No fur!

[OneAcreFarm]

Sitting with lap full of cold babies... First time momma had them in the box, but no fur pulled so they were freezing, poor babies! We lost two, one was dead and the other had a paw torn almost completely off so hubs dispatched it. Not sure what happened to it. But, I have five wiggly ones in my lap on a warm towel right now.

 

[Jana15]

Poor popples Good luck with them! Fingers and toes crossed they will all make it!

 

[MamaSheepdog]

Why don't you steal some nesting material from your other does? You can mask their and your scent with vanilla extract, perfume, whatever... just rub an overwhelming scent on the doe's face, babies, and nesting material and she will probably accept them. If she rejects them at least you have lots of foster moms to foist them upon!

You can save them, OAF, I know you can! If need be, put them in your bra and create a little cleavage!

 

[Jana15]

Can't you also use Dryer lint? I think I saw where someone else did that :?

 

[OneAcreFarm]

Well, managed to salvage 5 from the seven. They are in a nice new nest that I lined with teased cotton and covered with stolen fur from Aunty Sassy. A 2nd doe had 6 that she dropped into a furless nest as well... :evil: :evil: :evil: by the time I found them....kitsicles. Went back out to first mom and she had kindled another kit and evidently eaten half...ew. Nest was a pit of poop, urine and blood. I don't trust this doe with the kits, so I fostered them to the second doe that lost all six. We shall see... if she doesn't feed them by tomorrow, I will poke them in with Hermione's 6...they are closest in age. 9 kits lost...*sigh*...I guess I should be happy for 39 kits but I keep thinking...."If only I had gone out there sooner.... <br /><br />__________ Tue Dec 27, 2011 11:59 pm __________<br /><br />

Why don't you steal some nesting material from your other does? You can mask their and your scent with vanilla extract, perfume, whatever... just rub an overwhelming scent on the doe's face, babies, and nesting material and she will probably accept them. If she rejects them at least you have lots of foster moms to foist them upon!

You can save them, OAF, I know you can! If need be, put them in your bra and create a little cleavage!

That was the first place I put them, but they were so cold they were making my "cleavage" cold! Hubs put a wet face towel in a ziploc and nuked it and I wrapped them in a towel and held them on the hot pack in my lap.

 

[akane]

Electric blankets have their uses. I've put many litters in mine and since I have only 2 kits to supplement with formula right now use it to keep the other warm in between. I've also run hot water from the sink in to a bowl, stuck the kits in a plastic bag with the top open, and floated them that way. In the old house that didn't put out steaming hot water that could burn you within 1min I actually put them in a bowl, floated in a pot, on the stove and warmed them up. In the meantime the doe can keep the nest box and often will pull fur when she's finished. If not material used in place of fur should be short fibers. Long materials including cotton have gotten wrapped and taken limbs off even adult rodents.

 

[MaggieJ]

Sorry you lost some, One Acre... It always feels like such a waste. But you certainly have plenty of others to keep you busy.

 

[kotapony]

You can save them, OAF, I know you can! If need be, put them in your bra and create a little cleavage!

I must not be awake yet. I read that and had a vision of stuffing a bra full of kits and heading to town. About the checkout line suddenly they start squirming and squeaking. :lol:

Seriously, though, at least you've saved some of the kits. My FIL always used to say "you just can't live with them 24/7". But it sounds like you're doing a good job of trying.

 

[MamaSheepdog]

A 2nd doe had 6 that she dropped into a furless nest as well... :evil: :evil: :evil: by the time I found them....kitsicles. 9 kits lost...*sigh*...I guess I should be happy for 39 kits but I keep thinking...."If only I had gone out there sooner....

I always beat myself up with regrets like that too- makes me want a time machine! My neighbor breeds a lot of horses and donkeys, and he has a "mare-cam" so he can monitor them from the house- so tempting to get one of those!

__________ Tue Dec 27, 2011 11:59 pm __________

You can save them, OAF, I know you can! If need be, put them in your bra and create a little cleavage!

That was the first place I put them, but they were so cold they were making my "cleavage" cold!

The heat dynamics of mass... I'm afraid more than 1 or 2 in each of my bra cups would quickly suck all the heat from mine too- never thought I'd wish I was better endowed!

I hope everyone is doing well this morning! Let us know.

