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Forum HOUSE RABBIT Q & A Mixing kits HELP!

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    • FortressofAttitude
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        Last Friday I adopted a prior breeder doe Holland lop from a local farmer who wanted to get rid of her. I was told up front that she had a three week old kit that would have to go with her and that was fine. On the way home the farmer messaged me about the does normal temperament but told me that she would be a bit cranky for the next few weeks and I needed to be sure to purchase a particular brand of polyfil for her nest. I told the woman that I appreciated the advice but I wouldn’t be breeding her, all of my buns are altered to which she replied that the doe had already been bred and is due with her next litter on the 17th…
        The kit just turned 4 weeks old on Monday and is still nursing….I don’t know what to do! I’m afraid the kit will die if I separate them but I worry about the mom turning on it the closer it gets to time for her next litter. Can I just leave them together and the mom accept both the new babies and the older one? Please help. I have no experience with this and never intended on being in this situation. My other buns were 8+ weeks when I adopted them so this is completely foreign to me. I’m furious at the irresponsible breeding by the farmer and terrified for the health of my bunnies.


      • jerseygirl
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          Wow! I would be furious too. How irresponsible of her.

          I wonder if there were other kits given away at 3 weeks old?

          FWIW, at 4 weeks old, I think this kit will be alright. It should be eating solid food by now but may occasionally have milk. Do try keep them together as long as the mum tolerates it up until the next litter is due. The important thing right now is that the kit builds up good gut flora as it comes off the milk. It will do this by eating some of mums fecal and cecal droppings.

           ETA: Make sure the mum is getting unlimited food, she’ll need the protein.


        • jerseygirl
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            You could set them up in a way that the mum can get to a spot where the little one cannot, so she can have a breather when she needs too.


          • LongEaredLions
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              That breeder sounds very irresponsible indeed. That is terrible! D:
              Because we are a house rabbit forum, many of us aren’t too farmiliar with this, just like you. I think the house rabbit society has a great page on their website about babies you might want to look at. Do you happen to know if the kit is male/female? (it’s probably pretty hard to tell at this age, however) I am not too sure but I think that could affect the best time to seperate it from the mother.


            • jerseygirl
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                Here is a link to some of the info that LEL referred to.
                http://www.rabbit.org/care/babies.html


              • Azerane
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                  Make sure that the kit has access to solid food as well as mum’s milk to encourage weaning. While it’s a bit early to wean, it can be done. If you are concerned for the kit’s safety, you could keep it separate from mum, but still allow it to feed by holding the mum once daily and holding the kit up to the teat. At this stage, as others have mentioned you could probably keep them together, just keep a very close eye on the doe, especially as she is so close to kindling. Her behaviour may change quite suddenly towards her older kit in the hours before she kindles.


                • jerseygirl
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                    My rabbit Maple (now passed) had a litter a week after she’d been in my home. I had her set up in a hutch inside a spare room. She had access to the room also. Right before kindling, she became VERY industrious preparing a nest. There was just a certain look in her eye.
                    After the babies where born, I left the hutch door open and she would come and go. I had to modify things once the surviving baby started to move about though.

                    Perhaps you could do something like this? Has she started a nest at all? If not, you could try putting nesting materials in an area where she can get to easily but not the 4wk old kit. As long as it would be safe for the newer babies once they start wriggling around. She will likely not stay around the babies once they’re born. Sometimes its just a visit to feed them or just check them. So hopefully the rest of the time she’ll still interact with the older one. 


                  • FortressofAttitude
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                      Thank you so much for your input! I have two days before I have to go back to work so I’m going to work on building a specialized condo that will allow them to stay together but keep the older kit from the babies. I live in Mississippi where rabbits are generally viewed as livestock or bred simply for show so there isn’t much local help to be had. If I hadn’t just gotten them and had already built up the trust of the doe (Cleo) then this would be much easier but she’s been handled very little and used exclusively as a breeder for the year and a half she’s been alive. I’ll keep you all updated on how cleo and babies are doing. Thank you again so much!


                    • FortressofAttitude
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                        Oh and she has a nest in a drop down that I added on to her hutch. I used the polyfil that she was accustomed to and she’s been adding hay each day but I think the stress of a new home as well as her older baby has been taking its toll. She isn’t eating nearly as much as she should be and before coming home with me she’d never been given anything but pellets.

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                    Forum HOUSE RABBIT Q & A Mixing kits HELP!