Why does a mother rabbit scatter her newborn rabbits? Why does a mother rabbit scatter her babies immediately after giving birth?
Rabbits are extremely fertile animals. Adult females can give birth to four offspring per year. They reach sexual maturity at 6-8 months. During one litter, six to ten young rabbits are born. But there are also problems with reproduction. For example, many livestock breeders have questions about why a mother rabbit scatters her babies immediately after giving birth. Let's try to sort this issue out.
About a week before giving birth, the female begins to build a nest. She looks for the most suitable materials in the litter (hay, soft straw), crushes them and drags them to the far corner of the cage or into a specially prepared queen cell. It plucks fur from the chest, in the area of the nipples, which it also brings to the nest. You can help the female by throwing some chicken feathers and dry leaves into the cage. Under no circumstances should you toss threads or yarn, as baby rabbits can become entangled in them and die.
The breeding begins mainly at night and lasts from twenty minutes to an hour. Complications are rare. After this, the female licks the young rabbits, puts them in the nest, feeds them, and sometimes eats the afterbirth. Although it also happens that immediately after giving birth or a few days after it, the female refuses to feed and throws the rabbits out of the nest. Here are the main reasons for this phenomenon:
- The rabbits were born non-viable and weak
- It's too cold in the cage
- The rabbit has too little milk, the little rabbits often attach to the nipples and it hurts her
- The female has mastitis
- The rabbit is too young, her maternal instinct is poorly developed
- The female rabbit is restless because she wants a male
- Baby rabbits accidentally fall out when they do not have time to let go of the nipple, and the female leaves the nest
- Misbehavior of the owners
Rabbits can throw out too weak or dead babies from the nest. The rest remain, and the female takes excellent care of them. If the temperature is too low, the female may develop mastitis, feeding becomes painful, and the female rabbit abandons her babies. With mastitis, the nipples swell too much, become red and inflamed, the rabbit may develop a fever, and she loses her appetite and activity. The same thing happens when there is a lack of milk; the baby rabbits suck for a long time, causing the female’s nipples to hurt. She gets angry at the babies and throws them out of the nest. The cold leads to low activity of the cubs, and the mother rabbit abandons them because she considers them weak and unviable.
Lack of milk may be due to improper feeding and lack of water. Sometimes this happens in young females, during the first or second litter. If the female rabbit wants a male, she becomes restless and does not pay attention to the cubs. If you stroke her during this period, she will raise her butt. The genitals become red and swollen. Another reason why female rabbits scatter their babies is the incorrect behavior of the owners. You should not pick up small cubs unless absolutely necessary; they pick up the human scent and this leads to the female scattering the baby rabbits and stopping feeding them.
What to do if a mother rabbit scatters her babies
We have figured out the main reasons why a mother rabbit throws her babies out of the nest. Now let's try to talk about how to deal with this phenomenon. First, you need to properly prepare the breeding cage. She should not stand in a draft. The bedding should be made soft so that the female can find enough material for bedding. A week before the expected birth, the cage should be thoroughly washed. If the rabbit does not arrange the nest herself, you need to do it for her. In late autumn, it is better to refrain from mating to avoid giving birth during the coldest winter months. Moreover, in October-November rabbits have low sexual activity.
In order not to miss mastitis, you need to carefully examine the rabbit's nipples. If there are first signs, they need to be treated urgently. You can consult your veterinarian about treatment options. In order for milk to flow, you need to establish proper nutrition. We must not forget that a lactating female eats much more than a pregnant female. A week before the birth, concentrated feed should predominate in the diet, and after it you need to add hay and greens. There should always be fresh water in the cage; the nursing rabbit drinks a lot.
When the female rabbit becomes restless and sexually aroused, she needs to be transplanted into a cage with a male. She will calm down and begin to show interest in her bunnies again. Babies should be examined after birth and dead and weak ones should be removed. This must be done with clean hands, washed with laundry soap, so as not to leave your own smell on the rabbits. There is no need to look into the nest and touch the cubs unless absolutely necessary. If you do this too often, they will pick up someone else's scent and the rabbit will not recognize them.
