Should you handle newborn kits???

[Jensbuns]

Ok, I'm a little confused. This being our first live litter, I'm hearing conflicting things. Some people say "sure you can take them and count them and make sure their ok" and others are saying "don't touch them or the doe will not take care of them." :? Anyway this being day two, I thought I'd look them over again to make sure they looked healthy. For one thing they have no hair covering them- someone suggested putting dryer lint on them to cover them, so I did, but they've wiggled on top of that. So we have a light on them to try to try to keep them warm. They did not look to have full bellies this morning though and I'm afraid she's not feeding them This being her first litter, I understand she may not do a very good job. And YES I"m being a "Mother Hen"

 

[xlt]

you NEED to check on them and count them... there are things you can do if one or all are not being fed... but not if you don't know.

I haven't ever had a rabbit doe do more than just kind of snuffle at me when I have done a kit check... and then she just checks to make sure I didn't screw anything up

 

[akane]

Even Demon rabbit who is extremely stressed by people has been taking care of her kits just fine with me handling them daily and sometimes checking them twice daily. She's not happy about it and my gloves have a new hole in them but she's definitely not abandoning them. I've also moved does to different cages with kits and not had any problems.

If they are wiggling on top of things they should be warm enough. The kits usually know how to regulate their temp and will burrow down or up and bunch together or scatter based on how warm they are. Be careful pointing a light at them that they can't get away from. You might cook them.

 

[MaggieJ]

It could be that the doe is not feeding them. Unfortunately, it is fairly common with first litters. Since she did not pull fur, I'm inclined to think her instincts are not kicking in the way we would like them to do. I don't think there is much you can do to save the kits if she doesn't feed them, unless you have another doe with similar aged kits to whom you might be able to foster them. (A lot of people breed two or three does at the same time to facilitate this, just in case.) It is almost impossible to hand-feed such young kits successfully. But don't give up on them yet. Sometimes a doe's milk will be a little delayed coming in, so she may still do okay. Fingers and toes crossed that this is the case!

 

[ottersatin]

You should NEVER be afraid to handle the kits,
it is a necessary part of good rabbit husbandry.
Your rabbits should know you by now, your scent, your footstep
and your voice. I have never had a problem with removing a nestbox
and examining the kits. I can even check on them while they are in the cage
with their Dam looking on. You are the ALPHA! The BIG Bunny on Campus!
There is no bucking your authority when it comes to the care of YOUR Herd.
As was stated, the kits will regulate themselves as long as there is
a proper nest prepared for them by their Dam.
If no fur was pulled, pluck it from the Dames sides and rump.
Pull enough to place some beneath and on top of the kits.
Rabbits feed once or twice per day the kits belly should appear as if
they have swallowed a Ping-Pong Ball. If not you may have to foster
the kits to another Doe who has recently kindled.
Ottersatin. ldtimer:

 

[eco2pia]

You mentioned that your doe is a little tough to handle. Gloves and longsleeves(carharts!) give me a little more confidence in such cases...

I too heard the stories that does would abandon thier kits, or worse eat them, if you handled them when I first started in rabbits years ago. Maybe a wild rabbit would...Everybody on here convinced me that it would be ok and it has. It does help if you bring a treat to distract the doe the first few times, I figure she starts thinking that checking kits means treats and gets happier about it.

But are you seeing the bellies on the kits get shrunken/wrinkly? Because they look like they swallowed a little golf ball if they have been fed. Try checking early in the morning, rabbits are more active at night. If they are wiggly and round bellied, they are probably ok.

 

[Frosted Rabbits]

If it looks like she is not feeding, and youhave no one to foster to, hold the doe in your lap, tummy down, and place the kits under her-- make that udder available to the kits!!! Youcan then stimulate the kits afterwards. Sometimes, getting the milk intothe kits will trigger an instinct-- the scent of the kits will let the mother know that they are definitely hers...and the nursing will also stimulate mmore milk tocome down.

 

[akane]

Not even wild rabbits will abandon them. They will abandon if a perceived predators is around the nest too often but not if you handle them, put them back, and then leave the area alone.

