# Advice needed



## BlueMoonFarms (May 16, 2014)

Alright, so my first time New Zealand doe had a litter of 8, only one was born alive yesterday.
She never plucked her hair, did not make a nest, and has not shown any interest in the little one.
I made a nest out of sawdust and straw and its been staying pretty warm.
However I cant tell if its eating.
Its stomach was not tight like I am used to seeing. (I've never really had to "help" sorta speak. The moms have always seemed to know what they are doing.)
It was not thin either, just slightly squishy if that makes any sense.
So, I took mom and plopped her on her butt until she relaxed, then attached the little one onto a nipple until its stomach seemed firm.
It didn't take very long...But anyway, i'm very much lost as to what to do.
How long should I wait before I know shes "abandoned" it?
Should I keep latching the little one on? Or should I just let nature take its course and try again? 
I do have both kitten milk-replacer and goats milk available to attempt to bottle feed.
I've just never actually had this issue before. 
Thanks for any advice!


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## CDC (May 16, 2014)

that is a tough one.  I have never had that problem either.  My only experience with trying to bottle feed baby rabbits was with some wild rabbits when I was a kid.  It didn't go well and they didn't make it but that may be for a number or reasons.

I think it was me I would just let nature takes its course, especially if it is a proven mother.  But that is just how I would handle it.


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## BlueMoonFarms (May 16, 2014)

CDC said:


> that is a tough one.  I have never had that problem either.  My only experience with trying to bottle feed baby rabbits was with some wild rabbits when I was a kid.  It didn't go well and they didn't make it but that may be for a number or reasons.
> 
> I think it was me I would just let nature takes its course, especially if it is a proven mother.  But that is just how I would handle it.


I'm half tempted to do that honestly :/ I would be thrilled to see the little bugger thrive but then again if its not meant to be then its just not meant to be sadly.


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## SA Farm (May 16, 2014)

Since it's just the one to care for, I would probably make sure it gets fed and give it a chance at life. Latch it on her twice a day and hopefully it will thrive. It doesn't take long to hold mamma for the kit anyway.
Just my thoughts


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## BlueMoonFarms (May 16, 2014)

SA Farm said:


> Since it's just the one to care for, I would probably make sure it gets fed and give it a chance at life. Latch it on her twice a day and hopefully it will thrive. It doesn't take long to hold mamma for the kit anyway.
> Just my thoughts


So...my let nature take its course idea was squashed as soon as my niece found out that we had a baby bunny  and hubby let slip that it might not make it because mom wasn't feeding it.
Sooo, i'm now going to be nursing it twice a day off of mom.
She is definitely not feeding it, or at least it seems like its not being fed. The poor thing was desperate for food when I just went out. (10:45 pm) and its stomach was seriously deflated since this morning. So I plopped mom down and let it nurse and watched its belly fill back up. Mom is definitely making milk though which is fantastic for the little one.
So, I guess we will see :/
Has anyone else every had this happen before?


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## Farmin' Girl (May 21, 2014)

I just had this happen to me a few days ago!!! My momma had a litter of 11, 4 of which died. The next day a friend had a momma die while giving birth. 3 babies were born before her death, so he gave them to me to try with my new babies and their momma. She was NOT accepting them, so I put them in their own box in the garage, and tryed bottle-feeding them. I used a formula that consisted of 1\2 cup evaporated milk, 1\2 water, 1 egg yolk, and 1 TBSP. Karo corn syrup. They drank it well for the first 2 days, but then I found a baby dead in the bottom of the box, really thin an hour after feeding! So I thought it might be the formula causing it. I brought my momma rabbit in the garage and latched the other 2 on, and they started nursing right a way, and were full a few minutes later. The next day the same thing happened again, a baby was thin and freezing, and died shortly after my finding it, leaving me with 1 baby. The last one left had been really healthy the entire time, and was plump and well fed, so I decided to see if my momma would accept it. Well, she did, but the next day I found it dead, squished under the other babies! There was only a 1 day age difference, so I figured it would be ok..........WRONG! I don't recommend putting babies from different kindles together UNLESS they were born on the exact same day! All in all, I don't recommend bottle-feeing, because 90% of the time you end up disappointed. In the wild, if a momma dies, or neglects the babies and leaves them, there isn't anyone around to bottle-feed them, so naturally they will die, it is just nature taking it's course!


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## BlueMoonFarms (May 21, 2014)

Well to my amazement the little one is still around. Its growing hair now and squeaks every time I put my hand in there. Thankfully mom is still making milk so I have just been letting it nurse until it falls asleep.
So far things have been good, so we will see.



