Weaning young rabbits

This is one overdue post - but better late than never.

Since the 4^th of the month, we have started weaning the young rabbits. These rabbits at 7-8 weeks old are ready to be separated from the mother and are already feeding on their own. In fact, some baby rabbits start feeding on pellets from the 11^th day onwards. At this point, we would like to highlight that there are some unscrupulous breeders who would wean the baby rabbits as early as 3 weeks old or as soon as the rabbits are eating and drinking on their own in order to maximize turnover or productivity. The rabbits at this stage are at its cutest and is just the size of an adult's palm. Now, who wouldn’t say NO to a cute fur ball? But, hold your horses and hold that bank note in your pocket. Buying a baby rabbit like that means being weaned before its time and chances of the rabbit making to adolescent is slim and may develop other health complications such as being weak or having diarrhoea. Worse is, they may not be strong enough to overcome such weaknesses. Besides, you wouldn't be able to tell if "what you pay is what you get". Many paid for an Angora Rabbit but a few months later realized they had bought a normal bunny with long face and pointy ears instead!

Baby rabbits would depend on the mother’s milk for nutrients as they are still developing and their digestive or immune system is not strong enough to fend them even though they may be eating or drinking on their own.

Question: When to wean?

It is subjective. Based on our experience, 7 weeks is ideal though there may be times when a rabbit is ready to be separated from its mother at 6 weeks old while some may require more time with the mother.

Question: How to wean?

Take one at a time from the mother. Start by taking the biggest or the strongest. Alternatively, you may take all of them away except for one, which you could separate it from the mother a week later.

It is advisable not to wait past 12 as certain sources claimed that rabbits may get pregnant as early as 13 weeks. We don’t know how true it is for we would have separated the baby rabbits from the mother by then.

You may also determine the sex of the rabbit and separate the males and females into their own cages.

Do check their teeth for any signs of "wolf-teeth" or malocclusion. Make sure the upper teeth do NOT meet the lower teeth or the lower teeth do NOT overlap the top teeth. The teeth will dig into the gums and the rabbit will not be able to eat. This would require clipping by a vet on a regular basis.

Question: How can I tell if I am being offered with a rabbit which is barely a month old?

Sizes of the rabbit vary according to its breed. Know the standard size of the specific breed of rabbit you intend to buy or find out more about the rabbit's parents from the seller.

Question: What to look out for when purchasing or adopting a young rabbit?

Observe the characteristics and physical attributes of the rabbit. A healthy one has shiny eyes, clean ears, nice coat, is active, inquisitive and eats well. Also, check on the feces and make sure no signs of diarrhea or other health problem. Oh yea...free of fur mites!

Question: What to feed a young rabbit?

It is not advisable to feed a young rabbit below the age of 6 months with any fresh veggie or fruits. This is because their digestive system may reject and can have diarrhea. Best is stick with pellets, hay (timothy) and clean water.

Blissful Weekend

Weekends always meant more time at the backyard, more time with the rabbits. So today...

1. We returned the kits to the respective dam.

If you notice, these kits are feeding on their mother's poop. These are actually cecal pellets and are sometimes referred to as night droppings or Cecotrophs. The cecum contains a natural community of bacteria and fungi that provide essential nutrients and may even protect the rabbit from potentially harmful pathogens. They provide vitamins and proteins that are essential to a rabbit's health. Besides, it prepares them for feeding on solid food such as hay or pellets.

2. We also allowed Toto, our Holland Lop to stretch his legs. Here's some pictures of Toto.

*sniff*sniff* "what's cookin'? Not my cousin I hope..."

"Yes, you called?"

Toto: "Watch me hop".

It's good to allow your rabbit to have a "free run" once a week. We suppose it's good for the rabbit's psychology and well-being. When it cannot contain its happiness, you can expect a binky! :)

Kits and more kits

11 August 2010 (Wednesday) sometime before dawn, Ashley gave birth to 10 baby rabbits! 1 of them was born deformed without a prefect leg and we suppose it died still born. Nevertheless, the rest of them were all "in the pink of health".

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

Sean & Jess' Kits - Day 2

Growth of fur is slightly visible especially on those who resemble Sean. Size wise, not much of a difference compared to the day before - when they're just born. The kits look very much like Smeagle of Lord of The Rings and that's NOT cute at all. Now speaking of cuteness, we don't exactly encourage people to buy (or adopt) rabbits based on cute factor alone. Neither are we denying the fact that our interest in rabbits also started with "Oh look! How cute is that fuzzy-wuzzy bunny". There's nothing wrong with falling head over heels or love at first sight for its "cuteness" but the message that we are trying to convey is: Consider well. It's a long term commitment (they can live up to 6-7 years or some longer depending on various factors). Think carefully. Sleep on it. Talk to your love ones who in someway or other would be affected by the additional "family member". Don't worry about someone else is gonna buy the cute rabbit you saw on display in the pet shop that's so CHEAP (or so you think but you will be surprised with what better offer you can find on the internet especially buying from breeders). By the way, do you know that you can find rabbits that are "cuter", "prettier", "fluffier", and "CHEAPER", etc. if you buy from a breeder? Reason being, rabbits sold at the pet shops are "rejects". Breeders do not want to keep the "stocks" for their breeding program because it lacks certain characteristics or features which could improve or at least maintain the quality of their stocks. So yea, in a way you can say rabbits sold at the pet shops are of inferior quality. Think: a breeder could sell a bunny for RM250.00 to a buyer. But if he has to sell thru a medium - pet shop, the pet shop takes 40% and breeder only 60%. So there you go!

Oh! There's another point to note... Rabbits are cute when they are young (peak of "cuteness" is between 1-2months old) but when they reach maturity, that's when you can see their long pointy ears and face - another "lab rabbit". Pet shops often take in rabbits which are barely 2 months old and it's a huge NO to separate the kits from its mother below the age of 2months, even though they may be nibbling on pellets and drinking from the feeder. There could be adverse effects on the well being of the bunnies in future.

So think before you make a purchase or opt to adopt a cute bunny. Now back to Jess' bundle of joy...

Generally, rabbits nurse the kits once or twice a day when no one is around. Their instincts would tell them to keep away from the kits except to nurse them to avoid any unwanted attention of predators. Since we separated the kits from its mother, we kinda reschedule the nursing time according to the "our timing" so we had to force Jess to nurse her kits. She is of course, unwilling to nurse her kits. We had to hold her down and gently stroke her so she would stay still and nurse the kits. Otherwise she is rather fidgety and would hop around. Once she even resorted to bite anyone who attempt to restrain her. What a feisty mom!

Stroking Jess

While Ashley in the other cage is expecting real soon... check out the huge bump. We're guessing 8 kits or more judging by the size of it. Now, most of the time she is resting and there are hardly any digging or biting of the grills of the cage (which is her new found interest/ addiction of late).

Yummy mummy

We also caught her in action: busy building her nest with hay and shreds of newspapers.

Ashley engrossed in building her nest. Oblivious to the fact that we were recording her every move.