Caring for newborn rabbits
Rabbit meat is highly regarded for its taste. When breeding any pets, it is necessary to provide careful care of the newly born livestock. Depending on the breed and age, one female can produce up to 12 babies. Newborn rabbits are very fragile creatures, they need special care, it is better not to touch them with your hands at first. It is also important to provide pets with adequate nutrition in the first days of life.
Newborn rabbits
Preparatory work
An important step is to prepare in advance for the appearance of babies. On average, the gestation period is a month. About a week before birth, the female begins to pull out the fur to build a nest. Newborn rabbits are not at all adapted to independent survival. They are blind, deaf and hairless.
Before the appearance of newborns, it is necessary to properly equip the place in the cage:
- install the container no more than 6 cm in height;
- lay a bedding of straw or sawdust on the bottom;
- the cage for the content should be wooden, it is not recommended to use plastic.
Before okrol it is necessary to cut the claws of the rabbit. Baby rabbits can be checked once a day, but not more often. This must be done with caution so as not to provoke aggression in the mother.
What to do with newly born offspring
First of all, after the okrol, you need to carefully examine all the babies. Some of them are born dead. If possible, individuals are reanimated, otherwise they should be removed from the cage so as not to provoke stress in the rabbit. It is very important to monitor her behavior during this period.
Females and newborn rabbits should be kept separate from other animals. It is very important to observe the hygiene of the cage, this will help protect the offspring and the female from infectious diseases. When examining, you must wear gloves, it is undesirable to touch the rabbits with your bare hands, otherwise the rabbit will refuse them, smelling the smell.
Female behavior after birth
It is necessary to study all the features of the behavior of females in the postpartum period, this will help to take appropriate measures in time to preserve the offspring. The separate keeping of the female and the rabbits is perhaps the most important moment at the first stage, after giving birth. It is necessary to protect the rabbit from contact with males, otherwise she will become pregnant again, which will have a bad effect on the offspring that has already appeared.
It is important to protect the mother from stress, because she will become aggressive. In a fit of rage, a rabbit can crush her offspring. It is best to move the cage to a quiet location.
Lactation period
A newborn rabbit that lacks milk weakens from dehydration, and its skin forms folds. To maintain the sugar balance, the rabbits are given molasses or jam, literally a drop.In well-fed newborn rabbits, the contours of the body acquire roundness, and the skin on the tummy is stretched and slightly translucent.
The female's lactation should be checked. To do this, lightly press or massage the areola area. If milk is oozing out of the nipples, then everything is normal and there is no cause for concern. The breasts themselves will be slightly swollen.
The rabbit feeds her offspring once a day. If after 24 hours it becomes noticeable that the mother is not feeding the rabbits, they must be put on another nursing rabbit or fed on their own. It is important to remember that the behavior of the female rabbit is very different from the behavior of other animal species. Often, novice farmers unreasonably take the rabbits out of the nest, believing that their mother abandoned them. In fact, the female takes care of newborn little rabbits mainly at night, when the owner does not see it.
Refusal of offspring
Refusal of offspring is a fairly common occurrence among eared ones. When the female scatters the rabbits around the cage, this is the first signal for action. Why doesn't the rabbit feed the offspring?
- lack or complete absence of milk;
- stress;
- pain in the nipples;
- changes in hormonal levels.
If the rabbit does not feed the newborns due to sexual prey, she must be planted with the male. Immediately after mating, the hormonal background is normalized, and she will begin to care for the offspring, otherwise you should consult a specialist. Your veterinarian will give you an injection of oxytocin, which stimulates milk production through uterine contractions.
If the rabbit has eaten the rabbits, it is necessary to inspect how badly they have suffered. If the baby can be saved, he will be resuscitated. There is an adequate explanation for this behavior. These animals are not carnivores. If the baby's belly is damaged, it means that the inexperienced female simply could not properly gnaw the umbilical cord. Damage to the head and limbs suggests that the rabbit tried to help the rabbits get out of the womb and bit the baby hard with her teeth.
If the female has abandoned offspring
Many breeders are faced with the question of how to feed rabbits if they are abandoned by their mother. If the female scattered the offspring, the babies must be carefully collected with gloved hands and placed in the nest. Self-feeding starts with formula milk, which consists of:
- milk;
- egg yolk, molasses;
- fortified supplements.
It is best to use a pipette for feeding. Animals should be fed every 8 hours. After the little ones have eaten, they need to massage the abdomen. This procedure stimulates the excretion of feces and urine.
Newborn rabbits should be kept in a separate container. Initially, the cubs need constant heating, so they are placed on a plastic bottle of warm water wrapped in a towel. Over time, rabbit fluff will be enough for them.
Winter offspring
As strange as it may sound, but often the most hardy individuals are born in winter. These rabbits withstand colder temperatures better than those born in the summer heat. However, winter okrol differs in some nuances:
- for breeding choose the most experienced rabbit, preferably dairy;
- if the litter is very large, you should leave as many babies as there are nipples in the mother, and ideally one less to ensure a greater degree of survival;
- it is necessary to feed the female abundantly;
- you should drink only warm water;
- if there is not enough down, cotton wool is placed in the nest so that the newborns do not freeze.
Formation features
In the room where the cage is located, it is necessary to ensure the optimum air temperature. Newborn rabbits in the photo do not look very attractive. They are born completely naked, deaf and blind, but quickly gain weight. The rumor appears already on the 7th day. The eyes are opened on the 14th day.
If the development process has slowed down and the eyes did not open on time, it is necessary to check if pus has accumulated under the eyelids. This is usually easy to see from the bulging eyelids. In this case, use saline for rinsing. Wool begins to grow on the first day. On the third day, the kids are already covered in fluff.
It is very difficult for offspring to survive without mother's milk. This is practically the only food that the body of babies is able to assimilate. It is very important to ensure that the female has sufficient lactation. To improve it, nutritious feed is introduced into the diet in the form of mash from root crops, fennel and parsley are given, which stimulate milk production. The diet should contain calcium-containing substances and foods, such as chalk, sour or powdered milk, fish dust.
By 28 days after birth, the offspring becomes completely independent, and the rabbits can be removed from the mother. Their body is already covered with full-fledged wool, they no longer need increased room heating, so the temperature can be gradually reduced. At this point, they are already able to feed on adult food.
Conclusion
Raising rabbit offspring is hard work. It is very important to monitor the behavior of the female immediately after birth. It is important to remember that the rabbit feeds her babies mainly at night, so in the first couple of days you will have to be on duty near the cage to make sure the mother is safe. We must not forget about quality feeding.
Immediately after giving birth, all offspring should be checked; rabbits should not be taken with hands without gloves. You can find out how to do this correctly from the corresponding video. It is very important to help the female to equip the nest ahead of time. If there is not enough down, cotton wool should be added to it. The full development of rabbits depends on the presence of breast milk in the female, therefore, if she refuses to feed the offspring, it is necessary to examine the nipples for mastitis.
Cannibalism among rabbits is a myth. Most often, a person simply cannot understand the behavior of an animal and makes hasty conclusions. The female can gnaw the rabbits only when she wants to help them get out of the womb or when she gnaws the umbilical cord. Most often, this phenomenon is observed in young individuals, the first-born, therefore it is important to be near the cage during the birth.