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Well, your doe kindled just fine .... or maybe not...
There's a problem, and you have a newborn kit to try and raise.
What can and should you do?
Before you start, there are some facts to know. Kits chill very
quickly and easily, so must be kept warm and dry. Kits have very
little energy reserves and need to cat within an hour or so of
birth, especially if they become chilled. The average
temperature in the nest of healthy kits is considerably higher
than human body temperature, so simply getting them 'body
warmed' is not good enough for full recovery.
Warmth may be provided in many ways; personally, if I have the
time, I will take them and a hot water bottle into bed with me
and a good book. The hot water bottle gives steady heat over a
larger area than a heating pad; your presence will help
encourage them to move about (especially if, like me, you keep
poking them to see how they are doing!).
Okay, the kit is warm, dry and starving. What next?
First of all, you should try and get it nursing from mommy, if
mommy is in any shape to do so--in other words, has milk, is not
trying actively to kill the kits, and is healthy all round. If
she fills the bill in these ways, there are a variety of methods
one may use to get the kit's tummy full of good warm milk.
Try it the 'natural way' first ... give the doe a good gentle
belly rub while she sits on your lap. Massage the mammary
tissue, which should feel slightly lumpy and softish, for as
long as it takes for the doe to really relax. Make sure you
don't stress her in the next step, or your work will be for
nothing-that rubbing helps to stimulate native oxytocin
production. Oxytocin is a hormone closely linked to kindling as
well as to nursing, as after kindling is over, the oxytocin
release helps the doe 'let down' her milk so that the kits can
nurse. Prostaglandins, released by the doe under stress,
counteract the action of oxytocin and prevent milk letdown,
which is one reason you do not want to stress the doe who is to
nurse the kits.
Gently place her in the box after lifting the hair and hay aside
from the kits. Block, gently but firmly, her attempts to leave
the nest until one of two things occur. Most does will allow the
kits to nurse with a lot of patience on your part. If, however,
the kits are cold or becoming 'dumb' and not willing to seek a
teat, proceed immediately to the next step. Warm the kits well,
so that they have some energy, and let's get them eating. Their
energy reserves run out very quickly!
Some does will become very upset about these squirming, biting,
hyperactive things under them and may stomp on and/or injure the
kits in her efforts to leave the box. If this is the case,
restrain her gently so that she cannot injure the kits with her
struggles, and allow the kits access. Be sure to use as minimal
restraint as possible, as again, we want to avoid major stress
on the doe.
If, however, this route is simply not practical and both you and
the doe are becoming fed up with the whole process, remove her
from the box once more. Allow her a few minutes to relax while
you grab a chair for the next step. Two people may be required,
one to restrain the doe, and the other to put the kits on and
massage the milkbar.
Place the nestbox next to the chair, or next to the person who
will be handling them. The person elected to handle the doe
should be the most competent handler available to you in order,
again, to minimize stress on the doe. Care should be taken to
avoid heatstress or heatstroke in the doe during extreme stress
or hot weather.
The handler will flip the doe over and position her between
their knees as for nail clipping or grooming. The head and hind
feet should be firmly, thoroughly, but gently restrained to
disallow what I call 'punting'...which is when an annoyed doe
gives you flying kits instead of suckling kits! The two person
version is highly recommended for this reason .
Once the doe has relaxed and resigned herself to this new
indignity, the kit handler may begin. He/she should take one kit
at a time and help it to locate and latch onto a nipple, then
gently massage the area around the teat to stimulate milk
letdown. As the kits become more energetic and confident in
their ability to cain sustenance, the handler may increase the
number of kits they place at one time. More than three isn't
really recommended, since should momma decide to punt, you only
have two hands .....
If even this method, which has saved many kits for me, does not
produce filled tummies, it's time to take a more direct hand.
You can milk out the doe if you have no formula, but this is
tedious and often injurious to the mammary tissue, which may
provoke mastitis. Don't hesitate to milk her out, though, if it
means the kits will eat sooner! Every little bit and every
second counts.
All right ... what if the doe died in kindling, has no milk, or
something else is wrong that will not allow nursing from even a
foster doe?
I like to keep powdered milk formula (I use a product called
LactoPet) on hand at all times, just in case I need it. If at
all possible, I prefer to foster. If the kits have become very
chilled, I will feed them before trying to get them to nurse
anyone.
To feed a newborn kit, you will need a small syringe with no
needle and a small opening. A new 1 or 3 cc syringe is ideal.
Regardless of the fact that kits 'in the wild' or in the nestbox
nurse upside down, the hand fed kit should never ever be held
upside down, human baby fashion, to eat! The kit will aspirate,
or breathe in, some of the milk formula or fluids you are
giving, which can lead to pneumonia and death. Tubefeeding is
not recommended for even the experienced raiser--at least not
without some lessons from someone very competent at the
procedure!
Feed the kit very small drops, just touched to the lips. The kit
should lick and smack its mouth. Be prepared for the kit to
'pop' when its mouth is touched--sometimes they jump and squirt
away like a bar of wet soap. Have also a paper towel or
absorbent cloth at hand to mop any extra milk or fluid that runs
up into the nostrils. Blot often!
Feed the kit very small amounts until it gets the taste of what
you are giving. At this point they will often demand more ...
and that's your cue to be mean and nasty ... don't give it to
them! Keep the small amounts going as long as the kit will take
them ... then give it a break of fifteen minutes to half an hour
and do some more.
