Doe died and kits are only 3 weeks

[kat the farmer]

My beautiful doe just died of heat stroke and her kits are only 4 weeks old. There are five of them and i am not sure what to do since there is very little info online. Is it necessary to provide a milk supplement or will they be ok on pellets, grass clippings and hay?? Please inform me what has worked for you in similar situations.

 

[Ponker]

At four weeks they should be fine with pellets and hay. With the grass clippings: have you been feeding them the grass clippings already? Mom helps the babies with their introduction to food through her milk and cecotropes. Greens at young ages need to be introduced carefully. Some say no greens before 4 weeks at all. But it is entirely dependent on your feeding regime.

 

[Baymule]

So sorry about your doe. It is so hard to lose one to heat stroke, more so with kits. Do you have another doe to foster them on or was she your only doe? I used to raise rabbits and I would breed several at once with fostering in mind for when things went wrong. I wish the best for the kits; what Ponker said.

 

[Latestarter]

Greetings @kat the farmer from the (now) sunny front range in Colorado. Welcome to BYH. So sorry you lost your doe... I hope you're able to save/raise the kits successfully.

 

[Bunnylady]

Welcome to BYH

Sorry about your doe. Losing animals is always rough, but losing one that has others depending on it is particularly hard.

By 3 - 4 weeks, the kits should be eating solid food pretty well. You might add a little calf manna or dry rolled oats to the pellets and hay, but most bunnies are capable of surviving without the doe at this age. While I don't like to wean this young as a general thing, a lot of commercial breeders do, and I have had a few that were orphaned at this age and did fine.