Should you handle babies?

[nicolevins]

I am not a breeder, but I found this has been a big debate with some.

People say "rabbits are used to human scet so there will be no harm". Others will disagree saying "NO, do not handle the kits until they are 'X' wks. old."
Some people say that it is ok if you wash your hands with water, or use vanilla essence and rub it on the babies and mams nose chin and mouth...

 

[TinysMom]

When I have babies - I handle them all the time from day one on.....I think it helps to make them more social.

 

[irishbunny]

Handle from day one here as well
I think it has to do with the doe as well. If she is used to human contact and trusts you she's usually fine with it. Others have told me if the doe is skittish and you are constantly sticking your hand into the cage, picking up the babies and poking and prodding at the nest then she might eat them. It doesn't have anything to do with scent, it's more to do with stress.

 

[Happi Bun]

Two abandoned baby rabbit's came into the rescue not long ago, eyes closed and not too much hair. Of course to care for them they had to be held. Now that they are older and much more independent (eating on their own) they are so calm and loving towards people! They have built upa strong trust from all the gentle handling at an early age. I view the situation similar to horses.

When a foal is born you should be right there getting the baby used to human scent, touch, and other things. So long as the mother is comfortable with it. When a prey animal (like horses and rabbits) are born they are instinctively hesitant of predators... us humans. So building a nice human bunny relationship at an early age is important, in my opinion. Once again though, I do think it depends on what the mother is comfortable with as well. You wouldn't want to risk her abandoning the baby(s) by messing with them too early if she is showing signs of stress towards your actions.

I guess I should add I'm not a breeder, just giving mytwo :twocents

 

[nicolevins]

My Jenni(female) is very sensitive with her back feet, if she was lying on her back and you were to touch her back feet she would move them away.. I dont think she was handled when she was a baby bun!

 

[BlueCamasRabbitry]

I handle all my babies from the day there born. I handle them more as they get older, though. I may hold them a couple times a day when they're newborns, but not too much as I don't want to stress the mother out. But I've never had a doe abandon her kits because I've held them.

I agree that handling from day one helps to make the babies more social. If you waited several weeks to handle them, they might as well be feral bunnies! It would be hard to handle them.

The 17-weekers I have in my barn right now are SO social and friendly; and I didn't even handle them much once they reached 5/6 weeks of age; but I did lots of handling when they were younger, in their "cuter" stage, lol.

However, with my upcoming litters, they will be handled every single day until they leave my rabbitry, that way they'll be even MORE social and even MORE easier to handle. Plus, I'm going to make sure each and every one of them would make a great showmanship rabbit, so they'll be used to all the basic maneuvers of showing. I think this is important too, because then it will be easier for children to handle them, as well; and they can use them as their 4-H Showmanship rabbit.

Emily

 

[OakRidgeRabbits]

If there were any trouble with handling newborn kits, mine would have been done in long ago. lol

 

[Blaze_Amita]

I have a few does that have climbed out and into my arms with day old kits. I've handled all my kits from the day they are born, so they know what to expect and are handleable.
I was also told, after my first litter of dutch, that i shouldn't have held the babies, but Amita is such a love bug, her and all of her children that I have kept and bred(Likek my dutchie babies now, Keisha is Amita's daughter) they crawl out in my arms to be held and loved, usually when I'm checking on the babies.

 

[polly]

All our kits are also handled from day one. We have been told supposedly poles do not like you going into their nests and will scatter but Bruce has been doing a lot of handling with them so hopefully they will be ok with it

 

[LionheadLady]

I am in the does nest as soon as I can... If they were born 5 mins befor I am in there checking them...

We have some really friendly ones because of it... but not all are friendly... I think it is part of the genetics... We have a couple that could care less about you holding them & would rather be independent... I still hold them every single day... but some love it some don't... I think if the parents hate being held so will the kits... just my opinion & from what I have found... I find that if you have some really sweet rabbits they pass that along...

I have tried this many times trying to prove myself wrong... I bred a nasty nasty doe to a really sweet buck... hold the kits every single day (I have to put on a shark suite to get to them) those kits still hate to be held & are on the nasty side... I bred her to another buck... same thing... tried to hold them more.... same same thing... I fostered the next litter out to the sweetest doe I have... those kits still grew up to be nasty...

I have never had a mom refuse to take care of them or eat them from me handling them...

So, in my opinion genetics has a ton to do with how sweet they turn out... BUT I still handle all of the kits from the second I see they were born!

 

[nicolevins]

I would love to have a litter of kits.. Lucky for all of yous

Anyway, thanks for everyones replys and I have got the idea that it depends on the doe and you should get them used to human handling.

 

[nicolevins]

+ genetics !

 

[ricosuave]

Its All on your realtionship with the mom!! I handle from day one! But if your not sure try touching them with a glove on. Approach slowly to gain moms trust. If shes uncomfortable, shell let you know!!

 

[aurora369]

I have experience with rabbits that have known me and those that did not.

I fostered quite a few moms with litters who had never met me until they came to my house with their babies. I handled all litters with no problems. Even though the mother was nervous and in a new place, she still cared for her babies.

I had one litter that I had to put mom on the nest for the first couple days, but she settled down pretty quickly. I got her from the shelter because she was having problems feeding and the staff was trying to bottle feed the babies. Mom ended up feeding the babies just fine, she just needed some prompting and some extra suckling from the babies to produce more milk.

All other fosters where not even phased by me touching and checking the babies. It was very important for me to check all the babies because I needed to make sure they where getting fed and that none where injured.

So, from my experience, touching the babies is fine. In fact, I encourage anyone with babies to check all the babies at least once a day to make sure all are fed or that none are injured.

-Dawn

 

[BlueGiants]

Most (99.9%) of my does allow me to touch the babies at will. I usually check them as soon as I find them. Yes, it's important to start socializing them, but I check the nest to make sure every one is alive and warm, clean and dry. Any placentas left "laying about" are removed. Any blood in the nest is cleaned up. (Any "bodies" are removed.) Anything left behind is harmful to the babies, a breeding ground for bacteria. Most does will do the "housekeeping" herself, but it never hurts to check.

Over the first few days, I also like to see that they are getting fed and cleaned.

So even if they don't WANT me to check the nest, I will. I can gently hold the doe and pull the nestbox out to check, then put them back. I've never seen a doe reject a litter because I touched them.

 

[GorbyJobRabbits]

It depends on momma. I had some does that would try to rip your hand off and would growl and anything else they could think of. But I liked to keep an eye on the little ones. I wouldnt really mess with them too much until their eyes opened.

I had some does that would come back and watch what you did.

And then it was also more ok because I was the caretaker and they knew I ment no harm. I could have a mother rabbit who would watch me handle the little ones turn into the devil if my mom came back to see them.

I have mice that are the same way lol. I could do anything with their babies, but my mom came back to check them out because they're getting fuzzy and momma latched on to her hand.

It depends on the rabbit. If you have a doe that is getting overly stressed, I'd watch how much I messed with them, because I wont want her to start harming the little ones. I'm not a fan of fostering.

 

[nicolevins]

thanks !