 

[arachyd]

I think the fact that a doe's natural instinct is to avoid the nest except for feeding time encourages the myth that she'll "abandon" the kits. They don't spend more than a few minutes a day with them when everything is fine. Someone finding a litter and handling it would think they had caused the mother to leave because they don't see her going to the nest when in reality she wasn't planning on visiting the kits for several hours anyway.

 

[Truckinguy]

Yup, as soon as a doe has finished giving birth I pull the nestbox right away, count the kits, remove any dead ones, put the live ones in a fresh nestbox, transfer over as much clean bedding and fur as possible and put the fresh nestbox back. I've never had a doe abandon the kits because I've touched them. I usually check the nestbox and pull back the bedding every day for the next three or four days and sometimes have had a doe attack my arm while doing this but no harm done.
I've also picked up a kit who was in the wrong end of the nestbox when a doe was nursing and tucked it under her belly with the others and the doe never even batted an eye.
I also wear my trusty old lumberjacket even in the summer when handling my rabbits to save on scratches, even a well handled bunny will sometimes kick off a bit when you put them back in their cage.

 

[Jack]

Not much to add, but, my most, um, skittish (if you could call a rabbit that would run a rabid dog even in meanness)
calms with babies, but she wants to protect them, and chucks when I do it, I have to pull the box into the door and then handle the babies... other wise she is right there and will nudge and nip me is she doesn't like what I'm doing, like messing with her fluff job.

That said, some of my calmest does will go absolutely crazy, but toss some bread and give them attention then check the babies, they are fine.

 

[Oakville Shooter]

When my does had their first litters, I was scared to mess with the nests very much based on what I had read also. I used a pencil and moved the hay and fur around so that I could do a head count.

After that, I have been pulling the kits out and looking them over as soon as I find them. So far, so good. The does really don't seem to mind.

 

[Jensbuns]

Thanks everyone for the advice! This is day four and so far they're all still alive, so hopefully we're out of the woods at this point. The doe is covering them up better now that we've turned the light off. So maybe we shouldn't have used the heat lamp? They seem like they're lively little kits. A couple are on the puny side. So thankful for all of your input though.

 

[avdpas77]

I am going to disagree with most of the posters here on this subject. I do not believe that the mother will abandoned the kits if you touch them when they are babies, I have handled a lot of (domestic) rabbits and have never found that to be the case. BUT! there is no good reason to handle baby (meat) rabbits. When they are newborn they often don't get feed for several hours.... it may be close to a day before they get fed the first time. When they feel the warmth/movement of you hand in the box, they instinctively start popping up to find milk, thinking it is their mother. they are expending energy when they do this, and every bit of energy they lose makes them weaker to compete when their mother does actually feed them. This is especially important for new breeders who ware excited about seeing the babies, and then might get in the box another couple of times to show the kids etc. If there is anything wrong, there is very little you can do anyway. It is extremely difficult to bottle or dropper feed a kit, and even if you can the chances are diminished as the kit gets younger. Newborn kits are nigh near impossible to feed satisfactorily.
If they mother looses some of the kits, they will either be out on the wire, or in the front of the nestbox with no hair covering them. I used to check new kits, and have determined that it cause more disruption than it is worth. I used to wait three days to check them, but now I do not usually check them until I replace the nesting hay at 10 days when I also check to see their eyes are open. If one of them dies at childbirth, it will not be covered by hair in the nest. If it dies later, a slight sniff at the nestbox opening will tell one that there is a dead kit that needs to be removed. I have now raised over three hundred kits in the last couple of years, and I have had one one die out of those that wasn't out on the wire. You can count them just as easy at 10 days as at 1. If you feel you need to check that she has, indeed, kindled and not just pulled a bunch of hair covering nothing, simply put you hand down through the wool enough to feel that there are warm bodies. This is especially important during the winter.

I know that many here disagree with me on this, but I have found it works well for me.

 

[MaggieJ]

Avdpas77, you raise some valid points.

One good reason for checking, however, would be if you have more than one doe kindling at about the same time. Catching a litter that is not being fed in time could increase the chances that they will make it if fostered to another doe.

I do agree that disruption of the newborn kits is best kept to a minimum and except in extremely hot weather, perhaps a peek at them is best left until the second day. But not for fear that the doe will abandon them.