Babbies

[New Zealand-Californian]

We had a 5 month old rabbit unexpectedy have babbies.(she was in a cage with her brother, we didn\'t know they could breed that early) Well they fell through the cage and 3 out of the 5 made it, so we put the babbies in the cage with her and I guess she didn\'t think they were hers so she tried to kill them. So we have started taking her out of the cage and holding her while the babies nurse.(so cute) My question is how often do we feed them?
By the way this is her first litter.
Thanks for your help,
Tori

[Charlcie]

I would try to arrange nursing twice - once in the morning and once in the evening. Did you put the kits in a nest box? Your post wasn\'t clear on that.

I hope the doe and buck are separated now, but be prepared to expect another litter in about a month. Does breed readily right after kindling (giving birth) if they have the opportunity (and it sounds like your doe did). The nest box should be provided on day 28 following breeding.

If the current kits survive, you will have to wean them early. Provide a mixture of 20% old fashioned oatmeal and 80% pellets when they are 3 weeks old. After about a week, transition them to all pellets (though they will enjoy a pinch of oatmeal as a morning treat). Offer them a good grass or Timothy hay. DO NOT feed them greens of any kind. You will risk diarrhea otherwise. Save those type of treats for later when the bunnies are about 3 months old, and then only the amount they can clean up in about 10 minutes or less.

Please get a good book on rabbits. It is sadly unfair to the rabbit for their owner to learn about rabbit care in a hit or miss fashion.

Charlcie Gill
Zodiac Rabbitry
Astoria, OR
http://www.zodiacsatins.com