If the question of why a female rabbit throws out her young cannot be resolved, the young animals can be placed with another female. To do this, the age of all rabbits must be the same. In order for someone else's rabbit to accept the babies, she is placed in another cage for a while. The cubs are pulled out with clean hands (you can rub your palms with wormwood). After this, they are thoroughly cleaned of fluff and bedding and placed in the nest. It is advisable to place the baby rabbits in the center, between the siblings. After about twenty minutes, the female is returned to it, during which time the rabbits have already managed to pick up the smell, and the foster mother cannot distinguish them from her own.
When there is no suitable female, you can try to raise the rabbits yourself. Whole cow's milk or a mixture of it with condensed milk in a 3:1 ratio is suitable for feeding. The rabbits are first fed from a pipette, 4-6 times a day. After twenty days they can drink from a nipple, and from a month onwards they lap perfectly from a saucer. You can watch the video on the Internet to see how to properly feed baby rabbits.
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* At 4 - 5 months.
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* Up to 4 months, no more.
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There are cases when a female rabbit can kill her cubs. Such an emergency is usually the result of a difficult birth, lack of milk, pain from damaged or undeveloped nipples. In principle, exactly the same symptoms occur in breastfeeding women. There's nothing wrong with that.
You should massage the mammary glands, milk a little milk and try to slip in the offspring. If necessary, perform these steps several times. Problematic nipples are treated, for example, with boiled vegetable oil, sea buckthorn oil, or some wound-healing disinfectant solution that is harmless to rabbits; you may even try some product for treating the nipples of nursing women.
After covering, the female rabbit calms down and, if there is no mastitis, normally feeds the rabbits.
Naturally, monitoring of her and the nest in the first days must be intensified.
Waiting for baby rabbits
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Why does a mother rabbit scatter her babies immediately after giving birth?
Answers to questions from novice rabbit breeders
* At what age is it best to slaughter rabbits?
* At 4 - 5 months.
* For what? Rabbits gain weight only up to 4 - 5 months, and then get fat. It is irrational to feed them for extra months. Before slaughter, the amount of concentrates is reduced; it is useful to keep the rabbits on hay.
* How long are the rabbits kept together?
* Up to 4 months, no more.
* We have problems with giving birth; females have difficulty getting pregnant.
* How much do your females weigh on average?
*They are overfed, put them on a diet immediately.
* How many years to keep a breeding male?
* The best is 2-3 years, then sexual activity begins to decline, and inbreeding will begin, that is, the rabbits will be born dead, weak, will grow worse, get sick more often, and the number of rabbits born will decrease.
* Is it necessary to insulate rabbit hutches in winter?
Only queen cells. If the cage is located outside, cover the floor with hay and straw.
* How often should rabbits be watered?
* Twice a day. In winter - once.
* My rabbits love to eat brooms that have already been steamed. Isn't it harmful?
* No. After steaming, the brooms become soft, it is not surprising that rabbits love them. But don't get carried away by the birch branches. Once or twice a week, give the rabbits pine needles or rowan branches.
* When is the best time to mate rabbits?
* Focus on the birth. If you mate in January-February, the rabbits will be born in March-April.
* Why does the mother rabbit scatter her babies around the cage?
* Her mammary glands may be hard, feel them. Then they need to be kneaded and rubbed with warm camphor oil. Or she's going into sexual heat.
* Is it possible to feed rabbits oats?
* The healthiest food is barley; oats make rabbits fat. It is better to give cereals in dry form. Only low-quality feed is steamed.
* Always! There must be food in the feeder at all times, otherwise rabbits may develop stomach ulcers. Grain is given three times a day. In the summer, during the day they only provide hay and grass. Because of the heat, the rabbits hardly eat.
Strange behavior of a female rabbit after giving birth. Aggression or indifference of the mother rabbit to her babies
After giving birth (parturition), does the female rabbit behave abnormally? Have you become angry or, conversely, indifferent to the rabbits? You should be aware of several unpleasant situations that can arise with a rabbit who has given birth.
Unlike cats or dogs, a female can keep her cubs after giving birth. This is laid down at the genetic level, because in the wild, the smell of a mother rabbit that has given birth attracts predators, and keeping her away from the baby rabbits saves them from death. If everything goes well, the rabbit will soon return to the rabbits. In fact, female rabbits are excellent mothers and can even raise other people’s rabbits. If a female rabbit scatters her babies after giving birth, then you should immediately remove her from the nest, pluck the fluff from her belly, and put it in the nest. In a rabbit, this is the result of heredity or poor nutrition. In this case, the rabbits need to be warmed up, then the female must be returned. If she refuses the brood, then, if possible, the rabbits should be transplanted to another female. If this option is not suitable, then some owners keep their rabbits on/near bottles of warm water covered with a towel.
