Babies on the wire! What do I do?? HELP!

[newbiekat]

Oh my gosh HELP!! We have a first time mother... We bought her with an expected due date of tomorrow with the disclaimer of no guarantees. We moved her today from her other cage to this new one with the hutch (I know I know, I shouldn't have). But we didn't have to handle her. We just picked up the other cage and faced it toward the hutch, and she was able to just hop in on her own, I don't think it was to much stress...

But regardless... We moved her today, came home this evening, found 8 babies on the wire. No fur pulled, hay wasn't even messed with. This is only my second experience with rabbits kindling. My first was an experienced 2 year old, took care of everything so I didn't have to worry about a thing. Now, this is completely different. HELPPPP! WHAT DO I DO?? DO I MOVE THEM, DO I KEEP THEM THERE??

It is warm outside right now, so do they have a possibility of catching a chill even in 80 degree lows at night? Do I move them to the nest box? What do I do???

 

[Farmin' Girl]

Ok, you need to calm down, and take it easy. Sometimes this will happen, especially with a first-timer.
If the momma hasn't pulled fur then it is most likely that the babies might not make it, but then again they could, and yes they could chill in 80 degree weather.
You could try putting some other type of fiber fluff in there like cotton stuffing, although when I experience no fur in the box I put hambster cage fiber in the box.
It isn't honestly related to stress, I have picked up my pregnant does before and moved them around, I even accidently dropped one , but everything turned out ok.
Since the mother didn't really "prepare" for the babies, she will probably ignore them at feeding time, and so cause them to die of hunger. If this truly does happen, then I am sorry for your loss.
But on the other hand, if you do put everything in order and she DOES feed them, then congratulations, you didn't have to experience the worst of it.
Often times a momma will eat the babies that die. It is actually a protection against preditors in the wild, keeping the "enemy" from smelling the scent of the rotting flesh of a dead baby.
Although I have heard several stories from friends who had newby mommas who killed their LIVE babies themselves and ate them. GROSS!

Hope everything is easier for you from here on out! Good luck, and don't panic!

 

[newbiekat]

Breathe... breathe... Ok... I read somewhere that the mommas won't move their babies no matter what. So I moved them onto the hay in the nest box. I hope that's ok. She has been in there sniffed around (I think smooshed some cuz I heard squealing for a little bit), then she got out of there. So I think she knows something is up, but she just can't quite figure it out yet. I hope she takes them!! I have her sister that was also the conditional due date of tomorrow... If she doesn't take them can I try to transplant them onto her if she doesn't have too many?

Also, how/ when will I know if she won't take them?

 

[SA Farm]

You can try pulling some fur from her dewlap/chest area to cover the kits with. Check their bellies in the morning and if they haven't been fed yet, I would consider fostering them by tomorrow night if she still hasn't fed them then as most does feed dawn and dusk.
Keep in mind that a mamma can take up to 48 hours to feed her kits, so give her a bit of time and keep an eye on the vitality of the kits - if they seem to be getting lethargic either try to force feed them or foster them. You'll also want to make sure things are going well with your other mamma before you give her any.
If you do decide to foster, it's best to 'toss a bunny salad' and by that I mean gently move the foster kits around and mix them in with their adopted siblings to get their scent.
Good luck, hope everything works out!

 

[newbiekat]

Ok... so is it weird that she pulled fur today and put it in the nest box?? Cuz she totally did. And I checked bellies this morning and evening, and it seems they are all full.. So... I'm gonna check again tomorrow morning and evening just to be sure...

Haha "bunny salad" that's too funny... The other one hasn't kindled yet. Hubby is questioning whether she will go or not. I think we will wait till this weekend before we try to put her back in with our buck. How far apart in age can you foster kits?

 

[SA Farm]

Sounds like she was just having first time mom confusion to me. Hopefully she'll pull fur earlier now that she's got an idea of what she needs to do. If she has more than enough pulled, you may want to consider saving some (little sandwich bag works nicely for this), just in case she does pull fur late again next time.

Because kits grow so quickly, I really wouldn't want to put kits over a week old with newborns, but it also depends on the number of kits in the litter, how many you would want to foster, and how good a mamma/milker you'd be fostering to.

I haven't personally had a doe go over day 34, but I have heard of some that do, so depending on her track record, I'd definitely give her some extra time

 

[newbiekat]

Guess it was just first time mom confusion... Bellies seemed full again this morning. So I'm guessing she is taking care of them (so far)!

Oh and another story, I thought it was cute... I was pulling weeds in the garden when I noticed her pulling fur, so I went over and gave her some weeds to eat so I could check things out, then left her alone as DH and I went to the rodeo. After we got home I checked out momma first and noticed all the weeds were gone, I was thinking, wow, she must have been hungry (I gave her quite a bit). Well, she must have eaten some, but she gave the rest to the nest box So cute! I'll have to get some pics soon. I know you BYH'ers LOOOVE the pics, but I don't blame you, I do too

 

[Hens and Roos]

Good Luck, hope she continues to take care of the babies

 

[Farmin' Girl]

So glad it all seems to be going well !!!!

 

[newbiekat]

So far so good! All 8 still alive at 4 days old! Momma #2 kindled yesterday. She only had 2. But they were HUGE. They already had the sheen look to them just about as soon as they came out! They look like 3 or 4 day old kits at a day old! Is that normal when having a smaller litter?

Also, both of these does are Californians. We bought them as bred, the breeder thought they were bred to either a Californian buck, or a D'argent (?) buck. Now, my question is... all 8 kits from Tuesday are BLACK skinned, and both of the kits from yesterday are pink, with white sheen. Is that possible from a Californian buck?

This is only my 3rd kindling with my rabbits, but it's so exciting every time! They are SO DARN CUTE!!