Need help quick - 1 of 4 kits born alive

[jimmywalt]

Our Holland Lop doe that was born on 6/27/13 had her first litter (that we know of) born today on day 30. Only 1 of 4 is alive. 3 were born in the nest box and 1 on the wire. The one that is alive was in the back of the nest box.

Of the 3 that didn't live 1 was a "peanut", the other 2 looked normal. The afterbirth was still attached to 2 of them.

The 1 that was alive was very cold and hardly moving. We immediately brought it in the house put in a warm towel with a heating pad set to 3 (with 5 being the highest setting).

We aren't sure what to do at this point. We are keeping it warm....... but now what? Will the Doe's milk still come in? Should we keep it in the house and just take it out to the garage twice a day to feed from the doe? Do we keep the heating pad on it? It's currently in a towel and the heating pad. Should we bring the nest box in and put it in there? It's currently moving and has sparked up since being in the heating pad for the past 10 minutes. It's also making squeaking sounds.

We have a mini rex doe that is due in 2 days. Could we possibly put this baby in her nest box after the mini rex's are born? But what should we do till then?

Help please.

 

[JessicaR]

Since its the only one I would keep it in the house and only take it out for feeding. I would also foster it to the other doe when the litter is born.

 

[MaggieJ]

Is it a possibility to bring the doe and her cage indoors so she can be with her kit? If so, that is what I would do. Otherwise, I would take the kit to the doe twice a day for feeding. The doe's milk will come in regardless of whether there are kits there or not--it is controlled by hormones.

You certainly can foster the kit to another doe with a litter when you have the chance... but do let the momma have ample opportunity to feed it in the meantime.

Mint or sage will help dry up the doe's milk once the kit is successfully fostered to another litter.

Be careful with heating pads. You don't want to get the kit too warm. It should be set up so that it can move away from the heat if it wants to. I like to use a screw-cap wine bottle full of hot water with a sock pulled over it. I lay it along one side of the nest box so the kit can gravitate to it or away from it according to its need. It's good for several hours.

 

[ladysown]

I currently have a doe raising a singleton.
Doe built an excellent nest.
I brought the kit in at night for the first three nights (11 pm. to 6 a.m.) but otherwise it's been outside with mom. It's doing just fine.

I"d be inclined to put it back out with mom as long as she has a well made nest. Kit should be fine.
Holland lops can be a tad odd... they will sometimes not care for their youngsters if you remove them and don't bring them back right away once warmed up.

BEST option.. if you have another doe with kits within three days of age, foster the singleton over.

Generally a good idea to breed two or three does at a time to help with fostering.

 

[MaggieJ]

Glad you posted, Ladysown - I didn't know that about Holland Lops. My experience has all been with meat mutts, so I'm glad you chimed in on this.

 

[ladysown]

glad I stopped in. I'm not here as often as I would like as life has gotten rather busy with well... life.

Hopefully I'll be able to be back more often again.... (in time)

 

[jimmywalt]

If we foster the 1 kit over to the mini-rex that hopefully has babies on Monday, how much time should we wait before we try to rebreed out Holland Lop doe?

Thank you!

 

[TwoAcreDream]

A single baby would be best in a nest with others. Unless you can figure out how to keep it warm, and leave it with the birth mom.

 

[ladysown]

You can rebreed her immediately. (even raising the kit you can rebreed her immediately). Raising one kit does not tax a doe at all.

 

[jimmywalt]

Our singleton passed away 3 days after it's birth. :-(

Hopefully her next litter will all be ok and live.

 

[Sagebrush]

So very sorry you lost the litter. Hope she does better next time. <br /><br /> -- Wed Nov 05, 2014 10:18 pm -- <br /><br /> So very sorry you lost the litter. Hope she does better next time.

 

[BC Belgians]

I am sorry for your loss. This is very sad for you and your doe.

My Belgian Hare doe had 5 kits in her first litter - one alive followed by 4 stillborn babies. She was totally upset.

She had built a nest, and what we did was suspend a heat lamp over the nest to keep the single baby warm. The doe cared for this one kit without hesitation and the baby (a doe) grew up just beautifully with all that milk. Today, the baby is a gorgeous 7 month old 11 lbs. doe - alas 2 lbs over the maximum weight of the breed standard.

I bred my senior doe just 4 weeks after the first litter, and she had a litter of 6. After that, she had a litter of 9 and is now begging me again to have babies (which would be her 4th. litter this year).