If the female rabbit does not want to feed the cubs, then you should simply force her a little by forcefully laying her on her side and lifting the little rabbits. After several similar procedures, everything should return to normal.
But when the female rabbit actively does not allow newborn rabbits near, there is no need to worry. This is just normal. Just distract her with some rabbit treats.
Why does a mother rabbit eat baby rabbits?
Rabbits are wonderful and cute animals that leave no one indifferent. Their wonderful fur, big ears, funny nose, button eyes, tiny tail - all this gives people great pleasure, especially to children.
Many homes even breed these animals, as they are relatively easy and inexpensive to keep. Some people have to deal with such unusual phenomena when a mother rabbit eats her offspring. Why is she doing this?
Since rabbits are exclusively herbivores and eat hay, it is necessary to ensure that a nursing or pregnant female has constant access to clean water and hay. In this case, the cage must correspond to the size of the individual so that it does not feel infringed. It is also necessary to observe certain conditions, such as constant cleaning of the place of detention, feeding regime, and so on.
If the babies are kept in a village house, it is possible that they were carried away by rats, since the mother rabbit herself is simply not able to eat all her babies. In this case, it is necessary to get rid of the rats.
The following option is also very likely: the baby rabbits have some abnormalities and die. Then the female simply eats her offspring so that the corpse smell does not attract predators. Instincts can't be avoided
The best female rabbits are not those that bring 14-19 rabbits per litter, but those that consistently come into heat and regularly produce 8-10 rabbits over 3-4 years. By the way, there are few of them. Typically, during the entire period of use, no more than 120 full-fledged rabbits are obtained from a female rabbit.
Reasons for refusal of female rabbits to give birth. One of the reasons for a female rabbit’s refusal to give birth may be a state of violent hunting. This happens to some rabbits immediately after birth and even on the eve of it. In this state, the female rabbit does not make nests for the babies, she gives birth to them anywhere, tramples them, and does not allow them to suck. It is advisable to separate such a female rabbit from the rabbits for 8-10 hours or immediately cover her if the rabbits are few. This phenomenon is most often observed in young rabbits.
With mastitis, the female rabbit experiences pain when the rabbits search for and suck on the nipples, and therefore runs away from them.
The mother rabbit abandoned the babies. Why does this happen?
If neglected, the rabbits quickly weaken and die from hunger and cold. The rabbit breeder should examine the mammary gland and, if the inflammation is only in the initial stage, holding the rabbit, apply the baby rabbits to each nipple. When sucking, they massage the mammary gland and promote its healing. This should be done no later than on the 2nd day after birth, until the baby rabbits weaken and lose their sucking reflex.
In case of mass premature refusal of female rabbits to give birth, the quality of feed should first be checked. The diet of lactating rabbits most often
poor in protein, and refusal of offspring is usually associated with this deficiency.
Refusal of the offspring, abortion and embryonic mortality can be caused by the introduction of antibiotics in the second half of pregnancy.
Waiting for baby rabbits
Waiting for baby rabbits is the busiest time on the farm. You need to be constantly on your guard. If you miss their appearance, the mother rabbit will scatter the babies around the cage and may crush them.
6 days before the expected birth, a clean, disinfected nesting box with bedding should be placed in the female’s cage. In those cages where there is a permanent nesting compartment, soft straw, shavings or other bedding material are placed there. Usually, the female prepares the nest before giving birth: she crushes the bedding in her teeth, mixes it with down, which she plucks from herself, and puts everything in a heap.
At all times, especially during the period of childbirth and after it, the female should have water in the cage in the drinking bowl, fresh, drinking or snow. Otherwise, the rabbit may eat the babies, as she is very thirsty.
Rabbits most often appear at night and only occasionally in the morning or afternoon. Immediately after giving birth, the female feeds the babies and places them in the nest. There are bad mothers among rabbits. They throw the babies around the cage and trample them. More often this happens to young females or when something frightens them: a sharp noise, an attack by a ferret, a rat.
Sources: www.lovesad.ru, krolikland.ru, pochemu.su, okrol.ru, agrodacha.ru
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Why does a mother rabbit scatter her babies immediately after giving birth?
