Help needed with 5.5 week old babies

[Zeb123]

Came home yesterday night to find that our big black mom of 5 had passed away during the day. After the initial tears etc.... its now on to the important subject of looking after the kids.

They are about 5.5 weeks old and from what I have read this seems to be about the time they are weaned off mums milk. So questions :-

1) should we supply them with some milk??

2) what food/suppliments might we need now mum is gone?

3) any other advise would be great (full clean out of the hutch and area will happen today just incase her deaths related to that but I don't think so).

Not the greatest hello topic but will post a few piccies when I work out how to



Andrew

 

[Spring]

Hi! Sorry to hear about your doe .

Are they eating a fair amount of solid foods? If they are, supplythem with the pellet s your doe was on and alfalfa hay for now. If they are not eating enough solid foods, you might need to replace the milk with kitten replacement. At 5 and a half weeks though, they should be eating enough solid foods and usually don't need a supplement to replace the milk.

Here, I'll find you a thread that was postest recently about a young rabbit..

 

[Spring]

Here's the thread that has some great information and advice for a rabbit around 5 weeks.

http://www.rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=14393&forum_id=1

 

[Pipp]

Awww, so sorry. No idea what happened to her?

All the kit feeding information can be found in this current thread.

http://rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=14393&forum_id=1

Please let us know how it goes!



sas and the gang

 

[Pipp]

Spring beat me to it! As you'll see in the thread, the milk replacement shouldn't be necessary, and much of the next step will depend on what the mother was being fed at the time, assuming the babies were eating the same, and if they're eating, drinking and most importantly, pooping normally.

Also, in light of the doe's demise, I'd go for freshhay and pellets in case there was a problem with thefeed (not likely, but possible).

It would be good to know her breed and age, and if she showed any symptoms.

Good luck with the kits!



sas

 

[Zeb123]

Thanks for the swift replies.

I have fed them this morning on fresh hay and the normal mix all our rabbits are on at the moment and they all look happy nibbling away and taking drink from our water feeder.

My thoughts on why she may have passed away??????

No idea but looking after 5 little ones in the recent heat wave (well a heat wave for the UK anyway) may have been something to do with it. In the past few days she has shown no signs of illness or change in character.

We will do a full clean out of the whole garden and all the hutches for a fresh start just to make sure.

Thanks again for the replies and the advice on the other thread is great.:bunnydance:

 

[Pipp]

Was her face and chest damp at all? That's a symptom of overheating. The best trick to cool the babies if necessary would be to warp a frozen water bottle in a towel and put it in the cage. There's a thread I believe pinned to the top called 'Cooling a Rabbit'. Check it out.

And welcome to Rabbits Only, sorry the circumstances weren't as great as they could have been.

sas

 

[Spring]

They should be find then, they look healthy and everything?

You could also try freezing a waterbottle and putting it in the cage, so if it gets too hot they can cool off from this ifyou're worried about the heat with the little guys.

I can't wait to see the pictures! We all melt on this board with the faces of the little ones . I use photobucket to transfer my photos from the camera program to the internet if that helps anyways.

Good luck with the little guys!

:angelandbunny:Rest in Peace, sweetheart.