# Fostering a kit to an older litter?



## AmberLops (Jun 25, 2019)

Hi!
My Holland Lop doe had 2 kits last night, one fetal giant and a normal kit.
I've never had luck with 1 kit living in a nest by itself...but I have another lop doe who has a litter of 6 kits that are one week old. Is 7 days too much of an age difference to foster a newborn into another nest?


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## AmberLops (Jun 25, 2019)

@B&B Happy goats @promiseacres @Hens and Roos @Bunnylady @Ridgetop 
Any thoughts?


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## Hens and Roos (Jun 25, 2019)

not sure, haven't had to foster any kits.  concern would be the older ones pushing the younger one out of the way.


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## B&B Happy goats (Jun 25, 2019)

Would you rather try feeding it yourself, or take a chance and see if it can be fostered.?
Personally,  I would put it in with the others and let nature take it's  course.....


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## AmberLops (Jun 25, 2019)

I can't bottle feed them...it's just never been successful with kits! I can bottle feed pretty much every other animal but not rabbits 
I do have a Lionhead doe who just had a litter yesterday so they're just a day older than mine.
But she's a first-time mom and i don't want anything to go wrong...she seems to have milk and nipples though 
I might put the kit in with her instead of the older kits


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## Hens and Roos (Jun 25, 2019)

you could try putting it with her, just keep an eye on things and move it to the other doe if needed.  Good luck!


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## AmberLops (Jun 25, 2019)

Thanks!
I would give her the kit but last time she had just 1 kit survive, she didn't feed it


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## B&B Happy goats (Jun 25, 2019)

I have put diffrent aged kits together  with my doe and had a successful  outcome....


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## AmberLops (Jun 25, 2019)

Really?! Any that were 7 days apart?


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## B&B Happy goats (Jun 25, 2019)

AmberLops said:


> Really?! Any that were 7 days apart?



Yes, a friend had found four kits at her house during several days, ...the four kits were each diffrent ages and did not look at all related....I put them in with two of my NZ does that had kits  they were nursing. They stayed here for three weeks ....and she brought them back to her place....
The kits came from (we guessed) her rabbits she "let run free"  on her property. They were found abandoned  by their mother....


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## AmberLops (Jun 25, 2019)

Aw that's sad...
But i'm glad they were found and taken care of!
Thanks everyone for the help!


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## promiseacres (Jun 25, 2019)

Haven't fostered that big of an age difference. Definitely watch them close.


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## B&B Happy goats (Jun 25, 2019)

"Some" people think that raising domesticated rabbits and cleaning their  cages is "too much work" , so they had a woodpile that they rearranged for the rabbits to hide and have kits in....no fencing ,  and they live out in the woods...gee, ....they started finding dead kits and abandoned kits....
Let's just say "we had a "talk" , last I heard, rabbits are now kept in hutchs  above the ground and  up from wild life....


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## AmberLops (Jun 25, 2019)

That's idiotic! I could never do that...so many things wrong with that


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## AmberLops (Jun 25, 2019)

promiseacres said:


> Haven't fostered that big of an age difference. Definitely watch them close.


I'll watch them close and if it's not getting fed i'll put it in with my lionhead's kits


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## AmberLops (Jun 26, 2019)

The kit is still alive today and looks well-fed...fingers crossed it works out


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## B&B Happy goats (Jun 26, 2019)




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## Ridgetop (Jun 27, 2019)

Just saw this.  Glad it is doing well so far. 

The main problem with solitary kts is them getting too cold without another warm kit to snuggle with.  That is why you will find dead single kits with full bellies.  The doe doesn't spend any time with them except when she feeds them so they have to keep warm with each other.  If the mom is feeding this one, and the other doe has several, you could try fostering one of the other kits in with this one instead of taking this one away from its mom that seems to have plenty of milk.  The mom wth the single can feed 2 and they will stay warm.


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## AmberLops (Jun 27, 2019)

I thought about that but she's kind of strange when it comes to her kits and I haven't successfully fostered any kits to her...


