitchen-mix milk much better. Also for me, an eye dropper worked better than a syringe. But if your babies are eating on their own, then this is just for next time.
Next time you need to hand feed, here's a recipe that can be made with somewhat basic kitchen supplies: http://hillsidefarmhawaii.com/blog/2018/20180801.html
I've tried the kitten milk with not very good results, but they like the kitchen-mix milk much better. Also for me, an eye dropper worked better than a syringe. But if your babies are eating on their own, then this is just for next time.
CanineWild
Well-known member
@Hotzcatz thanks for that recipe, I have saved it for future reference. Never know when it might come in handy.
Do you happen to know, is the blood meal on the ingredient list the same as what you'd put in a garden, or is there some food-grade blood meal I'm not aware of? The site mentions that this ingredient was omitted from the posters batch with still good success anyway, but it'd be good to know
Do you happen to know, is the blood meal on the ingredient list the same as what you'd put in a garden, or is there some food-grade blood meal I'm not aware of? The site mentions that this ingredient was omitted from the posters batch with still good success anyway, but it'd be good to know
Yup, garden style bone meal. I got a small box of it from the hardware store which is now kept on hand for any emergency bunny feedings. It's dry and stores on a shelf nicely. The recipe calls for bone meal instead of blood meal, but is there much difference between the two? I'm guessing it's calcium in the bone meal? Or maybe better flavor?
The corn syrup can be replaced by pretty much any sweetener, I'd expect. Although I'm not sure about honey since that usually has a warning on it not to feed it to infants, although I'm not quite sure why? I'd also think that a less refined sugar such as molasses or sorghum would be better for them than refined cane sugar and especially High Fructose Corn Syrup. I no longer use corn syrup since even 'plain' corn syrup is High Fructose corn syrup these days.
The corn syrup can be replaced by pretty much any sweetener, I'd expect. Although I'm not sure about honey since that usually has a warning on it not to feed it to infants, although I'm not quite sure why? I'd also think that a less refined sugar such as molasses or sorghum would be better for them than refined cane sugar and especially High Fructose Corn Syrup. I no longer use corn syrup since even 'plain' corn syrup is High Fructose corn syrup these days.
