Orphaned kits at 4 weeks old

[Sarah Walmsley]

Looking for advice on how to care for our 4 week old kits. The dam died last night of what we think was bloat in spite of a trip to the vet. The vet didn’t think she was nursing anymore (which we suspected) she weaned them early. And we had already started to feed the kits timothy hay, alfalfa hay, and they were nibbling on the pellets and some of the greens we were feeding mom. But is there anything else we need to do to support the kits? Are they fully able to eliminate by themselves yet and do we need to clean that area? Mom was doing a lot of grooming of her kits. Any advice would be appreciated!

 

[a7736100]

Looking for advice on how to care for our 4 week old kits. The dam died last night of what we think was bloat in spite of a trip to the vet. The vet didn’t think she was nursing anymore (which we suspected) she weaned them early. And we had already started to feed the kits timothy hay, alfalfa hay, and they were nibbling on the pellets and some of the greens we were feeding mom. But is there anything else we need to do to support the kits? Are they fully able to eliminate by themselves yet and do we need to clean that area? Mom was doing a lot of grooming of her kits. Any advice would be appreciated!

IMHO 4 weeks should be able to take care of themselves. It doesn't hurt to check their butts but they should do fine. Just be careful you don't give them too much greens.

 

[Preitler]

Just keep feeding what they are used to, including the greens. In a pinch, like when a back-to-back litter is on the way kits can be weaned at 4 weeks.
I raise mine on fresh forage, greens (which?) don't matter when they already are used to it.

You can supplement them with a little kitchen oatmeal, that usually doesn't cause any trouble.

 

[Mutt-Dad]

Hay and Pellets should be all they need at this point. Sorry for your loss.

 

[arachyd]

Don't make any sudden changes to their diet. If they're doing ok already they should be fine.

 

[Canlay]

Like everyone else is saying: at 4 weeks they should be ok. I usually don't wean kits until 6 weeks old, but in a situation like this it should be fine. You might want to wipe their butts (this is mostly all the mother does for kits this age anyway) and make sure they have plenty of water, and check on them to be sure they don't choke.

 

[SoftPawsRabbitry]

Looking for advice on how to care for our 4 week old kits. The dam died last night of what we think was bloat in spite of a trip to the vet. The vet didn’t think she was nursing anymore (which we suspected) she weaned them early. And we had already started to feed the kits timothy hay, alfalfa hay, and they were nibbling on the pellets and some of the greens we were feeding mom. But is there anything else we need to do to support the kits? Are they fully able to eliminate by themselves yet and do we need to clean that area? Mom was doing a lot of grooming of her kits. Any advice would be appreciated!

I have a lone 4 week old kit, she was 3 1/2 weeks when her mama went, I keep her with a Flemish known for being good with young ones, shes thriving on pellets and fresh grass and wild harvest! If you have a rabbit that you can put them safely with it would probably help!

 

[Sarah Walmsley]

Thanks for the advice! We have continued with pellets, hay, dry oats and a just a bit of the greens they were nibbling on all along, and they seem to be doing quite well so far. We don’t have another rabbit we can safely put them with unfortunately. There are 6 kits from this litter and they all seem happy enough with each other for company.