Farmin' Girl said:


> I just had this happen to me a few days ago!!! My momma had a litter of 11, 4 of which died. The next day a friend had a momma die while giving birth. 3 babies were born before her death, so he gave them to me to try with my new babies and their momma. She was NOT accepting them, so I put them in their own box in the garage, and tryed bottle-feeding them. I used a formula that consisted of 1\2 cup evaporated milk, 1\2 water, 1 egg yolk, and 1 TBSP. Karo corn syrup. They drank it well for the first 2 days, but then I found a baby dead in the bottom of the box, really thin an hour after feeding! So I thought it might be the formula causing it. I brought my momma rabbit in the garage and latched the other 2 on, and they started nursing right a way, and were full a few minutes later. The next day the same thing happened again, a baby was thin and freezing, and died shortly after my finding it, leaving me with 1 baby. The last one left had been really healthy the entire time, and was plump and well fed, so I decided to see if my momma would accept it. Well, she did, but the next day I found it dead, squished under the other babies! There was only a 1 day age difference, so I figured it would be ok..........WRONG! I don't recommend putting babies from different kindles together UNLESS they were born on the exact same day! All in all, I don't recommend bottle-feeing, because 90% of the time you end up disappointed. In the wild, if a momma dies, or neglects the babies and leaves them, there isn't anyone around to bottle-feed them, so naturally they will die, it is just nature taking it's course!


Im glad to see im not the only one has had something strange happen to their doe. Sad that everyone ended up dying, but at least you gave it a shot. I have read that without mothers milk its nearly impossible to keep them going.


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## Farmin' Girl (May 22, 2014)

BlueMoonFarms said:


> Well to my amazement the little one is still around. Its growing hair now and squeaks every time I put my hand in there. Thankfully mom is still making milk so I have just been letting it nurse until it falls asleep.
> So far things have been good, so we will see.
> 
> 
> Im glad to see im not the only one has had something strange happen to their doe. Sad that everyone ended up dying, but at least you gave it a shot. I have read that without mothers milk its nearly impossible to keep them going.



Yes, I tryed latching them onto another mother like I said, and they stuffed themselves silly, but an hour later the smallest one's stomach literally looked like a deflated balloon! It died shortly afterwards. But I am glad your little one is doing well. 
 I love baby bunnies, right now I have 7 2-week old babies hopping around the cage.
Be sure and post us a picture or 2 !!!


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## BlueMoonFarms (May 22, 2014)

Farmin' Girl said:


> Yes, I tryed latching them onto another mother like I said, and they stuffed themselves silly, but an hour later the smallest one's stomach literally looked like a deflated balloon! It died shortly afterwards. But I am glad your little one is doing well.
> I love baby bunnies, right now I have 7 2-week old babies hopping around the cage.
> Be sure and post us a picture or 2 !!!


Could it have been because it wasn't their mother's milk?  
I'll take pictures in the morning of the little trooper. Right now its sleeping in the tissue box.
Speaking of which I forgot to add:
I ended up having to remove it from moms cage. She kept guarding it which I thought was promising, but it became clear she still wasn't feeding it. Then to top it off, somehow it crawled out of the nesting box two days in a row in the morning and ended up freezing cold on the wire.
Ugh...
So, now baby is in a tissue box full of moms hair that I had to plucked from her myself where he cant "escape". Then every day he gets transported outside to mom for breakfast and dinner. 
My niece has named him Sprinkles due to the black spots. As time consuming as nursing him is, hes so adorable and thankfully mom is really good about it.


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## Farmin' Girl (May 22, 2014)

Awww, your niece is pretty creative, Sprinkles is an adorable name for her to come up with. 
I don't really know about the whole milk situation. I was in a spot and wanted to save the poor things, but unfortunately it didn't work out.
My babies always end up outside of their box at a young age, before they are ready. Mine tend to follow momma to the edge of the nesting box when she jumps out. The pushing and shoving of the babies looking for momma and milk usually end up with a baby falling out. That is normal, just make sure you get to them before they freeze. How old is your baby bunny now? By the 10th day their eyes will\should be open, and by the 16th day they will hop out of the box at their own free will.


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## BlueMoonFarms (May 26, 2014)

Farmin' Girl said:


> Awww, your niece is pretty creative, Sprinkles is an adorable name for her to come up with.
> I don't really know about the whole milk situation. I was in a spot and wanted to save the poor things, but unfortunately it didn't work out.
> My babies always end up outside of their box at a young age, before they are ready. Mine tend to follow momma to the edge of the nesting box when she jumps out. The pushing and shoving of the babies looking for momma and milk usually end up with a baby falling out. That is normal, just make sure you get to them before they freeze. How old is your baby bunny now? By the 10th day their eyes will\should be open, and by the 16th day they will hop out of the box at their own free will.


Sorry sorry I kept forgetting to upload this picture.



 
Its ten days old as of today still no eye opening as of yet! Hopefully soon


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## Farmin' Girl (May 29, 2014)

Awwwwwwwwww it is so cute! 
Sometimes it will take a couple days longer before the eyes will open. If they don't open soon then I suggest using some sort of eye drops to help moisten and open the eyes yourself.


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## BlueMoonFarms (May 29, 2014)

He opened his eyes this morning 
And now hes actually acting a bit like a rabbit rather then a pink wiggling blob. Love it!


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## Farmin' Girl (May 30, 2014)

Congratulations!


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