Answers to questions from novice rabbit breeders
* At what age is it best to slaughter rabbits?
* At 4 - 5 months.
Rabbits gain weight only up to 4 - 5 months, and then get fat. It is irrational to feed them for extra months. Before slaughter, the amount of concentrates is reduced; it is useful to keep the rabbits on hay.
* How long are the rabbits kept together?
* Up to 4 months, no more.
* We have problems with giving birth; females have difficulty getting pregnant.
* How much do your females weigh on average?
*They are overfed, put them on a diet immediately.
* How many years to keep a breeding male?
* The best is 2-3 years, then sexual activity begins to decline, and inbreeding will begin, that is, the rabbits will be born dead, weak, will grow worse, get sick more often, and the number of rabbits born will decrease.
* Is it necessary to insulate rabbit hutches in winter?
Only queen cells. If the cage is located outside, cover the floor with hay and straw.
* How often should rabbits be watered?
* Twice a day. In winter - once.
* My rabbits love to eat brooms that have already been steamed. Isn't it harmful?
* No. After steaming, the brooms become soft, it is not surprising that rabbits love them. But don't get carried away by the birch branches. Once or twice a week, give the rabbits pine needles or rowan branches.
* When is the best time to mate rabbits?
* Focus on the birth. If you mate in January-February, the rabbits will be born in March-April.
* Why does the mother rabbit scatter her babies around the cage?
* Her mammary glands may be hard, feel them. Then they need to be kneaded and rubbed with warm camphor oil. Or she's going into sexual heat.
* Is it possible to feed rabbits oats?
* The healthiest food is barley; oats make rabbits fat. It is better to give cereals in dry form. Only low-quality feed is steamed.
* Always! There must be food in the feeder at all times, otherwise rabbits may develop stomach ulcers.
Rabbit scatters and kills babies
Grain is given three times a day. In the summer, during the day they only provide hay and grass. Because of the heat, the rabbits hardly eat.
Strange behavior of a female rabbit after giving birth. Aggression or indifference of the mother rabbit to her babies
After giving birth (parturition), does the female rabbit behave abnormally? Have you become angry or, conversely, indifferent to the rabbits? You should be aware of several unpleasant situations that can arise with a rabbit who has given birth.
Unlike cats or dogs, a female can keep her cubs after giving birth. This is laid down at the genetic level, because in the wild, the smell of a mother rabbit that has given birth attracts predators, and keeping her away from the baby rabbits saves them from death. If everything goes well, the rabbit will soon return to the rabbits. In fact, female rabbits are excellent mothers and can even raise other people’s rabbits. If a female rabbit scatters her babies after giving birth, then you should immediately remove her from the nest, pluck the fluff from her belly, and put it in the nest. In a rabbit, this is the result of heredity or poor nutrition. In this case, the rabbits need to be warmed up, then the female must be returned. If she refuses the brood, then, if possible, the rabbits should be transplanted to another female. If this option is not suitable, then some owners keep their rabbits on/near bottles of warm water covered with a towel.
There are cases when a female rabbit can kill her cubs. Such an emergency is usually the result of a difficult birth, lack of milk, pain from damaged or undeveloped nipples. In principle, exactly the same symptoms occur in breastfeeding women. There's nothing wrong with that. You should massage the mammary glands, milk a little milk and try to slip in the offspring. If necessary, perform these steps several times. Problematic nipples are treated, for example, with boiled vegetable oil, sea buckthorn oil, or some wound-healing disinfectant solution that is harmless to rabbits; you may even try some product for treating the nipples of nursing women.
If the female rabbit does not want to feed the cubs, then you should simply force her a little by forcefully laying her on her side and lifting the little rabbits. After several similar procedures, everything should return to normal.
But when the female rabbit actively does not allow newborn rabbits near, there is no need to worry. This is just normal. Just distract her with some rabbit treats.
Why does a mother rabbit eat baby rabbits?
Rabbits are wonderful and cute animals that leave no one indifferent. Their wonderful fur, big ears, funny nose, button eyes, tiny tail - all this gives people great pleasure, especially to children.
Many homes even breed these animals, as they are relatively easy and inexpensive to keep. Some people have to deal with such unusual phenomena when a mother rabbit eats her offspring. Why is she doing this?
