She is NOT feeding those kits!

[LadyKarli]

Went out this the morning of day 3 and the kits are starving, wrinkly & mewing like kittens begging for milk. :shrug: I don't think she has touched them. Going to try holding her on her back & attaching them myself. Better than me trying to feed them myself. Do you guys think this is a wise choice? I don't know what else to do. How much longer can they wait to eat? I was so hoping to find them with full bellies this morning. Should I wait till tonight & give her another chance? I hate being a novice & not knowing what move to make :angry: She is hopping in and out of the nest area but not staying. Actually she is hopping all around like she is trying to find a way out of the cage. Why so much drama right away

 

[MaggieJ]

First time momma doe? She is confused, her maternal instincts have probably not clicked in. You should try to make her feed them, either by flipping her over and placing them on a teat or by holding her over them in the nest box. Don't wait. They may become to weak to nurse at all if they don't get fed soon.

If you flip her over, try keeping her head a bit lower than her body. Sometimes this position makes them more docile. If you can get someone to help you, so much the better.

This is not your fault in any way and it's not the doe's fault either. Many does are totally bewildered by first kindling. They normally do much better next time around. If you lose the kits, try not to feel too bad. Rebreed the doe and give her another chance. If you have a second doe that can be bred at the same time, it will give you an opportunity to foster kits if one does not care for hers.

 

[LadyKarli]

I am not mad at her & yes it is her first litter. I will put them on her & hope her mommy instincts kick in. Just frustrated for her. Just wanted some good luck I guess

 

[MaggieJ]

Here you go! :clover: :clover: :clover:

 

[ladysown]

i would hold her gently over the kits. she has to get used to the feeling of them sucking and then the relief it brings to have the milk gone.

OR if you have someone you can foster too...I'd foster the kits over so they get a good feed.

 

[LadyKarli]

I don't know about this. I tried holding her gently on her back & took one very skinny & hungry kit & let him try to feed. I don't think she has any milk. He sucked like a hungry trooper & NOTHING happened. I even tried to get some response & Nothing. I let him try for about 5 min & gave up. He was not getting anything. I feel so bad for him. I have no other rabbits with kits at all. This is my first real litter ever. I don't know anyone so I am just hoping her milk comes in. This sucks. She is probably doing everything right & it is just not working. Poor Cloud

 

[MamaSheepdog]

Karli,

I had this problem with my doe Feather on her third litter (fourth if I count the first dead-on-the-wire litter). She didn't seem to be producing enough milk, and out of seven kits only raised two to weaning. I brought them all into the house to make feeding easier. I held her on my lap and had her feed them that way. I also put my nest box warming pad under the nest to help them maintain their temperature. This is one of my posts about it:

supplemental-care-for-newborn-kits-t5102.html?hilit=Feather

This is another post that may help you increase her milk:

feeds-to-enhance-milk-production-t5090.html?hilit=%20enhance%20milk

I'm sorry to hear you are having problems already- it is very disheartening, I know. Even experienced does have the occasional problem, and experienced breeders run into problems they haven't seen before either.

I bred Feather when the surviving kits were a month old, and she has 7 healthy one month old kits now!

 

[Miss M]

Good luck! :clover:

 

[skysthelimit]

Had the same problem with Heart's first litter. On day two I took her into the house, and placed her in the nest, and stroked her head. She stayed as long as I stroked her, and I just did that several says until she got past that initial stage.

 

[ladysown]

and some does simply don't have milk and it totally bites...

 

[akane]

Another day and they will be too weak to suck and produce body heat. I would try holding her over the box rather than flipping her. Sometimes they won't let milk down when stressed by flipping and despite having milk the kits will barely get anything. Sometimes I have to sit there with a doe upsidedown for half an hour before they relax enough a kit gets any milk. The kits often get too tired to drink by then so you have to keep them warm while you wait for the doe to chill. Trying to hold them over the box is much better. They get less stressed and it's a more natural position plus it shows the doe where the kits are and how to relieve milk pressure.

 

[SterlingSatin]

i bred two virgin does once, they both kindled on the same day, one never got her milk and the other took until the evening of the 3rd day to nurse. the kits were practically dead, and i was forced to foster both litters to her. but only the runt of each litter died, and one that got out of the cage and was on the floor for 6 hours. but the one doe got mastitis at 3 weeks so i had to remove all the babies. they still all made it. they are 4 months old now and i'll be showing them this weekend. its good that your flipping her over to let the kits feed, i tried that for a few days too. she may really not have any milk, but my fingers are crossed for you. there is hope yet! i did end up culling the doe that never produced milk, i just didn't want to give her a second chance since she wasn't that great anyway, but i did keep the doe that fostered all of them and got mastitis, and she's due for her second litter in a week good luck! hopefully she starts lactating soon.

 

[Cattle Cait]

Good luck! If all else fails, try finding a friendly breeder nearby that may have something for you to foster them over to.

 

[AnnClaire]

I hope you got some milk out of the doe by now, but I would hold her over the kits 2x a day ... their suckling will stimulate her to let her milk down and will stimulate her milk production. If you can, seperate the litter into 2 and use each one at a different time ... to supplement the kits during this time, warm a dab of honey on your finger and let the kits suckle that off after their try at nursing. It will help keep them going a little longer. IMHO, it is best if the doe begins to feed rather than you fostering the litter or feeding yourself. Sadly, you may lose this first litter, and that bites! It will give the doe a better chance with her next litter, but you should be ready to hold her in the nestbox if she hasn't fed by 36 hours after kindling.

 

[LadyKarli]

Well nothing is working & 2 kits already died. I got a sharp nip for trying to hold her over them & another for giving up & putting her upside down. I let 1 kit suckle for 15 min to no avail. Pretty sure nothing happened cause the poor thing gave up many times. The other 2 should be dead by morning. <br /><br />__________ Fri Mar 02, 2012 7:27 pm __________<br /><br />Make that 1 kit is still alive.

 

[SterlingSatin]

awww i'm so sorry LadyKarli. thats so disappointing. do you know any breeders that could foster the last kit? if not, you can give the doe another chance and rebreed her, but its up to you.

 

[AnnClaire]

LadyKarli, I am so sorry to hear this ... I hope her next breeding goes much better!

 

[LadyKarli]

I am going to re-breed her probably tomorrow. Give her another chance. The kits were so beautiful & she made such a wonderful nest. Poor thing.

 

[Miss M]

I'm so sorry, LadyKarli!

Most breeders on here give a first-time doe three tries. If they're not getting it, then they cull the doe. Chances are excellent, though, that the next time she'll get more of it right, and maybe all of it. She could turn out to be your best mommy bun! I hope she does better for you. :clover:

 

[akane]

The last one won't foster unless you force feed it first. It will be too weak to suck enough milk at this point and will not compete against even kits younger than itself for days. It would need 2-3 days of intensive care with a heat pad and force then hand or foster feeding with no competition to get it back to condition. I'd put it down and feed it to the cats if it were me. Sad but life. After 48hrs without a foster doe I would have tried to get the doe to feed them and then put down the whole litter as cat food since I've seen no luck hand feeding kits who haven't gotten a single feeding off the doe and at that point they are getting too weak to feed. It's kinder than letting them starve to death and die of cold as the numbers dwindle.


She actually didn't do bad for a first time mother. 3/4ths right. She built a nest, she had live kits, and she put them in it. Her hormones just failed to kick in the milk part. Worse can happen. Entire litters of dead kits are common enough. Failure to build a nest is just as common. It's well worth another chance or 2 to see if the correct hormones kick in this time.