my mother rabbit has 6 kits their 2 days old 1 is in the nest and the overs arnt is she feeding them?

Question

so molly my female rabbit gave birth yesterday 2 6 baby kits we didnt no she was preganant till i found the baby there all in the hutch together and she just seem to ignore them, 5 of them r in the hutch and i can c them but the over 1 is in the house part of the hutch.
i have never had babies b4 and it said on the web that she might be ignoring them cos thier not in her nest but i think she is feeding them but i dont no cos i have never had babies of any sort b4 can any 1 please help me with this problem as i am worried sarah xxx

the kit wats by itself is in the nest and i no its been fed and i no it not the runt and its the 5 over babies who r not in the nest they have a bit of mammas fur around them but thats it but i suppose its not cold today she is not with any over adults she does stand on the 5 kits but there all still alive at the moment sorry i didnt make myself clear i think she was a bit surprise cos i think she is a 1st time mum i got her off someone else so i dont really no her background sarah

Answer 1

the advise from the other people is correct, but i thought i should just add my two pennth worth,
i used to be a rabbit breeder, and always had litters that were this size. You will probably find that because of the hot weather the babies will not be wrapped up the the nest that the mother has built as much as what they would normally be in colder weather, or in winter (this is assuming you are in the uk).
If your stray little guy looks like he is weakning, try rubbing some of the bedding that the rest of his brothers/sisters are in on him, and try placing him back in the group. Try to keep all disturbances to the kits for the next week to a mininal, no doubt your mother bunny is feeling hot and bothered at the moment and the last thing you want to do is upset her.
If you notice that your little ones have dry skin, sagging skin or there tummies look deflated you can try and hand feed them. This isnt to be jumped into though, and i must warn you although alot of people are successful it is normally thouse who have had experience before.
Youve probably noticed that mum is eating alot now too, give her as much food as she wants, two or even three bowls of her basic food stuff is not uncommon. Also treat her, if she has been used to greeny and vegetables before hand lavish her with them (avoid lettuce it is posious!). Also if you have a local pet shop that stocks chicken feed enquire about 'bran'. Mash this up with either water, or animal milk (not humun milk!) and from experience i know all my does (female bunnies) lapped it up, rich in all the good stuff to provide milk for the kits.
Normally your mum will feed her kits twice a day, normally at dawn and dusk, you can normally tell when the kits are getting hungry as they will begin to jump around in the nest, and also you may hear little squeeks and pips!, its exictement as food time is almost here!.
Finally is mum the only adult rabbit in the cage?, if not get dad out of there now!...could harm mum, and kill the babies...not to mention rabbits can get pregnant again as soon as they have littered!.
Good luck with your babies, you will be amazed at how quickly they grow!

Answer 2

These sites are really detailed and will help you a lot -
http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/surpriselitter.html
http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/orphan.html
Just leave your Mama bunny to do what comes naturally :-) As this article says, don't make the mistake of thinking she's not paying them attention - she is - " ... there is a good chance that she is feeding her babies, even if she seems to be ignoring them. A mother rabbit does not constantly tend to her babies the way a mother carnivore does. Rabbit mamas feed their babies only twice per day, and then leave them alone. This is normal and natural: in the wild, a mother rabbit not in the process of feeding her offpsring stays as far away from the nest as possible to avoid attracting predators to her babies. If mama rabbit seems to be "ignoring" her litter, check their condition before you interfere. If the babies' tummies are round and full-looking (you sometimes can see a whitish patch where the milk-filled stomach shows through the thin skin of the belly), they are warm, their skin is a healthy, dark pink, and not overly wrinkled, and they are sleeping calmly in the nest, then mama is feeding them. If the babies are very wrinkled, cold, bluish in color, have shrunken bellies, and perhaps are even crawling around looking for mama (instead of nest-sleeping, as a well-fed baby should), then you may have to intervene." But not unless it becomes obvious.

Also, keep in mind that the most common cause of baby rabbits' deaths, is that they venture out of the nest out of curiosity, and can't get back into the nest for warmth. So they die of cold. Because rabbits can't pick up their babies with their teeth the way cats and dogs can. So if any of the babies crawl out of the nest, YOU have to put them back into the nest - first rub your hands either well over your mother bunn, or rub your hand well in some hay so that you smell like this, then just pick them up and put them back inside the nest. But don't worry, this probably won't happen!

Just let your Mama bunn do what comes naturally to her, and enjoy it all! Very best of luck to you and your bunny family.

