just moved out some kits

[portia]

I was wondering if there is anything special I need to do for some 5 week old kits that I just removed from mom. They are fed a natural diet of forage, a grain mix, and hay (mineral block provided). I wouldn't normally move them this young, but mom is an older doe who had 11 this time around :shock: and she has been having a hard time keeping up her weight. I moved out 7 and left her with the smallest 4 to slowly dry up her milk. Is there anything I can do to ease the transition and make sure there are no health issues?

Also, mom is skinny enough that I am a little worried about her. I have been providing unlimited grain and hay (both alfalfa pellets and grass hay), TONS of forage, and I have even been supplementing with about half a cup of both pumpkin seeds and BOSS daily. Should she still be this skinny or is there something else going on? She is a Champagne if that makes any difference. All of the other buns are doing really well with this diet (minus the pumpkin seeds and extra BOSS). Thanks for any help you might be able to offer!

 

[Miss M]

Sounds to me like you're doing just about everything you can.

The pumpkin seeds would take care of worms, if she had any that were causing her to be skinny. Also, that and the BOSS would give her plenty of extra calories to try to build her back up.

Perhaps giving her less in the way of forage and grains, and more in the way of alfalfa cubes, for a little bit, to up her protein content? :shrug:

 

[portia]

At this point I am thinking that it must be worms. Would the pumpkin seeds be enough to take care of the problem or should I de-worm her and the kits? Are the kits old enough to handle the medication ok? Even the ones I just moved out yesterday? Also what would you use? Keep in mind that we are planning on eating the little buggers down the road. :roll: Sorry about all the questions, but you guys are a wealth of information and I have learned so much about this new project by trolling through old threads!