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When the belly is tense, they've had enough until they
urinate..... or until the tenseness vanishes and they are
showing signs of hunger again. Since most nursing formulas are
lower in nutrient content than doe milk, it is important to keep
the kit full and well-hydrated. The formula may even be cut with
more water than recommended, or even with a simple electrolyte
solution like Pedialyte.
Dehydration in the kit is common and can be very rapid. Skin
which has pleats that will not 'snap' back to their normal
position is your primary indicator that the kit is losing more
fluid than you are getting into it. If you see badly dehydrated
kits in the nestbox, remove them, give them a 'booster' of
electrolytes--a bellyfull will help--and check your doe. The
condition of the kits may be your first indicator of trouble.
Kits in very poor condition or on a doe which shows illness may
have to be removed and bottlefed.
As time goes on, the kit will require larger amounts of formula
per feeding. Again, through all of this, it is most important to
keep the kits quite warm and toasty, as they cannot maintain
their body temperature without help. In the nest, this is done
by the combined waste heat of the kits held in by a good
insulation of nesting material and fur; once out of the nest,
it's up to you.
It is true that does normally nurse only once a day, but this
varies from doe to doe. When you are bottlefeeding, all bets are
off. The feeding clock runs by the kit's demands. Average when I
bottlefeed is twice an hour for the first few hours; then every
couple of hours for anywhere up to eight to ten days, gradually
working up to four times daily as they get older.
A handy trick I have found to use when they are old enough to
stagger reliably around the cage (on towels, of course) is to
fill a small standard water bottle about 1/2 way with diluted
formula. At about fourteen to eighteen days they will learn to
use this to satisfy their hunger through the day-which is an
incredible relief for the nurse!
If you do use this route, antibiotics should be put into the
milk (usually a sulfa drug, never tetracycline) to minimize
bacterial growth and also to help the kit's gut flora gain its
adult balance, which may also be aided by putting a few fecal
pellets from a healthy doe in the kit's area for them to nibble.
Through this whole growing procedure, the formula must be cared
for well-do not allow it to become old--change the water bottle
three times daily; don't mix more than you will use within 8-12
hours; and bleach or otherwise disinfect all feeding tools.....
just as you would a sensitive human baby. Milk is the best
possible breeding ground for bacteria, and the kit is not
equipped to repel invaders until much later in life. Using a new
syringe each day is an excellent way to minimize contamination.
The kits will usually urinate and defecate on their own,
especially if they have nest mates. The normal kicking and
shoving that goes on is sufficient to stimulate these actions if
there is no doe to instigate it. If you raise only one kit,
poke, prod, and 'groom' gently with the tip of a finger over the
entire body.
If a foster doe becomes available during the raising of a
bottlefed kit, with a litter of suitable age and size (smaller
than the bottle kit is preferable), use her! There is nothing
quite like mother's milk in the raising of kits. If you do have
a foster doe, it is advisable to bring the kit inside in cold
weather and at night or allow it to suckle only under
supervision. It's sad to see a kit you have worked so hard on
die from hanging onto a nipple too long and being dragged out of
the box.
At about two to three weeks of age, the kit begins to nibble and
use its teeth on anything that catches its fancy. This is the
time to begin supplying solid foods.
Acceptable solid foods are fresh parsley, rolled oats, crimped
oats, grass or oat hay, rabbit pellets, the formula and nothing
more. An overabundance of'feeds may cause major gastrointestinal
disturbance which can result in death very rapidly.
The kit will pick and choose its own diet from these; a kit
which is reluctant to eat the pellets should be given only
parsley, hay and pellets until they accept the inevitability of
pellethood through their life.
Some human soy-based milk replacers, although useful if nothing
else is available, will result in the kit going utterly bald and
being potbellied from three to about six or eight weeks of age.
The use of parsley or avian liquid vitamins in the formula seems
to counteract this tendency, but these formulae should be
avoided if any other substitute is available.
What follows is a list of formulae and sources of
acceptable formulae, in approximate order of usefulness.
I hope this article helps those of you who, for whatever reason,
wind up
bottlefeeding a rabbit kit!
PS ... works for cottontails, too; but remember most are illegal
to possess .... PA
Formulae for Rabbit Kits
In approximate order of acceptability and success rate, the
following formulae may be used in the raising of rabbit kits.
Fresh doe's milk:--nurse the doe out into a very small container;
feed fresh and collect often.
Fresh goat's milk:--frozen whole milk may be used; must be
pasteurized.. Use as a sole formula.
Powdered pet milks: (most powders may be frozen until needed)
Lacto-Pet: formerly VetALac, an excellent substitute for doe's
milk; mix in a bottle with hot water and shake very well. One
heaping tablespoon to the ounce.
VetALac Puppy or Kitten: either will do, although not as well as
the LactoPet. Mix as directed; watch kit hydration closely.
Again, hot water and shake very well.
Esbilac Pet Formulas: not tried by the author; good results
reported with puppy formula.
KMR Liquid or Powder: A product with variable reports of
success; author has had very poor results. Liquid very
perishable and both forms quite expensive.
First Born or other puppy and kitten formulas: Again, variable
reports of success and failure. Not tried by the author.
Soyalac, Liquid or Powder for humans: Good emergency formula
since most stores which are open late at night and on weekends
will have this or a similar product. Variable results; does not
seem to be sufficiently balanced for long term use. Mix as
directed.
Lacto-Pet was available through BENEPET Pet Care Products, PO.
Box 8111 St. Joseph, Missouri 64508; this is really the most
successful of the products the author has tried, bar doe's milk.
Sadly, this product is no longer available. The VetALac Puppy
formula is closest in composition.
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