Since rabbits are exclusively herbivores and eat hay, it is necessary to ensure that a nursing or pregnant female has constant access to clean water and hay. In this case, the cage must correspond to the size of the individual so that it does not feel infringed. It is also necessary to observe certain conditions, such as constant cleaning of the place of detention, feeding regime, and so on.
If the babies are kept in a village house, it is possible that they were carried away by rats, since the mother rabbit herself is simply not able to eat all her babies. In this case, it is necessary to get rid of the rats.
The following option is also very likely: the baby rabbits have some abnormalities and die. Then the female simply eats her offspring so that the corpse smell does not attract predators. Instincts can't be avoided
The best female rabbits are not those that bring 14-19 rabbits per litter, but those that consistently come into heat and regularly produce 8-10 rabbits over 3-4 years. By the way, there are few of them. Typically, during the entire period of use, no more than 120 full-fledged rabbits are obtained from a female rabbit.
Reasons for refusal of female rabbits to give birth. One of the reasons for a female rabbit’s refusal to give birth may be a state of violent hunting. This happens to some rabbits immediately after birth and even on the eve of it. In this state, the female rabbit does not make nests for the babies, she gives birth to them anywhere, tramples them, and does not allow them to suck. It is advisable to separate such a female rabbit from the rabbits for 8-10 hours or immediately cover her if the rabbits are few. This phenomenon is most often observed in young rabbits.
After covering, the female rabbit calms down and, if there is no mastitis, normally feeds the rabbits. Naturally, monitoring of her and the nest in the first days must be intensified.
With mastitis, the female rabbit experiences pain when the rabbits search for nipples and suck, and therefore runs away from them. If neglected, the rabbits quickly weaken and die from hunger and cold. The rabbit breeder should examine the mammary gland and, if the inflammation is only in the initial stage, holding the rabbit, apply the baby rabbits to each nipple. When sucking, they massage the mammary gland and promote its healing. This should be done no later than on the 2nd day after birth, until the baby rabbits weaken and lose their sucking reflex.
In case of mass premature refusal of female rabbits to give birth, the quality of feed should first be checked. The diet of lactating rabbits most often
poor in protein, and refusal of offspring is usually associated with this deficiency.
Refusal of the offspring, abortion and embryonic mortality can be caused by the introduction of antibiotics in the second half of pregnancy.
Waiting for baby rabbits
Waiting for baby rabbits is the busiest time on the farm. You need to be constantly on your guard. If you miss their appearance, the mother rabbit will scatter the babies around the cage and may crush them.
6 days before the expected birth, a clean, disinfected nesting box with bedding should be placed in the female’s cage. In those cages where there is a permanent nesting compartment, soft straw, shavings or other bedding material are placed there. Usually, the female prepares the nest before giving birth: she crushes the bedding in her teeth, mixes it with down, which she plucks from herself, and puts everything in a heap.
At all times, especially during the period of childbirth and after it, the female should have water in the cage in the drinking bowl, fresh, drinking or snow. Otherwise, the rabbit may eat the babies, as she is very thirsty.
Rabbits most often appear at night and only occasionally in the morning or afternoon. Immediately after giving birth, the female feeds the babies and places them in the nest. There are bad mothers among rabbits. They throw the babies around the cage and trample them. More often this happens to young females or when something frightens them: a sharp noise, an attack by a ferret, a rat.
Sources: www.lovesad.ru, krolikland.ru, pochemu.su, okrol.ru, agrodacha.ru
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The mother rabbit abandons her young rabbits immediately after birth.
One of the reasons for a female rabbit’s refusal to give birth may be a state of violent hunting. This happens to some rabbits immediately after birth and even on the eve of it. In this state, the female rabbit does not make nests for the babies, she gives birth to them anywhere, tramples them, and does not allow them to suck. It is advisable to separate such a female rabbit from the rabbits for 8-10 hours or immediately cover her if the rabbits are few. This phenomenon is most often observed in young rabbits.
After covering, the female rabbit calms down and, if there is no mastitis, normally feeds the rabbits. Naturally, monitoring of her and the nest in the first days must be intensified.
