promiseacres
Herd Master
I donate our dead kits to a local wildlife rescue.
So 2 of our kits are not getting enough milk from momma. One was extremely skinny and although we forced momma to give it a bit more food, it was really an awkward experience all around. (Husband held her which was already a bad idea because he had no idea how to do it and she doesn’t know him as I do all the feeding, and then we laid her in his arms and I brought the babies to her belly, but I could tell she was really freaking out so they didn’t get As much time as I’d like) What is the most effective way to get momma to feed them extra without freaking her out? And when is the best time to do the feeding? We were going to wake up and give the runts a little mini feeding before she fed them in the am, but I was worried it might upset her enough not to feed the others.... would a mid day feeding be best? Any advice on giving runts a little extra time alone with mom’s nipples would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!Looks like healthy bunnies to me. The only thing I would keep an eye on is that since there are 9, you could end up with a runt as I think does have 8 teats? If one starts looking thin or smaller, see if you can do a supplemental feeding by holding the kit under mom while you give her some treats.
If you can distract her with treats, and put them under her they should do the rest. Being upside down usually upsets the mom rabbit as you found out. You could try to bottle feed the runts KMR, or goat's milk, but often bunnies don't take to being bottle fed. If you do try the bottle feeding, flip the bunnies upside down as that is how they feed from mom, she doesn't lay down she stands over them and the kits lay on their backs. I don't know if time of day makes a difference, but they only feed a few times a day (2-3).So 2 of our kits are not getting enough milk from momma. One was extremely skinny and although we forced momma to give it a bit more food, it was really an awkward experience all around. (Husband held her which was already a bad idea because he had no idea how to do it and she doesn’t know him as I do all the feeding, and then we laid her in his arms and I brought the babies to her belly, but I could tell she was really freaking out so they didn’t get As much time as I’d like) What is the most effective way to get momma to feed them extra without freaking her out? And when is the best time to do the feeding? We were going to wake up and give the runts a little mini feeding before she fed them in the am, but I was worried it might upset her enough not to feed the others.... would a mid day feeding be best? Any advice on giving runts a little extra time alone with mom’s nipples would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!