The Kindling Process
A rabbit is an unique animal. Unfortunately, many
people tend to think and expect rabbits to behave similar
to dogs or cats, and nothing could be further from
the truth! Rabbits are not like dogs or cats
and this can often lead to problems and confusion,
particularly in regard to mating and giving birth.
A
popular adage is often forgotten when it comes to
rabbits. "To breed like rabbits" has a considerable
amount of truth to it and more than what the average
person realizes. Rabbits are unable to differentiate
between a sister, brother, mother, father, or unrelated
rabbit when it comes to breeding. Rabbits will attempt
to mate with anything and everything and including
the handler and inanimate objects. Many "accidental" litters
are born every year due to the housing of sisters and
brothers or a buck and doe in the same cage. Littermates
need to be separated by 12 weeks of age, at which time
the hormones begin developing and the rabbits begin
to "practice" breeding.
If you're going to breed rabbits, make sure that you
do it purposefully. Keeps your bucks and does separated
until you're ready to mate them. You want to ensure
that you know which buck your doe has mated with. Once
you've mated your rabbits and your doe is pregnant,
you'll need to set up a cage specifically for her and
the offspring.
How to Set Up a Nest Box
For
the pregnant doe, you need to provide a "nest
box" in her cage. She'll build her nest and place
her young in the nest box. Bedding must be
provided in the nest box for the doe to mix her fur
with. An
old towel just doesn’t do the trick as it does with
dogs or cats. Recommended beddings would be straw
or hay. The doe will rearrange the bedding to her
liking,
including chewing the larger pieces into smaller
sizes. Although a thin layer of pine shavings may
be used
beneath the straw or hay for drainage purposes, shavings
alone are not recommended. Shavings will often
clog the nostrils, mouths, and eyes of the newborn.
A lack of bedding or improper bedding can cause the
newborn to die.
The doe will pull fur from herself for her nest. It
is not uncommon for a doe to pull fur after giving
birth, although the majority will pull fur just before
kindling. Some get a little anxious and will pull fur
two or three days before delivering.
How Newborn Rabbits Grow
Baby
rabbits are born naked, blind, and deaf. By the second
day, a "sheen" of fur will be noticeable as
the fur begins growing. The eyes will open at approximately
10 days of age. Once the babies are fully furred,
they may be handled. Please do not let young children
or
others handle the naked newborn. Only one person
should check the nest box daily to ensure that the
young are
being taken care of and to remove any that may have
died. Unfortunately, rabbits tend to have fairly
high mortality rates.
Problems After Birth
Neglecting Babies: One
of the most common misconceptions concerning does
and their offspring is the appearance
of the doe "neglecting" her young. This is where the
rabbit differs vastly from other animals. A rabbit
will nurse her young only once or twice a day and usually
for only five minutes each time. Since rabbits are "crepuscular" animals
(most active during dawn and twilight hours), the
nursing is most often performed at times when humans
are not
around. The rest of the time, she stays out of the
nest box, often reclining on top of the nest box. This
is quite normal since the rabbit in the wild will remain
outside of the burrow in order to lead predators away
from her nest. A doe with young is ever vigilant.
Aggressive Does: Occasionally, a doe with a
new litter may become extremely aggressive and care
must be taken to avoid personal injury. She is only
attempting to protect her fragile and helpless young.
As the babies grow, she becomes less protective. An
aggressive doe with a litter should never be reprimanded
or discredited for her wonderfully strong maternal
instincts. She is a survivor in a world full of predators
and fully intends for her babies to survive, as well.
Killing Babies: Another
common misconception involves the doe that "kills" her young when giving
birth or shortly after, either by "eating" the young, "stomping" them,
or simply "letting them die." Rabbits are not carnivorous
animals, but taking note of where and how the
young were "eaten" will often explain the problem. "Poor
maternal instincts" is actually quite rare in rabbits
and the rabbit is often misunderstood. Let’s examine
some of these problems:
Eating Babies: Rabbits
stress very easily and giving birth is an extremely
stressful occasion for
humans and animals alike. However, rabbits are often
so stressed that they simply don’t "pay attention" to
what they are doing when delivering. If a baby has
been "eaten," it will be important to take note of
the location of the eaten portion on its body. If it
was eaten in the abdomen (belly), this usually occurs
as a result of the doe chewing off the umbilical cord,
whereupon she simply bit "too deeply." If the head
is chewed, the most likely cause was her attempt to
remove pieces of the caul that stuck to the baby’s
head. Missing ears, legs, and appendages that have
been obviously bitten off are the result of the doe
attempting to help her young to be born by pulling
them out with her teeth. Unfortunately, her teeth
are too sharp for performing this deed. This will
often
happen with first-time does, but they learn from
it and it rarely happens on later litters unless
she has
a difficult delivery.
Stomping and Urinating on Babies: "Stomping" on
their young is something does might do accidently if
the doe perceives as a threat to her and her young.
Predators, loud or unusual noises, small children,
rodents, etc., can cause a doe to jump into the nest
box to protect her young. However, in her anxiety,
she "thumps" to warn others of danger...and accidentally
stomps her own fragile babies. Likewise, urinating
on the young is a protective measure to camoflage
the scent of her babies from predators. In such cases,
the doe and her litter need to be moved to a more
secure
location.
Letting Babies Die: "Neglecting," or "letting
the babies die" may be a physical problem due to inability
of the milk to descend for feeding the young. This
is a fairly common problem, and rest assured, the doe
did not neglect her babies on purpose! Likewise, a
lack of providing the proper bedding for her nest can
result in the babies dying of hypothermia. Most rabbit
breeders will breed more than one doe at a time in
order to be able to "foster out" the babies from
a doe whose milk failed to descend. A newborn rabbit
that has been fed will be noticeably plump.
In the event there are no other rabbits with young
to foster a litter to, the young may be hand-fed. However,
this is an extremely difficult and time consuming chore
and is often unsuccessful. Once the babies are fully
furred, the survival rates increase dramatically.
Milk Substitute for Newborns
One
of the best "formulas" to use for hand-feeding
newborn baby rabbits is canned goats milk, often
available in local supermarkets. Simply use it full
strength as it comes from the can without diluting
and warm it slightly as you would for any baby. Feeding
the young is risky, at best, due to the danger of asphyxiating
the baby by squeezing the bulb on a medicine dropper,
which forces the milk into the lungs. Extreme care
must be taken when hand feeding.
Another
method is to simply pour a thin layer of the warmed
goats milk into an inverted gallon-sized jar
lid and allow the baby to wallow in it. Messy, but
effective. Each baby must have its genitals wiped
with a damp, warm cloth after feeding to encourage
urination.
A mother doe generally performs this chore by licking
the baby’s genitals while nursing.
Conclusion
In
conclusion, this is basically what can be expected
with a doe and her offspring. We ask that you not
purposely breed your pet rabbit unless you already
have people
willing to take the babies when weaned in order to
eliminate the overpopulation of unwanted and abandoned
rabbits. Likewise, there is very little market for "mixed
breed" rabbits, which makes them much harder to find
homes for.
Enjoy your baby bunnies!
