The babies came in various color and sizes. None of them resemble Ashley. Looks like Bebe's gene is more dominant!
Dam: Ashley
Sire: Bebe
Various color and sizes. Now, which of the parent is a dutch carrier? Hmm...
We have a brown, a black and a blue dutch-like kits!
2 Days later...
Tiniest and Biggest
Like father like son (or daughter)
The dam rarely nurse the kits right after delivery. Usually the 1st nursing will be the night after the kindling. As mentioned in our previous post, we only allow feeding twice a day. This is because the rabbit's milk is RICH and could sustain the babies for 24hours a time. So you have to make sure all of the babies are well fed. Well fed babies are warm and round-bellied.
Ashley feeding and cleaning the kits
A dam usually stands over the babies to nurse them and does not lie down in the nest. She also cleans them by licking the bellies and bottoms of the babies to stimulate elimination like a cat.
The nursery
15 Baby Rabbits
By the way... Sean & Jess' Kits Day 3 onwards - Jumpin' Jelly Beans
hi..:)
ReplyDeletei have a pair of mix anggora..and just delivered 6 babies..the problem is the mami doesnt want nurse the babies..i had to force the mami to nurse them.(by laying the mami facing the babies) is it normal?
Well, there are a few possibilities.
ReplyDelete1. Is the doe a first timer? If so, perhaps it is inexperienced and is not used to nursing the kits.
2. Rabbit being a prey animal by nature may not nurse their kits in the presence of a stranger. Note the reaction of your bun when you are standing in front of the cage. Is she crouching at a corner? Or does she come towards you? Sometimes poor human interaction may cause the rabbit to be uneasy in the presence of its owner. Thus, she would not nurse the kits until she is left alone.
3. Rabbit has their own timing in nursing the kits. In fact, rabbits normally stay away from the kits or nest until it is feeding time. So, wrong timing could be one of the reasons too.