Rabbit Birth?

Question

Will my rabbit need assistance in giving birth to her kittens? It would be very helpful if someone could tell me. Do they do it on their own?

Answer 1

I would leave her alone but be sure that there is no male rabbit with her because he may eat her babies.

Answer 2

Of course they do. In the wild rabbits don't have any help giving birth to their kittens so why would domesticated rabbits need ur help. Unless the one of the kittens is stuck then u should call the vet or sumthin.

Answer 3

She won't need any assistance having her babies. The best thing you can do is just make sure the nestbox is built right and that you use the right bedding in it.

Take measurements of the doe laying down. Make the inside of the nestbox about 2" wider and 2" longer than the doe when she is laying down. Then make the nestbox about 3" taller than the doe laying down. You don't want the nestbox too big because a doe likes a place that is halfway tight where she can hide to have her babies. If you build the nest box too overly big she may try having them between the nestbox and the cage wall instead.

You can build the sides and top out of plywood 3/4" plywood works good for the sides and 1/4" plywood will work fell for the top. For the flooring, I recommend using pegboard. The pegboard will allow any urine to drain out so the nestbox doesn't begin to smell of ammonia, possibly causing the doe to stop milking her babies.

For bedding, I recommend using straw. Don't use wood shavings or hay. They have a scent to them and the scent can cause some does to scatter their litter instead of having them in the nestbox. Straw is also easy for the doe to grab up in her mouth and build a nest. Just make sure the straw doesn't smell moldy. The choice of bedding for a nestbox is vitally important.

Rabbits have a gestation period of 28-32 days. They normally have them about right at the 30th day. I normally always figure 30 days. Then I put the nest box in two days early (on the 28th day). You don't want to put the nestbox in too early or she will start pooping and peeing in it and you don't want that.

After she has the babies, don't be afraid to handle them. She won't kill them or quit milking them due to you handling them. Check on them about once a day to make sure that none of the babies have died. The mother may not be able to provide enough milk to milk them all, so its good to keep tabs. If one does die, remove it ASAP. The smell can sometimes cause the doe to quit milking the rest of the babies and the smell can also attract flies which could lay eggs in the nest causing problems later on such as bot fly larvae growing under their hides. The larvae will feel like a bump on their back or side when they reach about a month old.

Also make sure that the babies don't get down to being directly on the floor of the nestbox. If they do and the floor gets slick, it can cause them to get sproddled leg where one of their back feet juts out to the side irregularly. So just move a little straw under the babies if they do that.

If the doe fails to pull fur after having the babies, just pull some fur out of her and cover the babies with it. The babies won't need a lot of fur covering them during the summer, but in the winter it can become very important.

One last thing, when the babies start opening there eyes after a week or so. Check to make sure that you don't have one or two that have one or both eyes closed when the rest have theirs open. If you see one like that, pull the eyes open. If the eyes are left closed for too long the rabbit will go blind. If the rabbit has a white mucasy substance on the eyes, get a bottle of regular Visine eyedrops with the active ingredient being 2% boric acid. Pull the eye open wipe away the mucas and any crusty stuff and drop one or two drops in the affected eye. Check the eyes daily and repeat daily. It may take 3-7 days for them to cure up.

Answer 4

I had some rabbits and always she needed her own privercy dring this time. But you have to be careful with the male rebbit.... keep him away

More information.... I hope this could be helpful to you....

The doe will give birth any time of the day, with most births being at night. It takes about ten minutes for her to deliver all of her young. Normally, she will pull her fur just before birth, but as I mentioned, there is much variation in this. If everything goes right, she will birth them in the nest box on a bed of fur in a depression of the hay. Once she has had them all, she will cover them with fur and get out of the nest box. As long as she has had 3 or more bunnies and they have adequate fur protection in the nest box, they should survive even in cold winters. When there is only one or two, they may not be able to keep their temperatures up in cold winters and may die. If you can, it is best to let her have her litter in a heated area in the cold winter.

Babies are born with their eyes closed and nearly hairless. They must be protected from exposure and must be confined together with their litter mates. The difference in size between a dwarf and a giant is not significant, though the difference can be seen.

Sometimes a doe will give birth on the cage floor. Be vigilant and watch for this. Unless you gather up the babies in enough time and put them in the nest box, they will die from exposure. Once in the nest box, the mother will care for them. The position of the babies is very important. The mother will NEVER move the babies anywhere. If they are on the cage floor, on the cage floor they will remain, unless YOU intervene. Even in the nest box, they have to be in the right place and it is up to you to make sure of this. Make sure that they are lying on fur in a good depression in the hay where they cannot climb out of the nest box. If they climb out before their eyes are open, their chances of survival are slim. Remember! The mother will NEVER move the babies anywhere! YOU must ensure that they are in the right position.

Check the babies soon after birth to count them and to eliminate runts and deformed babies. Believe me, it is hard to kill a bunny that's just been born. But it is necessary. If the bunny is allowed to get older, it will eventually die of the complications of its birth defect. The other bunnies could have been healthier if they did not have to share their nutrition with one that was going to die anyway.

The doe may not feed her bunnies for 2 days after she gives birth. This is normal. Check on the bunnies every 1-3 days to make sure they are doing ok. Their bellies should be rounded. This shows they are getting adequate nutrition. Don't worry about handling babies. Just don't frighten the mother.

One thing to check for is eye infection, which is very common in new borns. Their eyes don't open until the 10th or 11th day, so you can't do anything before that time. If the baby is born with bad eyes, eliminate it immediately. But after the 10th day, you may treat the eyes with Neosporin droplets that you can get a prescription for. Do not use the Neosporin salve that feed stores sell. It's worthless. You must treat eye infections as soon as possible or the rabbit will be blind in that eye as it gets older.

Answer 5

they will do it on there own, it's a fast process, usually 30 minutes or less. If the doe is over weight there is a chance she might need assistance, but if she is over weight she should not have been bred

Answer 6

She should be fine. My rabbit has had many litters and she does it on her own. Very seldom is there a problem.

Answer 7

they do it all on their own,dont try to help her you may get bit or it may make her go into shock and then she would die,so just get her some rabbit bedding and leave her alone, it takes 28 days for a gestation

Answer 8

rabbit? kittens? I would assume they do it on their own, since it's nature.