Mama eating hair from around babies

[isdapous]

Our new Mama started eating some of the hair from around her kits when I put the four littlest ones back in their box for a feeding after weighing everyone.
Most have gained almost .3 ounces, but the 4 littlest are still right around an ounce or 1.1. She did hop in the box after a few minutes of eating hair for around 5 minutes, so hopefully the little ones got some extra chow before we put the other 6 back in.
We added a bit of dryer lint to hide the smell of the other Mom's hair that the bigger ones snuggled into while they were in their temporary bed.

Is eating some of the hair normal? I was worried she would hurt her kits, but she didn't seem to be actually messing with them, just eating hair. She was distracted with some parsley, then went back at it until I held her for a bit. She was back in her cage with all of the kits in the box for about 15 minutes and relaxed when we left the garage. ancake:

 

[Sinnfox]

I have had one do that...I made sure and gave her stuff to prevent hairballs but she seemed ok and is fine now, and its the second litter she has done this with...she is constantly adjusting the fur over them in little ways till they can hop out of the box. she will take some out one day, pull a ton more the next , and take bits and move it around. she wants her little ones at just the right temp I guess. Granted once they can hope out of the box she wants them as far from her as possible.

 

[isdapous]

Thanks. I am an overprotective Mom in many ways. I was worried she would hurt her babies, but I have been checking and she has been relaxed since her re-arrangement. We are weighing the babies daily since there are 10 kits and only 8 faucets. So far so good. Even the little ones were a bit heavier today and the bigger ones were heavier as well. Only one lost weight, but looked better after being one of the 4 she nursed without the whole gang.

With that many mouths to feed, I bumped up her feed, added oats back in and also gave her alfalfa cubes since the hay is strictly grass and she isn't as interested in her pellets. She has had greens since she came here, and loves her parsley and romaine. We added some organic carrots and a bit of broccoli as well.

 

[Dood]

Make sure she doesnt fill up on the treats or else she will not be getting enough protein in her diet to make a milk and maintain condition.

If she is not a fan of pellets then it was a good idea to offer alfalfa cubes. Pellets are mostly alfalfa anyway with a bit of soybean meal added to boost protein levels. Alfalfa alone normally has about 15% protein but to maximize growth many feed 18% protein (or higher) to their nursing does and growing kits.

 

[SatinsRule]

You might want to buy a tub of old fashioned oats and give her that. The cheap generic stuff works the same as the name brand does. It's worth a shot, and most of my rabbits have responded to it rather well.

If she's eating hair, there is a very good chance that something is lacking in her diet. It could be a number of other things, too.

 

[isdapous]

It appears she was just cleaning up her nest. We added some dryer lint which she worked around her babies.
She ate all of her pellets, all of her hay, all of her oats and was begging for food today.
I gave her 1/2 cup pellets, 1/2 cup oats and an alfalfa cube, which she chowed on immediately. Also offered her some parsley.
Weighed all the kids. The smallest today weighs what the biggest did yesterday. 1.6oz. The biggest today is 2.1oz.
All are gaining nicely, squirmy and peed immediately upon hitting the pre-warmed fabric then being weighed.

We,ve seen no more major hair eating, but do note the next box is very tidy.

 

[SatinsRule]

Over time, we all see nursing does do some pretty radical things. Last year, my lone black doe at the time (Londa) had a kit get out of the cage, and she didn't realize it until it was time to nurse. She went nuts taking every shred of hay and fur out of the box, and was pushing the nest box around from the outside trying to find that baby when I came out to check on water and such. I noticed the behavior, and immediately checked the box. I turned around and by the cooling unit, there was a kit huddled up trying to stay warm. As soon as I placed the kit back into the box, she realized all was well and began rebuilding her nest. One of the neatest mothering jobs I've ever seen.

Then there was the foster mom early last summer. Another amazing story in and of itself.