Step 5: Babies!

Step 5: Babies!

Between 30 and 34 days after the first breeding date is when the doe will give birth. I give my mothers as much water and food as they can digest.

The babies will be hairless with closed eyes and ears the first week to ten days depending on the breed size. They will get hair before their eyes open. They will shuffle and make noises in the the box, its uncanny how strong they are.

Once they are born I make a cursory count make sure there aren't any stillborn and then I leave them alone. The doe can take care of herself and I only pull one or two of the kits out to make sure they are being fed. They will have big, full bellies.

If all goes to well there won't be much to do for the babies until they start to eat solid food. Since I was feeding my does greens at the time when the kits began eating solids they went after them too. Rabbits have delicate digestive systems so I keep an eye out for diarrhea and try to get them eating pellets and hay more than the greens. I give them a wide variety and lots of it. Feeding an nursing does and 8 kits requires a lot of fodder.

After 3 weeks everyone should be up and gamboling around the cage. they should gain about a pound or so depending on the breed per week. I don't weigh my babies but I keep a very close eye on their development and how heavy they feel when I pick them up.

source: instructables.com