Newborn rabbits open up a wonderful world for a person. Fluffy animals make their owner smile when he watches them. Increasingly, people are buying decorative rabbits to enjoy the interaction with them. There is a wide variety of species of these animals. There are large individuals that are raised to be eaten later or for the sake of the skin. The rabbit gives birth to up to 12 babies at a time.

How rabbits spend their early days

Newborn rabbits in the first days of their life cannot do without maternal care. They are born blind, deaf and hairless. It is for this reason that, before giving birth, the uterus instinctively pluck out the fluff from its abdomen and chest in order to warm the nest.

Note! Despite their helplessness, newborns already have 16 teeth.

It is necessary to carefully monitor the behavior of the rabbit after giving birth, as she can become aggressive. If everything is okay, you need to give mommy and her cubs a few days of complete rest. You just need to ensure that there is always clean water in the drinker.

Since in the first days of life, the baby rabbit exists only at the expense of mother's milk, care must be taken to ensure that the female's nutrition is balanced, then the lactation period will be successful. In the rabbit's diet, you need to add foods with vitamins and minerals.

Important! If the female does not want to eat after giving birth, you need to contact your veterinarian.

When the rabbit is feeling well, she takes good care of the newborn rabbits by feeding them with milk. If there is little or no milk, you need to introduce carrots, beets, turnips into the female's diet. Among other things, oxytocin is given as directed by the veterinarian, if the rabbit has no contraindications to it. The female can only feed eight babies at a time. If the number of offspring is greater, then the cubs need to be distributed to other nests.

Rabbits

The process of caring for rabbits is complex. In the first days of life, they are guided only by the smell of their mother. Despite this, the female often leaves the nest. This is the best time to slip someone else's bunny. In the case of quick and imperceptible actions, the mother will not even notice that there are more children.

Important! It is natural for rabbits to visit their nest 2 times in essence, usually at night.

It is possible to determine that the mothers have enough care for the mothers by the fact that they do not squeak, are well-fed and grow. Why do rabbits leave the nest after giving birth to offspring? Since the adult has a strong odor, and the babies do not smell at all, to protect themselves from predators, the females try to be with the babies less often. It's instinct.

How to behave after the birth of rabbits

The rabbit does not feed the rabbits - what to do

How does the mother care for the rabbits? After okrol, she licks all the babies. The owner should check that the placenta has come out, remove it and look at the newborns. This is to make sure how many rabbits are alive and who died. The strongest should be placed on the mother. The weak who will not survive, as well as the dead to remove.

Since the time of year when the rabbit gives birth is winter, you need to take care of the warmth in the nest. To do this, put the kids under an infrared lamp.If it is not there, then a bottle of warm water is placed under the bedding, but not hot.

Rabbits

You also need to do the following:

  • once a day to observe the development of babies;
  • move the cage with newborns to a quiet place, since if the rabbit is frightened, she can crush the cubs;
  • often do not look into the nest, because it irritates the animal;
  • in case the rabbit is aggressive, try to worry her less often;
  • separate the individual from the males so that she does not become pregnant.

Important! Before lambing, you need to cut the nails of the woman in labor, since otherwise she will hurt the babies with them.

How do rabbits develop by day

Rabbits grow quickly. In less than a week, the rabbits are covered with wool, and their body weight also grows. After how many days do the rabbits begin to open their eyes? On the tenth. After they are able to see, they begin to crawl, sniffing at everything. This continues for 3 weeks. Taking care of the babies lies entirely with the mother, the person does not need to do anything, just make sure that the temperature in the room is high enough in the cold month of the year.

How to feed little rabbits

When rabbits begin to open their eyes, you need to make sure that the cage is closed, otherwise these helpless creatures can inadvertently crawl out of their pen, where they will get lost in a large apartment, house or shed (depending on where the cage is, where they live) ...

Note! Despite the fact that the eared ones begin to crawl out of their house on the 10th day of life, when their eyes open, they can look like adults only on the 25th day.

Some rabbits may die in the first days of life. When their eyes have not yet opened, it is impossible to determine whether the animal is sick or not. Some may freeze. Therefore, it is important to monitor them, especially what kind of stool the babies have, and if it is liquid, it is better to consult a veterinarian.

On the 25th day from birth, fluffy teeth completely change from milk teeth to molars. At this age, the rabbit becomes independent, and it can already be removed from the mother. You can keep 2 or 3 individuals in one cage. And it is imperative that one of the rabbits is a male.

Note! The rabbit crawls a month after fertilization, and after another 4 weeks her babies are already adults who can live independently. Here is such a fleeting process.