With mastitis, the female rabbit experiences pain when the rabbits search for nipples and suck, and therefore runs away from them. If neglected, the rabbits quickly weaken and die from hunger and cold. The rabbit breeder should examine the mammary gland and, if the inflammation is only in the initial stage, holding the rabbit, apply the baby rabbits to each nipple. When sucking, they massage the mammary gland and promote its healing. This should be done no later than on the 2nd day after birth, until the baby rabbits weaken and lose their sucking reflex.
In case of mass premature refusal of female rabbits to give birth, the quality of feed should first be checked. The diet of lactating rabbits is most often poor in protein, and litter refusal is usually associated with this deficiency.
Refusal of the offspring, abortion and embryonic mortality can be caused by the introduction of antibiotics in the second half of pregnancy.
Sometimes rabbit breeders are faced with a seemingly inexplicable situation: immediately after giving birth, a female rabbit kept under normal conditions suddenly begins to scatter her newborn babies. In this case, rejected rabbits often die. Let's consider the factors that can lead to such illogical behavior of the animal.
Features of the birth process
As a rule, a female rabbit gives birth at night or in the morning. The whole process lasts from 10 minutes to one hour. No outside help is required.
After giving birth, the female usually eats the afterbirth, licks the babies and begins to feed them.
Did you know? The longest rabbit in the world is considered to be a representative of the Flemish Giant breed (another name for the Flanders breed) named Darius, who lives in the UK. Its body length is 129 cm.
Why does a mother rabbit scatter her babies?
The atypical behavior of a female rabbit after giving birth, when instead of feeding the babies she scatters them around the cage, and in some cases shows aggression towards them, may have various reasons, which we will examine in more detail.
Mastitis
One of the most common reasons for the scattering of rabbits is mastitis - this is an inflammation of the mammary gland in the female, causing her pain, which leads to a refusal to feed the babies. In the initial stage of mastitis, some female nipples affected by the disease turn red and swell, and become rough and hard to the touch.
At the same time, the animal shows a lack of appetite and feels thirsty, and its body temperature rises. The female's behavior changes, she may fall into apathy or become too active.
The causes of mastitis are varied:
- infection in the wound;
- stagnation of milk, which can be caused by too few offspring;
- endocrine disorders in the body;
- hypothermia.
Poor feeding
A lack of vitamins and minerals can negatively affect the behavior of the female, especially during the postpartum period. Due to an unbalanced diet, the rabbit becomes too excitable and overly fearful.
Often she either begins to equip the nest, or actually destroys it, simultaneously throwing out the baby rabbits from it. In addition, poor quality food negatively affects the amount of milk produced, which can lead to the female refusing to feed her cubs.
Important! If during the birthing period and after the female suffers from thirst, then she may well simply eat her own cubs, thus replenishing the necessary amount of fluid in her body.
Incorrect content
Problems with the scattering of rabbits may arise due to the conditions in which the animals are kept. The key factor here is the queen cell equipment.
The following reasons usually lead to inappropriate behavior of a female rabbit:
- The queen cell is not protected by a frontal opaque wall;
- there is too little hay in it to make a nest, which is why the female rabbit, trying to deepen the nest, scrapes the floor, scattering the baby rabbits along the way;
- the female is placed in a new cage 2–3 weeks before giving birth, which absolutely cannot be done, since she simply will not have time to equip the nest;
- all sorts of cracks and crevices in the queen cell, which become clogged with dirt and feces, which increases the risk of the female getting sick, including mastitis;
- the temperature in the queen cell is too low;
- Excessive heat, associated with stuffiness, also has the same negative effect.
Metabolic problems
As a result of metabolic disorders, rabbits develop various diseases, which sometimes lead to inappropriate behavior. This can be osteodystrophy (mainly bones are affected) or hypovitaminosis (lack of or poor absorption of vitamins), obesity.
They are common among females during pregnancy and lactation. Animals suffering from such diseases may refuse to feed their offspring.
Stress
The behavior of female rabbits can be influenced by external stimuli: a running engine, the noise of repair work, rats entering the cage, barking dogs, etc. All this makes them nervous and can provoke them to scatter their young rabbits. A situation when owners often touch their cubs with their hands or pick them up can lead to the same result.
This can take away the natural smell of the rabbits, and the mother simply does not recognize them. In some cases, the stressful state of a female has nothing to do with external stimuli, but is caused by a congenital mental disorder in the animal. This situation cannot be corrected; such females are usually simply not allowed to mate.