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## Ridgetop (Jun 28, 2019)

If you don't think she will accept it, don't try.   I have had a doe kick certain kits out of the nest box several times after I replaced them.  I finally fostered the survivors to another doe.  They were her own kits too.  She was fine in subsequent litters.  I have had does identify and refuse fostered kits but that is _very_ seldom.  Most does will accept kits that are the same age easily.  The younger the litter the better though.

If I am worried that the doe will not accept the foster kits, I remove the nest box in the morning.  I retrieve some of the doe's poop and rub it on the kits I am fostering, then place the foster kits in the nest box with the doe's own kits and take the box in the house.  The doe only feeds her kits at night so separating her from the kits during the day is not a problem.  I put the nest box in a safe place where the household dogs or cats can't get to it and check the kits every couple hours during the day.  That evening when I feed I replace the box in the same location in the doe's cage.  The doe will jump in and check her kits and feed them.  She can't tell the difference between the fostered ones and her own kits because they all smell the same now after being together in the nest box all day.  I have rarely had a doe refuse foster kits using this  method.  However, if the doe only has 1 or 2, she is more likely to refuse to foster kits.  Maybe she can count?!  

I always tattoo a dot inside the foster kits' ears before putting them in the new mother's box.  I use a tattoo needle and India ink.  With NZWs and Cals they all look so much alike that unless I do this tattoo I won't know which ones belong to the doe that is raising them and which belong to the other doe.  Another reason is that you can see if the foster mother is actually raising the foster kits or not.  Since I breed for show I need to know their parentage for the pedigrees if they attain their championships, and for any that I will keep as breeders.  The small tattooed dot will mark them long enough to wean the bunnies.  At that time I sort the freezer culls from the keepers, and tattoo their personal herd number in their ears.  The new tattoo covers the tiny dot.


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## AmberLops (Jun 28, 2019)

Thank you! That's very helpful 
With this litter I don't have to worry about the foster kit getting lost...it's a lot smaller but it's also broken black when all the other colors are agouti ha ha!
When I put a bunch of kits from different litters (and breeds) together, I do tattoo a small dot like you do on one litter so I can tell litters apart. Sometimes it's hard if I have 4 different litters of lops together 
The foster kit does seem to be doing well. I checked on it today and it's been fed for sure.
The mom of that kit is strange...she will refuse any young kit I've put in the nestbox but will accept any kits 3 weeks and older. She's my only doe who will do that!


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## Ridgetop (Jun 28, 2019)

Wild!  They are all so different.  It makes life interesting!


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## AmberLops (Jun 28, 2019)

Ridgetop said:


> Wild!  They are all so different.  It makes life interesting!


Right?? It always frustrates me when people say 'rabbits are just rabbits...they're all the same' ha ha!
If only they knew 
I have one doe who will reject an entire litter of her kits if I take the nest box out...I have to literally wait until the kits are 4 weeks old and then I have to take them out and first and then the box or she'll lose her mind


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## AmberLops (Jun 30, 2019)

The kit is still alive and doing really well!
The older kits eyes opened yesterday, they're already 13 days old!
Little kit is only 6 days old but he's growing up fast ha ha!
Sure is cute


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## AmberLops (Jul 2, 2019)

Well the baby didn't make it...
Yesterday while I was in the rabbitry I saw the mama jump out of the nest box and land right on top of the kit and she crushed it


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## B&B Happy goats (Jul 2, 2019)

AmberLops said:


> Well the baby didn't make it...
> Yesterday while I was in the rabbitry I saw the mama jump out of the nest box and land right on top of the kit and she crushed it



That is called a accident, so sorry Amberlops.....


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## AmberLops (Jul 2, 2019)

Thanks...if I didn't see it happen I would be really confused because it looked so healthy.
Such a bummer, I was getting so attached to that baby! It was the cutest


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## Hens and Roos (Jul 2, 2019)

Sorry to hear


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## promiseacres (Jul 2, 2019)




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