Answer 3

We've been where you are right now, a few years back now,but not knowing what was going on or what anything meant. First off, the best way to tell if the Mommy rabbit is feeding the babies(regardless of where they are, as if she is a first time Mommy she doesn't know what to do herself, especially if she is still a young Mom?)is to not TOUCH but LOOK at the babies, are they pink, little plump bellies, and they are moving around, kind of squirming. The Mom rabbit will only feed at night time in the middle of the night. You'll never actually see it happen so don't worry about that. She'll gather them up and feed them, usually in the hutch. Just keep it as calm and quiet as possible near her and the babies. Make sure the Mom has plenty of water, food, extra stuff like carrots, dandelion greens, hay, and her milk will be all the babies need! However, if the Mom senses, in a matter of days, that any of her babies are not healthy, then she will ignore them. She won't feed him/her. It's natures way of working........and we tried bottle feedings the one's who the Mom rejected, but there is no supplement found yet, that can replace the richness of a Mommy rabbit's milk. You can try, using Kitten KMR powder made to milk in a nursing bottle, but we never had great success with it as hard as we tried. Need to only feed once a day, 1-2 ozs. per bunny. However, don't be upset with yourself or feel guilty if he/she/they die. It happens! Also, if the Mommy rabbit is a first time Mom, then she may not know what to do, and she may even step right on them or sit on them, and not even care they're there! SAD BUT TRUE! We've seen it happen.........the cycle of life I guess. Good luck!!!

Answer 4

She may have dragged it out when she dicided that she had enough of feeding them. Put it back in gently. Doe rabbits usually feed their yound only once a night.


'Wash your hands well, then rub all over the mother. Put the two straglers back in the nest and leave everyone alone. A doe will rarely go into the nest and you will probably not see her nursing. Rabbits don't ever appear to be doteing mothers, they just do their job to feed the little ones and leave. The biggest cause for kits to come out of the nest is that they don't let go of the teat when the mother jumps out of the nest so they get drug out. There is not much you can do about this with out a nesting box except keep putting them back in.
Keep watching the babies, check them with clean hands once a day or two - remove cold dead bodies when needed and leave the warm ones for mom. If they are alive she is feeding them enough - they die from dehydration very fast.'
FROM:
http://experts.about.com/q/Rabbits-703/raising-young.htm

Answer 5

well if a mother soen't want or found a runt. She will throw it out of the hut so it will die. So its realy hard to just leave it (you shouldn't leave it take care of it.) If the mother seems to ignore it or hisses at it, or when a nother baby goes by it yells at that baby or pickes it up and takes it back, you know theres a problem. Take it out, put it ina box(small show box, small storing box) And keep two or three warm rags/ wash clothes in there. you should reheat them or replace with warm ones every hour to two hours. If you dont have time for that then put a heating pad at bottom and then cover with 3 or 4 rags. To feed it take a suringe (if you dont have one ask a vet or doctor for one, with out a needle) put some milk in it and slowly squirt it in its mouht, do that 3 or 4 times a day. morning, luchish, after noon, night. you can skip the after noon if you move the night feeding a lil earlier. If you work and cant do this then try finding some1 who can or find a way to fit around ur schedule. if your in Kentucky I would do it for u. :)) LOl hope i helped if you have any questions E-mail me at [e-mail]

Answer 6

Female rabbits do ignore their litters for all but about 5 minutes a day. As prey animals, in the wild they stay away from the litters except to feed them once daily so predators don't follow them back to the nest & eat the babies.

If their stomachs are at all fat, she's feeding them. They should be in a nestbox, but if she has hay in her cage and has built a nest for them, they should be all right. I would worry if she just scattered them all over the cage.

Answer 7

wash your hands then rub then in the sawdust or on the mother to get her sent. take the mum out and put the babies in the nest. rabits only feed there babies 1 or 2 a day and its usualy at night.

the way i was told was if the babies have pot bellies then she is not feeding them.

if she isnt you will need milk formula and bottle feed them every couple of hours.

Answer 8

You want to try keeping them all in the nest. Don't worry about not seeing the mother milk them. The mother will only milk about once a day or so. So you most likely won't see her milk. If you do see her milking regularly, something is probably wrong.

Answer 9

rub your hand in the nest material first to get the scent on your hands then move that one with the others. i'd buy replacement milk and a animal nursing bottle from a farm supply store or see if the pet shop has them ,,just in case you notice that the mama is not feeding them or that one. you can do it yourself,,,been there,,,,