Hand raising rabbits

[manybirds]

we have an orphaned doMestic rabbit we're syringe feeding, it's 3 weeks old now but won't gain weight. The mom died giving birth and we managed to get him a surrogate mom for a week but then she rejected him because he was smaller then her babies and we switched him to hand feeding. He gets half goats milk and half kitten formula. Once before we hand raised some on the same formula but only one in ten lived. We've had him on the diet for two weeks and he developes but stays skinny and we were wondering if anybody knew how we could get him to gain weight? He's offered pellets water and alfalfa already but I'm not sure what he's eating yet. He gets 15ccs twice a day and is a purebred Californian

 

[Shorty]

When I had bottle kits they stopped gaining weight too and I never figured out why either maybe @Samantha drawz has an idea

 

[samssimonsays]

They don't gain like they would on mom's milk but I have had 100% success rate with strictly goat milk. Canned from store or fresh. They tend to take the fresh better. They need to eat every 2 hours but I would start warming the milk and mixing it with old fashioned oatmeal, let it get soggy and try to leave it available for him all day to nibble. Hay should also be available all the time and I would start leaving some solids out for him because it is the age they start to try moms food.

 

[Bunnylady]

Just curious - are you getting any cecotropes ("night feces") into him? The bacteria they contain are critical to his digestion; normally the doe leaves some in the nest and the babies eat them. This is the best time to inoculate his digestive system, it's much, much harder to do with an adult. Dairy products like yogurt and kefir only contain organisms that digest things found in milk (like lactose - "milk sugar"), a rabbit needs organisms that can process the plant material of a normal rabbit diet.

One of my favorite "starter foods" for young rabbits is rolled oats - the same stuff you make oatmeal from. I mix them in dry with the pellets. Also, grass hay should be available at all times - it provides a lot of fiber, which can help keep the digestive system moving.​

 

[samssimonsays]

I am very sorry to hear he has had such a rough life... I had a little guy like that too... He is now 1.5 years old and smaller because of it but so much spunk and personality. I had to feed him about 4 times a day, breakfast, lunch, dinner and a midnight snack is what I left it to. But I started the soaking of oats in the milk and was able to cut back the midnight feedings and be down to three feedings a day. I worked slowly down to 2 a day and he want backwards quickly and I was at square one again. Good luck!

 

[samssimonsays]

Also, I substitute in Kefir, never yogurt. I have never had any luck with yogurt personally.

 

[manybirds]

Hhhmmmm so many different opinions. Everything I read said just feed twice a day, morning and night, because mothers only feed once a day and over eating is the leading cause of death because of intestinal infection or something. I figured this must be true because last time I hand raised I fed them four times a day and all but one died. Should I try three times a day maybe then? Our adult rabbits get rolled oats but I'll try mixing some and offering it to him. Don't cook the oats just mix them with the milk and let them soak for a bit? He's getting 15 ccs twice a day should I cut that back if I start feeding three times a day?

 

[samssimonsays]

I just started off with lots of small feedings and gaged it off of each individual rabbit. A rabbits milk is way more rich than anything else but maybe try cutting out the kitten milk. I never had luck with it that may be it as well? My French lops do great but I don't feed till bellies are bulging only full.then I offer solids and mix the rolled oats and seems to make it easier. Mine we're picky and never weaned themselves but eventually I gave a bowl of the milk which helped me a lot too. I had a litter of 7, litter of 6 and a litter of 5 all survive from one week old to adulthood doing my methods as well as a total of 8 wild babies ranging from a few days to 1 week old surviving to release dates. Not one baby lost of the three litters. Every method I tried before that I had about a 45%rate. It is so hard to tell what will work for each person and rabbit.

 

[Alibo]

This may sound strange, but for weight gain in all of my orphaned critters we always used either raw or boiled egg yolk mixed in with the milk. It is an old family recipe I guess but it has saved lots of baby rats, squirrels, kittens and birds in my experience. I prefer raw because of all of the added nutrients but I was also lucky enough to always have healthy chickens I trusted (I ate my own yolks raw without fear of salmonella). If you only have store bought I would boil and powder before mixing with milk. Make sure it is not to thick so they do not choke and aspirate.

 

[manybirds]

he's still alive, I kept feeding pretty much the same but added rolled oats mixed with goats milk half way through the day and I'm using more goats milk and less kitten formula in the mix and he's doing good