Our rabbitry has increased in size exponentially over the last two weeks. We went from seven rabbits (5 does, 2 bucks) to twenty-nine! Don’t worry, the other twenty-two rabbits are still pretty small. It doesn’t look like there are twenty-nine rabbits in our rabbitry right now but soon the little rabbits will come tumbling out of their nest boxes. It’s so cute when they do!
Water, Food and Treats
After the doe kindles I make sure that she has plenty of water and food and a nice treats for all her hard work. It can take a day or two for the doe to regain her appetite after kindling but once she does she’s hungry! Breastfeeding tend to do that, I can assure you. A breastfeeding doe can drink a lot of water so it’s important to replenish the water frequently. I tend to offer the doe as much feed as she can eat as well as some hay. The mama also loves treats like apple and carrots and it can be a great way to distract an anxious doe when you need to check the kits. Eventually the kits come out of the box and start to drink and eat the doe’s food so it’s important to keep everything topped up at this point. When the kits emerge from their nest I stop leaving treats for the doe (or hand feed them to her instead) because the treats can make the kits ill.
Cleanliness
The nest boxes get cleaned out weekly (or more depending on the size of the litter). This ensures that the kits have a dry and clean place to grow. I try to save as much of the clean fur that the doe leaves behind in the nest box when I clean it out. After a few weeks not much fur is left in the nest but at that point the kits have enough fur to keep themselves warm. It’s very important to check the nest boxes daily to ensure that they are dry, there are no dead kits, and there is no poop left behind by the doe. Clean nest boxes mean healthy kits!