 

[OneAcreFarm]

So this morning I went out and that stupid doe was perched on top of the nest like a chicken... :evil: :evil: :evil: I pulled her out and the babies had burrowed to the bottom and were cold again... :rant: :rant: :rant: One of them was so cold I was sure I had lost it. Took them in, put four in my coat pocket and put the one directly into some warm water in the sink. Slowly but surely, it started to move! :clap: :clap: :clap: I got them all settled in a warm towel with a heat pack under and went back outside to find that the goofy doe has now pulled a ton of fur :? I scavenged all of it and rebuilt the nest. I took them back outside and pulled the doe from her cage. I laid her on the grooming table and held her on her side and let the kits nurse. They seemed to be getting some so after a bit, I put the doe back in the cage. I don't trust her with these kits so I put the largest one in with Aunty Sassy. That gives her 9, and before I left the barn she was in the box feeding them...Yay for Aunty Sassy! I took the four smallest and put them in with Hermione's litter of 6, giving her a total of 10. Hers are only about 4-5 days old so they are closest in size. She is a good little mommy so I am pretty sure she will feed them too. I marked all the ears with sharpie so that I can tell them apart. What a to-do! I am tired already and it is only 10:30am!

 

[MamaSheepdog]

Well, you've been a busy bee this morning! It's only 8:30 here. Glad you got them all settled with new mommies, but I would suggest supplemental feeding from their true mom as well, at least for a few days. Breast milk changes nutrient levels to support growth at different ages, and getting colostrum is crucial. The extra feedings without competition from older kits would certainly help as well. Good luck!

 

[Kyle@theWintertime]

Sounds like that doe has a lot to learn...good that you got her kits away from her though.

 

[OneAcreFarm]

Well, you've been a busy bee this morning! It's only 8:30 here. Glad you got them all settled with new mommies, but I would suggest supplemental feeding from their true mom as well, at least for a few days. Breast milk changes nutrient levels to support growth at different ages, and getting colostrum is crucial. The extra feedings without competition from older kits would certainly help as well. Good luck!

You are right, I forgot about that. I will definitely keep supplementing from mom then. How many days should I do that? Is once a day enough?

 

[sommrluv]

You poor thing. I hope that's the worst of it!

 

[MamaSheepdog]

I would think once a day would be enough, and do it for a few days at least, maybe a week. I would think it would be optimal to get them back to her full time if her mothering instincts improve, so keeping her nursed will assure she doesn't lose her milk.

 

[OneAcreFarm]

This is one of the ones that I waited until 8mos to breed...

 

[kotapony]

I don't know how it relates to rabbits, but I know with the dairy cows the general rule is to keep the milk out for 5 milkings (2.5 days). After that it's cleared from colostrum to regular milk. So as far as colostrum goes, I'd expect that benefit to end in a couple days.

On the occasion we lose a cow and save the calf, I keep frozen on hand and do colostrum for 2 feedings (1 day) and the calves have always grown out healthy. So even just a couple colostrum feedings is way better than nothing.

 

[OneAcreFarm]

Well, last night the littles weren't looking so good. Even in with other kits, they weren't able to compete for milk. We tried to get them an extra feeding but they were just not getting much. I figured "if they make it, they make it." I put them in a fresh nest with fur I pulled from the "daft b****" as I have been calling her, and put the nest box in her cage for the night. This morning I went out and there she was, sitting in the box like the daft B that she is.... I found one kit out of the box, in the very far back corner of the cage, chilled and I thought dead. Popped it in my bra and it started wiggling a bit after warming up. Surprisingly, the other four had fat, round tummies! She actually fed them! So, I put the other little back in the nest and pulled some more fur from the doe. I guess we shall see what happens....

 

[sommrluv]

I have to laugh, not at you, because I feel bad. But you sound just like me! I cuss and call them bad names and tell them I want to eat them when they are bad moms. Like...little rabbit, you have one purpose in life, and it's to birth and raise them big & strong. Get with it.

 

[OneAcreFarm]

I have to laugh, not at you, because I feel bad. But you sound just like me! I cuss and call them bad names and tell them I want to eat them when they are bad moms. Like...little rabbit, you have one purpose in life, and it's to birth and raise them big & strong. Get with it.

:lol: Yeah, I rarely use "bad words" as my kids call them, but sometimes....there just isn't another word that will adequately describe what I mean, you know? These three does (the Three Furies lol) I have been calling "Psycho Doe" although she has calmed down considerably, "Daft B****" which I heard on a Brit Com and it just seemed to fit, and the last one "Hannibal" after I found that half eaten kit in the nest. :shock: It had not been even an hour since I emptied the nest of kits. She must have had it during that time...what possessed her to eat it, I don't know. It did not look like a still born, at least what was left.... :x She has a ticket to freezer camp this weekend. She has terrible feet and I was gonna do it anyway after she weaned the litter.