Furry diseases and care

Rabbits Risen

After birth, all small rabbits are at risk for various ailments. Among the common diseases of rabbits, the following are distinguished:

  • viruses, such as hemorrhagic disease;
  • pasteurellosis;
  • plague;
  • flatulence;
  • eye disease;
  • itch fleas.

This is just a list of what youngsters face. You can find out that the animal is sick by the eyes. The lens and eyeball change their color and appearance. Also, if the eared ears are screaming, then they are sick. Inactivity also indicates a health problem.

Habitat is important for rabbits. The first place to start is bedding. Normal for newborns will not work. The best way to this day is a clean and not very hard cloth, maybe a towel, to prevent dust from entering the mucous membrane of babies' eyes.

Rabbits

Frequently asked questions about bunnies

Often, novice breeders do not know a lot about rabbits, so they are looking for answers to the most common questions on the Internet such as:

When the rabbits start to leave the nest

The term for each offspring is different, but more often it happens in the third or fourth week after birth. This is one of the most important stages when you need to carefully monitor the successful change in the location of rabbits, which should already look like quite adult and independent, because they will face many new difficulties.

When do rabbits start offering food on their own?

The biggest change is the transition from mother's milk to adult feed, when the rabbits begin to eat complete and normal food on their own. You need to start feeding in small portions.This will allow the animal to get used to the new diet, prepare its body for the perception of solid food.

Diet changes should be as smooth as possible. Large servings should never be given at once. It is better to try a little, offering different options so that you can see if the eared ears are ready to switch to solid food. After successful attempts, you can try giving large portions, which is already guaranteed not to bring any harm to the rabbits. But do not forget about clean water in a bowl so that the rabbits have something to drink.

Additional Information! If you need to determine whether the fluffy ones eat and grow normally, this is easy to do by assessing the weight of the rabbit: too large indicates obesity, too small indicates a lack of food or its poor quality.

Mineral supplements are also important for the eared organism. With a lack of them, in the worst case, young animals will begin to develop stomach problems, which in most cases will be fatal.

Adolescents are weaned from their mothers in the fifth or sixth week of life. If the animal is ready to eat adult food, does without milk, does not get sick, then it's time to start weaning the rabbits from the uterus. And this is done gradually.

When can you pick up rabbits?

This can be done immediately after the birth of the offspring. Why is there such confidence? Do not be afraid that the rabbit will not want to feed them or eat them later. Cannibalism is a kind of myth that is misinterpreted. A female can accidentally kill a rabbit due to her inexperience only when she tries to gnaw the umbilical cord on her own. Therefore, young rabbits can be touched immediately after birth and then during their growing up.

Rabbit in hands

Why do rabbits leave the nest ahead of time

In the practice of rabbit breeding, there are cases when the rabbits left their native nests and cages earlier than this should have happened. There are several reasons for this phenomenon, but the most popular is not enough milk. This happens when the female's diet is not effective enough to produce the required amount. Then you need to try to throw a few rabbits to another rabbit, so that the first one will rebalance a little.

Another reason is not enough space or too stuffy environment in the mother liquor. This only happens in summer, when the temperature drives even people crazy. Rabbits are rather cramped, so they are looking for a way out to a more open space. The solution to this problem may be to replace or reduce the amount of litter to affect the temperature inside the cage itself. Alternatively, you can replace the cage with a more ventilated one, but this is only suitable for the summer season.

Important! The place must be chosen carefully, since the presence of drafts will negatively affect young animals.

Artificial feeding of abandoned offspring

If the rabbit abandoned her children, then they will have to be fed artificially if there is no other nursing female. To do this, you need to take a syringe without a needle as a substitute for a natural nipple and goat milk or formula for rabbits (mixture for cats is also suitable) as a milk replacer. The first times, the cubs can ignore the fake nipple, but over time they get used to it, because it depends on whether they will live or not.

You need to drip a little into the oral cavity, and for safety reasons, you can even only slightly lubricate. The doses taken should be increased every week.

At first, the rabbit also needs to be helped to empty the stomach and bladder. To do this, it should be carried out along the lower part of the body with a cloth, not pressing hard on the stomach. This should be done until the bunny completely goes to the toilet.

Important! A rabbit can vilify if its diet is not balanced.

Keeping babies in an open cage in winter is undesirable. This is only permissible in summer in the heat. The reason is that they can freeze during the cold season.

Raising rabbits has never been easy, but the time and effort that goes into developing them will one day bear fruit.It is required to strictly follow all the above steps and recommendations, then the rabbits will grow really healthy and beautiful and will not die. Do not be afraid if something goes wrong and the rabbits start to hurt and die. All comes with experience. It's just worth setting aside time for rabbits. They, like all living things, love affection and care. Then it will turn out to become a successful rabbit breeder, growing animals for the sale of kolchatka and skins.