No milk

[fuzzy9]

Hazel isn't producing enough milk, and the kits have quickly gone down hill. There are 2 dead, and I do not think the rest of the litter will make it. I'm actually surprised because they were doing well. I put 3 with Sammy, she already has 8 though, but they are thriving. I'll check them in the morning to see if possibly she has fed them, or if I need to take them out.

Is there anything I can give Hazel to help her? I left four with her, she has "some" milk, and I'm hoping it will be enough to at least keep them going.

 

[MaggieJ]

I'm assuming you've checked Hazel and that there is no sign of mastitis or anything like that.

I'm not a great fan of calf manna, but it might help in a case like this. Other food supplements such as BOSS or kitchen oatmeal may make a difference too. There are herbs that can help... Off to see what ones they are.

---

Borage (Borago officinalis)
Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare)
Fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum)
Goat's Rue (Galega officinale)
Lemon Balm (Melissa officinalis)
Nettle (Urtica dioica) MUST BE WELL WILTED OR DRIED SO AS NOT TO STING.
Parsley (Petroselinum crispum)

Information taken from this website:
http://twohunnyzrabbitry.webs.com/herbinformation.htm

 

[curlysue]

Calf mannna,old timers told me beer i havent tried it.

 

[fuzzy9]

Thank you. Yes, I flipped her over right away last night because I wanted to see what was going on. There are no signs of mastitis, she just has very little milk. I have both boss and oatmeal here, I will give her some this morning, and I'm going to head to the store for some parsley.

Headed out in about an hour to see if the ones I put with Sammy have been fed, or if I need to remove them.

 

[MamaSheepdog]

old timers told me beer i havent tried it.

Traditionally, doctors recommended that nursing women drink a beer a day to stimulate milk production. The darker the beer the better- ale really. Guinness would be a great choice. I think it has to do with the iron content.

Health food stores sell herbal teas to stimulate milk production for women. You could try some of that (either steeping it as tea or just feeding the herbs) or simply look at what herbs are in it and buy those in bulk. I bought fenugreek seeds which are highly recommended (for women), and am hoping to grow some of them so I can feed the plant as well.

Also, higher frequency of nursing will stimulate her. Try having her nurse the kits multiple times daily- even if they aren't getting much of anything, their sucking will induce more milk.

Good luck! I hope she starts doing better- I had this problem with Feather in December, but nothing seemed to help.

 

[akane]

Aside from boss and oats you can supplement with the formula of whatever animal you've got or can get (I prefer to use herbivore formula for herbivores when possible) to the doe instead of the kits. It has most of the fats and proteins needed to make milk without the things that are hard for adults to digest. Mine waited for their little scoop every day and gobbled up the powder off the top of their grain.

 

[MaggieJ]

A very small amount of blackstrap molasses on her grain might boost her iron. Just a smidge... It is rich. It might encourage her to eat more too.

 

[fuzzy9]

Akane, I like that idea.

She's actually eating everything I give her, including extra grain. I started to up her grain a week before she kindled, when I was positive she was bred. I'm giving her some alfalfa leaves as well.

There was one of Hazel's that was dead in Sammy's nestbox this morning, but one of the 3 that I gave her was really chubby, and the other I cold tell had been fed. It wasn't as full, but it got something, and it was very active. All her others were fed normally as well, so this might work. The four Hazel has I could tell were fed, they weren't rolly polly like Sammy's, but they are active, and getting something. I will keep supplementing, try flipping her for extra feedings, and hope for the best. It was better than I had hoped for this morning anyway.

Typically, if a doe has milk issues like this, and this only being her first litter, will this pattern continue, or will it improve with her next litters?

 

[akane]

I've never had it happen twice in the same rabbit without extra circumstances. All my does failed to make milk last summer when it had been in the 100s F for 2 months. Otherwise the does that had trouble successfully raised litters later. I had mini rex that failed to make milk the first time who then raised litters up around 7 with no problems and their offspring didn't have a problem with their first litters so it's not always an on going problem with the doe or the line. However I could never trust one meat breed doe with a large litter. She was never able to raise more than 5. After much debate since I drove from middle eastern Iowa to a little south of madison, wi for that line I finally culled them since they never raised more than 5 and all had problems with their first litter. I've got does who will raise 8-16 (I prefer not to have the 16 but it was impressive) so as good of quality as they were otherwise and how hard to get the breed, for meat production they weren't worth all the supplements for getting milk out of first timers and small litters.

They do improve but some may not be perfect and it may or may not be genetic.

 

[fuzzy9]

I'm really curious to see what will happen then, because I have her mom here, and her mom is a wonderful doe. She nests early, successfully raises large litters, and her kits always thrive.

 

[akane]

If the genetics are there in the background the odds are greater it's just a one time thing you won't see again without something external going wrong. The ones I had continual problems with were from show lines not meat lines so it was probably bred in to them mostly by accident to not produce great.

 

[fuzzy9]

Yes, this line was definitely bred to be a meat rabbit. Ok, so we'll try this doe again, and hope for better results next time around. We've switched from breeding every 21 days, to a 6 week schedule, so she'll have some time between now and then to recover. Can't really complain one bit, this is really the only issue we've had with our first time does.

 

[MamaSheepdog]

Geri,

Borage is easy to grow and reseeds itself readily. It doesn't like to be transplanted, so I just leave it be where ever it comes up. I am planning on planting some more right by the BunnyBarn so harvesting is extra convenient.

 

[fuzzy9]

Thank you for that info, Annette. I'm really going to see if I can't get Dave to build a nice raised garden bed out by the barn, for stuff like this. I think it would be very helpful to have some different things growing in there. He likes to have a few tomato plants too, and I think it would be great to have.