Four "bottle" kits

[genevieve]

Two of my does kindled, two days apart. The first doe had nine kits, the second had eight. The first doe seemed to be taking care of all her kits well, so I left her alone (until today), and the second appeared to be having a little bit of trouble (her last litter had only two kits) with one or two kits.

I just checked on all of the babies tonight and I found that one kit from the first litter hadn't been fed at all, one big one was dead, and one was fed a little but obviously not enough. Sooo, I took the two that were in poor shape and buried the dead one. The one that didn't get any food I fed just enough so that it had a tiny tiny tiny little belly, so it doesn't get too much milk too fast. I thought it was dead at first since it was allll bone. The other I just tipped off.

In the other litter, one didn't get fed enough, and one didn't get fed very much at all, so they both got fed. The one that got less food is also so so wrinkly, so is it just really dehydrated? (It's the dark one in the pictures) It got more milk than the super skinny kit from the other litter, who wasn't even half as wrinkly as it. Also, all of the other babies have a little sheen of fur, but this one only has a little on it's back and the top of its head, is that weird?

Anyways, I'm feeding them goat colostrum with a little sponge right now. In the future I'll feed them fresh goat milk and use a 1mL syringe, then maybe a bottle if any of them live long enough. They're kind of dirty and grimey looking right now, but I'm not sure how/if I should clean them? I've been using a wet cotton swab to get them to urinate/defecate, but I haven't really tried to clean them.
What am I missing?

 

[Hens and Roos]

Not much help as we have not had to bottle feed kits yet but may @Samantha drawz , @Shorty can provide you with more information.

Good Luck

 

[Shorty]

If you can get mom to feed them by flipping her over that is best. They are very fragile and getting them to go pee is very important I found damp q-tips helpful for that. I usually used a damp rag to wash them off they did get rather dirty, you just have to make sure to get the dry they get cold really fast. Good Luck!

 

[samssimonsays]

The squirrel store online has amazing syringe/nipples to put on them that WORK like nothing I have been able to find for rabbits (used them on many of rabbits, both wild and domesticated, and squirrels as well as chipmunks). Just don't force it into their mouth. I have used a damp paper towel or designated wash cloth to help them urinate. I personally wouldn't try to clean them off yet. It may chill them and or stress them and personally I would rather they be dirty and grimy than sick.

I agree with Shorty on the flipping mom over is best but if it is milk production that is lacking for the does which I have had issues with in the past before supplementing vitamins it wont do much good for anyone Good luck! I will be rooting for you! If you know of anyone who raises rabbits near by that has a couple litters around the same age you could always as a favor that they foster for you. I found luck with that with my first litter ever.

 

[samssimonsays]

Another thing I always did while bottle feeding was snuggle with them with a heater blankie over the top of us all so that their temps stayed high enough to digest the food properly. For some reason I found that bottle babies body temps drop a lot quicker than ones on mom. I was told it is because of the uniqueness of rabbits milk but I can not remember if it was the high fat or not that made it so hard to compare to. Between goats milk and while working for a wildlife rescue I had to use soy baby formula I have had a fairly high survival rate but it definitely is not an easy task.

 

[genevieve]

Thank you all so much for your advice! I have a bottle with a tiny nipple that's intended for kittens that I have used successfully on older rabbit bottle babies, but I'll definitely look into the squirrel store. Both of my does are all out of milk or they aren't letting any down. I turned them over and let the kits try to nurse but they didn't get anything. Could they really be out of milk? Do I need to be giving them supplements? Right now they get free choice 16% protein feed and free choice hay, but I've never given them any vitamins or anything. They each have six kits that are nice and fat.

One of the kits, the wrinkly little one already died. It's tongue swelled up really bad and it bloated so fast that I didn't have time to do anything to help it this morning. I'm not really sure what happened with it, it was so long after feeding time that it can't have aspirated. Two of the babies are doing absolutely excellent, drinking lots of milk. The fourth kit is the one that didn't get fed very much at all. I really didn't think it would survive last night, but so far it has. However, now it's very very lethargic and isn't interested in milk at all. When I first brought it inside, it still had a fighting spirit but now it's sort of given up. Is there anything I can do to convince it to drink milk? It won't even lick milk off of it's mouth.

 

[samssimonsays]

in my personal experience, I decided to give a last ditch effort last spring when 5 does dried up or never got milk in at all out of 5. I started giving a vitamin d supplement intended for small mammals, rabbits included, and my does milk came in full force the very next day. Thisbyear I tried for 10 months breeding with no luck for litters and with the same does as well. I started giving the supplement and within three days 7 of the 9 had taken. Not one had an issue with milk at all. But I also give calf manna and steam rolled oats to my does with hay and pellets. others have since tried this as well with a high success rate. it is all depending on the individual rabbit and what you feel is right for them.

The one who's tongue swelled up got hypothermia. Its body temp dropped top low for it. Either it didn't get enough food or it got too much. Sometimes they just can't digest the different milk and they pass. As for the lethargic one, try some pedialyte, I have that and very very small feeding tubes on hand in case of emergency like that. Some of them either accept the new milk or pass away. If they refuse to take ot, they starve. If you force them, they aspirate. It's sadly a lose lose battle. I really hope this helps some and good luck. !

 

[genevieve]

Awww, I'm guessing it probably got hypothermia then. It was fed sort of okay when it was with it's mom, but it was a whole foot away from the actual nest and very very chilled (I have the doe and her kits in a non-wire bottom cage since the doe never ever uses the nest box I give her, so I gave up and let her do her own thing. Thankfully, she always pulls twice the fur that she needs and builds an awesome nest). When I had it inside it would seclude itself and crawl away from the other kits too. I had a heating pad under half of the tub so they could crawl away if it got too hot, but I guess that didn't matter. The really skinny kit just passed. I guess it just couldn't handle the transition. Not to mention it could have been squished a bit in the nest box like one of the other kits that died was. I've been really careful about not letting the kits aspirate this time (although that's only killed one kit that I've bottle fed), but I obviously have a lot to learn still! Thank you so much for your help, I'll definitely look into the vitamin d supplement, pedialyte, calf manna, and steam rolled oats!

 

[samssimonsays]

I'm so sorry to hear it passed away too. That's the hardest part with them being so young. Hugs

 

[genevieve]

I gave the Rex doe some vitamin d supplements and changed her feeding plan. She now has free choice pellets, free choice alfalfa, and a mix of free choice black oil sunflower seeds and steam rolled oats (a ratio of 1:3 respectively). She is in love with all the food she gets. Surprisingly, she hasn't been eating a lot of alfalfa, she's mostly stuck to eating the other stuff. She's a bit skinny, but she isn't losing muscle tone, so I figure she's in good shape for now but she'll need a nice one or two month break after weaning this litter. She's perked up and now all of her six kits are extra bulging with milk, so I decided to part with my two bottle kits. I rubbed a little of her soiled bedding on them and stuck them in the nest yesterday evening after feeding them well just in case they got pushed out by the other six kits. I checked on them this morning and they are fat and happy! I didn't bother with my other doe because she's already a poor mother nursing six kits, so why give her more?