Showing posts with label rabbits. Show all posts
Showing posts with label rabbits. Show all posts

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Saving Rabbit Babies.... Again!


At two days old, see the size difference
It seems like every time our rabbits have a litter they pick the coldest day possible and I end up having to do some quick baby bunny saving.  The bunnies were so cold and still they almost seemed dead, so I rushed them inside and quickly put them on a hot water bottle covered by a washcloth.  Then I took each one and put it in a bowl of warm water holding its little head above the water.  Soon all 7 babies were moving and squeaking.  For some reason we had two huge ones and a bunch of little ones.  It's so cold that I have to keep them inside in a pop box until they fur out.  We bring the momma in twice a day to feed them and give her oats.  So far she (first time mom) is doing fine with this arrangement and I've only lost one that was the smallest and the one I thought was really dead at first.  I think it just was too cold for too long to make it. 

The rest of them look like little water balloons now with tummies full.  They are already getting a thin layer of fuzz and I cant wait to get them out of the house and into the constant care of mom.  With four children, 6 baby bunnies, three kittens, one long haired cat, and a golden retriever in the house the furball and dirty floor problem is reaching critical mass.  I pretty much vacuum and sweep every day because if not I can actually see the piles of fur in corners!  Ugh!  Not to mention the constant ash and firewood debris from using our wood stove everyday.

Oh well

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Baby Birthin' Time


A few hours old


The First Time Momma, annoyed that I'm messing with her babies


The female who was bred but apparently didn't "take"


A female who wouldn't be bred.  We are going to try and re-breed her

About a month ago we bred all of Eldest Daughters female rabbits and now they are having babies.  Two "kitted" on the same day.  And the third we bred seems like she didn't take, even though I know the male was successful.  Our fourth female wouldn't let the male breed her so we're trying again.

One of the females is apparently an absolute idiot because she had all her babies on the wire.  Three were dead before I could rescue them and I had to do emergency warm up treatment in the house to get the rest to survive.  All survived but we had to bring the mom into nurse them since they were so stressed.  Lucky for us she co-operated and fed them. Right now she has six babies, but one looks like a runt and probably wont make it.

The second female had a litter of eight!  This was her first litter and I was amazed to see that she not only made an excellent nest, but also had all her babies in the box and nursed them.  Most first time mom rabbits either have the babies on the wire or don't make a good enough nest and the babies die.  This mom seems to be doing really good.  Two babies look like they are either not getting enough to eat or are runts.  If I had a female who didn't have a large litter I would try to put them on her, but I don't.  Unfortunately with rabbits if a baby is a runt their is not much you can do.  Bottle feeding is almost impossible when they are this size.

I have to say that newborn rabbits are amazingly ugly.  They are heartbreakingly adorable after about a week, but at first they look like hairless rats.  Only a mom could love em.