sjlattimore88
Well-known member
my NZW just had her first litter im excite but nervous that she might lose them is there anything i should do
new rabbit kits!!!
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Give her plenty of good food and fresh water and some peace and quiet. Once she has settled down, check the kits to make sure all are alive and healthy looking. Count them as well. If she has already fed them, their bellies will be quite rounded. She may not feed them right away; it depends when her milk comes in. They should certainly have been fed by tomorrow morning.
Take her a nice healthy treat like a slice of apple or whatever she enjoys most and give it to her to eat while you check the kits. You can take the nest box right out if that is easier. She should pull fur but depending on your weather she may not pull much. The kits should have fur under them and be lightly covered in hot weather. In cold weather they need more.
Take her a nice healthy treat like a slice of apple or whatever she enjoys most and give it to her to eat while you check the kits. You can take the nest box right out if that is easier. She should pull fur but depending on your weather she may not pull much. The kits should have fur under them and be lightly covered in hot weather. In cold weather they need more.
sjlattimore88
Well-known member
she pulled no fur at all, first i was worried she fooled me about being preggers she had a small litter of only 2 but she stepps on them sometimes i guess im nervous for her that she might break them or that she might not know what to do
If she is the kind of doe you can handle easily, gently pull small tufts of fur from her dewlap and belly and use that for the kits. It should be quite loose right now. It sometimes stimulates the doe's instinct to pull more fur. If that doesn't work, you can use teased cotton batting or cotton balls, dryer lint or even soft feathers from a pillow. Put the kits at the top of the box, under the hood, so that the doe is less likely to step on them when she jumps in and out of the box.
There is no guarantee that a doe will care for her first litter and unless you have a second doe with similar aged kits, there is not much you can do if she doesn't. Hand-feeding newborn kits is practically impossible. Sometimes it takes a doe a second try before her maternal instincts kick in, especially if she is very young herself.
This thread will help you tell if the kits are being fed. Remember, she may not feed them for up to 24 hours after giving birth.
fed-vs-unfed-kit-pictures-t3052.html
There is no guarantee that a doe will care for her first litter and unless you have a second doe with similar aged kits, there is not much you can do if she doesn't. Hand-feeding newborn kits is practically impossible. Sometimes it takes a doe a second try before her maternal instincts kick in, especially if she is very young herself.
This thread will help you tell if the kits are being fed. Remember, she may not feed them for up to 24 hours after giving birth.
fed-vs-unfed-kit-pictures-t3052.html
sjlattimore88
Well-known member
Ok thank you for your help I will post pics If all goes well
New kits are so cute, and so fun to watch them grow.
sjlattimore88
Well-known member
yes they are @ fuzzy9 updates the kits are doin well belly are nice and fat and they are moving well i keep tryin to take pics but when i get close the mother tries to rip me up so im goin to leave them be for my sakes lol i will just chalk it up to being a protective mother
