Does mommy starts nursing her babies after a certain time?

[sha10ly88]

I understood that the mother nurse her babies twice a day. But isthere a time thatshewill start nursing her babies? I mean .... does the mother nurse the babies immediately after her birth?

Howare the positions of the babies when the mother is nursing? I have been observing the mother bunny since the day she became a mother. And I realised that she doesnt milk the baby. Even when she knows the babies are under her .... she will just move away. I have placed the babies in a shoe box just like wat I was adviced by aurora. Since then ... the mother pays less attention to her babies. THen I tried to carry mommy gently and put her near the box. Something like .... trying to let her know that the babies are in there. Then ... she still ignore. I then tried to put her gently into the box and rub her head to keep her calm. But she just jump out of the box. It makes me think .... does the mother knows that she is already a mother??

Btw ... I have rubbed my hands onmommy and the nesting before handling the little bunnies.

 

[irishlops]

um i dont know. i think rabbits do it during the night. when it is "safer" and calmer.
by nurseing, do you mean, like feeding???
they do as you said 2 time a day....
i dont know, i would wait till some breeder answers. im not a breeder...

 

[Flashy]

When mum stands over them, that is when she is feeding them probably and she will jump off when she instinctively knows it is the right time. She won't lie down with them, she won't move them around or anything, she will just stand over the nest and the babies will spiral up to feed from her, and spiral down afterwards. She will only feed for a few minutes. you might see babies upside down wriggling around her, and she will probably lick their bottoms to stimulate them to go to the loo, but at this age you may not see that, you may just see her putting her head downwards when she stands over them.

It is completely normal for mum's to ignore their babies. That is part of them being a mum, and it may be this is how her instincts were to act, but because the babies were a bit all everywhere, she didn't have a choice but to pay attention to them. She will tend them when they need tending.

From your other pics I seem to remember that they had been fed, so her milk has come in. If you are worried you can have a look at the kits and see if they look round and pudgey (or if they have been recently fed they will look like they swallowed a ping pong ball), or if they look hollow and skinny.

Mums will vary when they feed. It can be quickly after birth or 24-36 hours after birth, but longer than that and mum may need a hand. Some mum's feed once a day, some feed twice, some feed more, really, it depends on the mum.

From the sound of your bunny, it sounds like she is being a perfect mum and is doing everything she needs to do. When you tried to force her to feed she knew that wasn't right, and so jumped out. She knows there are babies

 

[sha10ly88]

Flashy wrote:

When mum stands over them, that is when she is feeding them probably and she will jump off when she instinctively knows it is the right time. She won't lie down with them, she won't move them around or anything, she will just stand over the nest and the babies will spiral up to feed from her, and spiral down afterwards. She will only feed for a few minutes. you might see babies upside down wriggling around her, and she will probably lick their bottoms to stimulate them to go to the loo, but at this age you may not see that, you may just see her putting her head downwards when she stands over them.

It is completely normal for mum's to ignore their babies. That is part of them being a mum, and it may be this is how her instincts were to act, but because the babies were a bit all everywhere, she didn't have a choice but to pay attention to them. She will tend them when they need tending.

From your other pics I seem to remember that they had been fed, so her milk has come in. If you are worried you can have a look at the kits and see if they look round and pudgey (or if they have been recently fed they will look like they swallowed a ping pong ball), or if they look hollow and skinny.

Mums will vary when they feed. It can be quickly after birth or 24-36 hours after birth, but longer than that and mum may need a hand. Some mum's feed once a day, some feed twice, some feed more, really, it depends on the mum.

From the sound of your bunny, it sounds like she is being a perfect mum and is doing everything she needs to do. When you tried to force her to feed she knew that wasn't right, and so jumped out. She knows there are babies

oh thanks so much. So .... does the mother choose a time that is safe enough for her to feed the babies?

 

[sha10ly88]

irishlops wrote:

um i dont know. i think rabbits do it during the night. when it is "safer" and calmer.
by nurseing, do you mean, like feeding???
they do as you said 2 time a day....
i dont know, i would wait till some breeder answers. im not a breeder...

Well ... whatever it is ... thnx so much.

 

[Flashy]

She will choose the time based on instincts. It could be dawn and dusk (when rabbits are the most active) but really, it could be any time at all. I used to sit and watch my bunny mum feed her kits at 8.52pm (this was in June, in the UK) and it was amazing to watch. If your bunny feels safe around you then they probably won't specifically wait for you to leave before feeding although obviously feeding times may not be when you are around.

Do the babies have nice round tummies?

 

[sha10ly88]

Flashy wrote:

She will choose the time based on instincts. It could be dawn and dusk (when rabbits are the most active) but really, it could be any time at all. I used to sit and watch my bunny mum feed her kits at 8.52pm (this was in June, in the UK) and it was amazing to watch. If your bunny feels safe around you then they probably won't specifically wait for you to leave before feeding although obviously feeding times may not be when you are around.

Do the babies have nice round tummies?

Ohh...

For now ... it does look round. I mean ... how would the not round tummy looks like?

 

[Flashy]

They would look sunken and just not round. If the babies tummies look round and full then mum is feeding and, from the sounds of it, doing an ace job

 

[sha10ly88]

Flashy wrote:

They would look sunken and just not round. If the babies tummies look round and full then mum is feeding and, from the sounds of it, doing an ace job

Aha .... It doesnt seem sunken or anything. Its just round.

Thnx so much Flashy.