Weaning Advice for Large Litters

[brentr]

I weaned my litter from Pepper, my doe who had a litter of 15. 10 survived to weaning age. Because she had such a large litter, I weaned them off in stages:
biggest four on Tues, next three on Thurs (48 hours later), last three on Saturday (48 hours later). When I started weaning the litter was 5.5 weeks old. I checked her this morning and she is still very engorged with milk. (She really produces and it is easy to feel the udders/milk glands (whatever is proper term for doe rabbit ).

I expected there to be a little engorgement, but didn't expect this much. When I face this next time, how should I structure the removal of the kits - numbers to remove, time intervals, and how long should I plan the whole process to take?

I have also restricted her feed to help dry her off.

I'd be grateful to hear how others do this.

 

[animalmom]

OK here's my two cents worth regarding weaning. With a large litter, like yours, I'd only take out two at a time and then wait the 48 hours, like you did, to take the next two. This takes longer, but I think it is less shock to the mom. If you are looking at too many bodies in the mom's cage then you could go three at a time, but I'd give it an extra day before taking the next group. Make sense?

Your doe's body will eventually adjust... she'll just be uncomfortable for awhile. You may want to keep an eye on her teats to see that they don't develop mastitus... swelling, warmth and redness.

It sounds like you are doing very well with this massive litter and you should be pleased with the doe, and yourself.