Author Topic: handraising/supplementry milk. (Read 6603 times)

princesspiggy · « **on:** May 02, 2011, 05:17:13 pm »

we had gorgeous rabbit born this week, and the mother just wouldnt feed it, and sadly it died.
what would you give it to supplement it til its mum cottoned on? cows milk or lamlac or something else?

CameronS · « **Reply #1 on:** May 02, 2011, 07:29:01 pm »

cows milk is not recomended, i can't quite remember the reason though

Instead use off the shelf full goats milk, warmed slightly(or get formula from the vets - more costly though), unlike other mammals does only feed each baby for about 5 minuets a day, so hourly feeding is not required.

marie · « **Reply #2 on:** May 02, 2011, 08:05:53 pm »

We had 3 baby rabbits that we had to hand feed, but they were 2 weeks old when we started as the mother attacked them and killed 2 other babies. We gave them Kitten milk from the pet store as this was what was recommended by the vet. They all grew into lovely rabbits and gone to good homes.

plumseverywhere · « **Reply #3 on:** May 03, 2011, 05:31:24 pm »

Ive handreared baby rabbits on goats milk. They only feed (as Cameron says) for a few minutes a day. Tends to be dawn and dusk, they stand over the babies so as not to make it too obvious to predators that their are young there. then they hoppity off again

never cows milk, too hard to digest (unless you are a cow

)

Hopewell · « **Reply #4 on:** May 03, 2011, 11:17:08 pm »

Sometimes if the mother is feeding the rest of the litter and keeps pushing one out of the nest, I wonder if she knows there is something wrong with it and that this is nature's way of not wasting resources. I have seen this happen quite a few times and one rabbit in particular rejected a baby four times that my wife and I had warmed up and put back in its nest. After having done it twice each unbeknown to each other we then realised the other was doing the same and there was no way it was going to survive. We have usually found that trying to hand rear from really young is unrewarding although not impossible, and have used Cimicat available from vets.

princesspiggy · « **Reply #5 on:** May 04, 2011, 10:55:07 am »

thanx, she wouldnt keep it in the nest either, so it prob died from cold. she only had 3, 2 died, but its her first litter. i did think about using a heat lamp but thought that might not be a good idea, it tends to make them wander more, then they dont get fed anyway. he had such good markings, so really frustrating. will get some kitten milk, never thought of that. thanx

princesspiggy · « **Reply #6 on:** May 12, 2011, 06:36:35 pm »

i was thinking ... by kitten milk, do u mean a mik substitute from the vet or the carton that whiskas sell, called kitten milk?
thanks

marie · « **Reply #7 on:** May 12, 2011, 06:59:45 pm »

We got some kitten milk from the pet shop as it was recomended by our vets. It was a powder and had to make it up. Cant remember what it was called.

princesspiggy · « **Reply #8 on:** May 14, 2011, 03:14:49 pm »

ok, thanx, i presume its a milk for orphan kittens then. will get some just incase!

Plantoid · « **Reply #9 on:** May 30, 2011, 11:05:13 pm »

My experience of trying to hand raise the kits was not good .. mums milk is such a magnificent quality she only feed kits once or twice a day.

We did manage to have a fostering regime though as we had a large herd in production , usually put a few drops of paraffin on our hands to make an over powering scent for a while , wiped the doe a few times and placed the orphan /rejected kits in with a smallish litter of approx the same age.

If the doe rejects her kits make sure it is not because you went all gooey and handled or the young or disturbed her .

If the kits are all kicked out of the nest look at my other posts about the nest box and the reasons for them rather than a pile of hay etc.

If the doe is in tip top condition she can be remated at any time within about three days and just a few hours after giving birth ....it happens naturally all the time in nature like this and is referred to as post partum mating , the doe is at her most fertile during this period ( This is why humans are also reccommended to take birth control measure just after the child is born as fertility is also usually very high for a few months.).