Hi I\'m new here and I was hoping to find some help. We have two rabbits(which were both suppose to be female), and we have the outside in our hutch. Well I cleaned out the cage Tuesday and everything was normal. Friday and Saturday I noticed that everytime I went to feed them one of the darted to the inside of the hutch. Today (Sunday) I decided to check thing out so I stuck my head inside and VOLIA baby rabbits! AHHH! I\'ve read on here among a few other places to check the babies. Will the mother reject them if I do, how will I know if she does? They\'re outside, but in the covered part of the hutch, should I move them? We don\'t have any other place to seperate them, is it necessary to remove any of them? Is there any thing we should put in there with them to keep the babies in as to keep them warmer? The momma has more than enough hay in there and is keeping them covered, but I don\'t want to lose any of them when I could do something. I REALLY REALLY appeciate the help.
Handling the babies is a good idea. The mother will not reject them. I hope the buck and doe were not together right after the birth, or you can expect another litter in less than a month from now.
I recommend getting a nest box and transferring the kits (along with their existing nest). If not separated already, you need to do that ASAP.
Charlcie Gill
Zodiac Rabbitry
Astoria, OR
http://www.zodiacsatins.com
Thank you so much! I have another question, and I\'ll probably have plenty more in the future. I checked out all the babies, and all are alive so far. There are 10! That\'s a whole lotta babies! Can she nurse them all healthy? Also I removed the male, but she\'s acting kinda funny. They\'ve been together ever since we brought them home(we thought we had 2 girls), and when I removed him, she kept looking around the cage and seemed startled and scared. Is this going to be healthy for her? Will she neglect her babies because she\'s scared? Before I removed him, they snuggled in the corner like normal and he was grooming her-again like normal. I didn\'t see her check on her babies at all. They are both very tame, and have no fear of me at all, and she let me check her babies. I\'m just scared she will for some reason ignore her babies. Are there any signs if she is (besides dead little ones)? I was also told the male will kill the little ones if he\'s left in with them, is this true? Thanks again for all your help!
It depends on the male rabbit, but I wouldn\'t take the chance. More importantly, you need to separate them to avoid indiscriminant breeding. Chances are good she has already been rebred by the buck, so be ready for another litter next month.
Every doe is different. Can she raise all 10? Very possible. I recently had a doe kindle 12. One was a peanut, so I humanely put it down. She lost 1 more at about 1 week of age, but...she did raise 10 healthy babies. How many kits a doe can raise depends on her milk production. Some does are heavy milkers. Others have a scant supply. Check the kits each day. Healthy well-fed kits will be smooth in body with round tummies. Thin, shriveled kits are not getting enough milk. Those will need to be supplemented if they are to survive. If you end up needing to do this, there is an orphan rabbit formula posted elsewhere on this board.
Charlcie Gill
Zodiac Rabbitry
Astoria, OR
http://www.zodiacsatins.com
We now have two seperate homes for the male and female, and the famale has her nest box. We\'ve had them seperated for two days, but the male was with the female after she had the little ones(I\'m assuming 5 days). If she is pregnant again, will the little ones be out of the nest box in time for the new kits? Will she use the same nest box for the possible babies? She won\'t hurt the 1st group of female babies if they are with her and the new babies will she? The babies are looking excellent by the way. They are little plump, squirmy cuties, and they look as though their fur is really starting to come in. All ten have remained healthy that I know of, and momma is doing a great job of watching over her little ones.