# Rabbit kit bottle feeding?



## Nao57 (Dec 27, 2020)

So I wanted to ask, when you have to bottle feed kits, can it be normal goat milk? or does it have to be a formula (from goats)?

I was watching a Youtube video about this and the person quoted each and so I wanted to clarify. I don't ...approve of how expensive formula is. So if possible I'd like to just do normal goat milk.

To be fair also, I don't have any kits yet, but I'd tried to breed two rabbits about two weeks ago. I'm educating myself now in the hopes of things working out the way I hoped, but expecting hiccups because that's life.


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## promiseacres (Dec 28, 2020)

I think straight goat milk would be ok... but we've never had great luck bottle feeding bunnies.


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## Nao57 (Dec 29, 2020)

promiseacres said:


> I think straight goat milk would be ok... but we've never had great luck bottle feeding bunnies.


Was there a particular thing that is the culprit to this? 

Thank you.


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## Ella carpenter (Dec 29, 2020)

I have 6 babies that I've been feeding for 2 weeks their doing great! I use canned goats milk with heavy whipping cream. Its a 4:1 ratio 4 parts milk 1 part heavy whipping cream. Depending on the age I feed mine 6 ccs 2 Times a day ,but they just got switched to that they were eating 3 times daily.


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## Nao57 (Dec 30, 2020)

Ella carpenter said:


> I have 6 babies that I've been feeding for 2 weeks their doing great! I use canned goats milk with heavy whipping cream. Its a 4:1 ratio 4 parts milk 1 part heavy whipping cream. Depending on the age I feed mine 6 ccs 2 Times a day ,but they just got switched to that they were eating 3 times daily.


Wow...

I never would have suspected whipping cream!

But if it works, who am I to complain? 

I kind of like the idea of whipping cream in milk. Maybe the rabbits are smarter than I thought.


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## Ella carpenter (Dec 30, 2020)

The reason for putting whipping cream is that rabbits have the richest milk out of all mammals. So the whipping cream adds calories.


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## Ella carpenter (Dec 30, 2020)

I want to add i meant heavy whipping cream its the kind in the milk carton.


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## Nao57 (Dec 30, 2020)

Ella carpenter said:


> The reason for putting whipping cream is that rabbits have the richest milk out of all mammals. So the whipping cream adds calories.



That's smart. I like it.


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## Niele da Kine (Jan 1, 2021)

I use a recipe which uses cow's milk (I don't have access to goat milk) with added ingredients, most of which can be found in a kitchen.  Here's a link to the recipe:  http://hillsidefarmhawaii.com/blog/2018/20180801.html 

The 'official' recipe is:
2 cups of 2% milk
2 egg yolks
2 Tbsp powdered milk
2 Tbsp. corn syrup
1 tsp. bone meal

However, what I use is:
1 cup of 2% milk
1 egg yolk
1 Tbsp powdered milk
1 Tbsp. blackstrap molasses
1/2 tsp. bone meal

Also an eye dropper seems to be more effective at feeding baby bunnies than a syringe, I've not tried a small baby bottle.  It's really important not to get the milk up their nose.

I find this recipe easy enough since all the ingredients are at hand.  I have the bone meal for the garden, the rest is kitchen stuff.


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## messybun (Jan 1, 2021)

I’ve done a ton of wildlife rehab, and with both wild rabbits and domestic ones I’ve had great success. I would say to never use cow milk because of the lactose, and other animal by-products will usually kill the animal because they aren’t made to digest it. Part of why rabbits are hard to bottle raise is because of their specific bacterial needs. A huge part of being successful is grabbing ceco pellets from a healthy adult rabbit and feeding it to the babies like they would naturally have in a nest.
For me, I don’t feed like mom. I feed every few hours and cluster feed (closer feedings) near bedtime so I can get some sleep. I also prefer droppers to syringes with nipples for brand new babies. Bottles have never worked for me. I do have fox valley formula on hand for squirrels or whatever, one bag will last years if I don’t have a lot of animals. But for rabbits I’ve always had better luck with canned or powdered goat milk. I have never tried fresh because it was too expensive and hard to find. Canned works well, but one litter of rabbits will only need to drink 1-2 cans volume until weaning; but it spoils after 3 days(which means I need a bunch of cans and huge wastes) so I switched to powder and have very little to no waste. Also, add probiotics with the milk, I just use livestock probiotics, but some people like yogurt better. Apparently strawberry is the favorite. Oh, and have a way to keep them warm, a cold rabbit won’t digest. And always piddle before or after feeding because they can’t do it themselves for the first little while of life. Good luck!


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