Hunting by the female
This state of readiness for mating occurs in the female rabbit almost immediately after giving birth, but it provokes scattering of the offspring if the male is in close proximity, for example, behind the wall of the compartment. In this case, the female becomes overly excited and very often scatters the rabbits. In this situation, rabbit breeders advise, after giving birth, to place the excited female with the male for a while, after which she will quickly return to normal.
First birth
Another reason for a female’s refusal to feed her cubs is her age. In very young first-year females, the maternal instinct may not yet have formed, which ends sadly for newborn rabbits. In most cases, such problems do not arise during the second birth.
Did you know? In the wild, rabbits usually live one to two years and are most often victims of predatory animals or hunters. However, in captivity their life expectancy increases significantly. Thus, an Australian rabbit caught in the wild, named Flopsy, became a long-living record holder. He lived with his owners for 18 years and almost 11 months.
What to do in this case
In a situation where a female rabbit does not care about her offspring, there are a number of ways to still save these offspring from death. Let's consider these methods.
Force feeding
In case of scattering of rabbits, you can try to awaken the maternal instinct in the rabbit or forcefully use her to feed the offspring.
To do this, perform the following steps:
- the rabbit is temporarily placed in another cage;
- scattered rabbits are collected in the queen cell, using disposable gloves;
- down is collected by female rabbits, and if there is a shortage of it, they pluck it from the belly of female rabbits;
- the collected fluff is wrapped around the baby rabbits on all sides;
- after 20–30 minutes, when the foreign odors have weakened, the rabbit is placed in the queen cell;
- To feed babies, the female is held on her side, and the baby rabbits are applied to the nipples.
Before attaching newborns to their mother, it is necessary to carefully massage their tummies with a damp cloth towards the excretory organs so that waste products come out, since at first they are not able to do this on their own. Baby rabbits are applied to the nipples once a day for about 15 minutes.
Place with another rabbit
A good option for preserving baby rabbits is to place them with another female.
In order for replanting to occur successfully, several factors must be taken into account:
- the number of baby rabbits added should not exceed the number of those already feeding;
- a young female after the first birth, as a rule, is capable of feeding no more than 8 cubs, and a more mature one - up to 12 rabbits;
- the greatest probability of successful replanting exists when the age difference between the rabbits being planted and fed does not exceed 3–4 days, although successful replanting is possible even with an age difference of up to one and a half months.
The procedure for planting baby rabbits is performed as follows:
- wash hands thoroughly or wear disposable gloves;
- temporarily move the nursing female to another cage;
- they rub the adopted ones with fluff from the receiving mother liquor, place them between their own rabbits and sprinkle them with the same down on top - this is done so that the adopted ones acquire the smell of a new nest;
- after about an hour or more, return the rabbit to the queen cell.
After planting, it is necessary to observe the foundlings for some time. If they are accepted, they behave calmly, their bellies are full, and their skin is smooth. Otherwise, the baby rabbits toss and turn, wrinkle, and their tummies fall off. If the placement is unsuccessful, you can try to place the baby rabbits with another female according to the same scheme or feed them yourself.
Feed yourself
To feed the rabbits on their own, it is necessary to equip a nest for them. It could be a box of hay. Feed using a syringe without a needle, putting the rubber part of the pipette on the tip of the syringe. You can also purchase a special kit for such feeding.
For feeding, goat's milk is suitable (the best option) or a substitute mixture from a veterinary pharmacy. In extreme cases, some rabbit breeders recommend cow's milk, supplemented with condensed milk by a quarter.
Feeding is carried out 4-5 times a day, not forgetting to stroke the baby rabbits’ bellies with a damp cloth, with light massaging movements towards the excretory organs - this will allow them to free themselves from waste products, since initially they are not able to do this on their own. When feeding, the baby rabbit is held vertically in your hand, trying not to crush the body.
There may be several reasons for this:
1. After giving birth, the female rabbit may begin to hunt (requires a male). She becomes aggressive and irritable. You need to place the female rabbit next to the male. This action helps (though not always). Sometimes it happens that the female rabbit behaves aggressively even after covering. In this In this case, the female rabbit should be put away for a day. After a day, you need to return the female rabbit and observe her behavior. If her behavior has not changed and she also continues to scatter the babies, then all that remains is to keep them separate, and you will have to force feed (forcibly). The female rabbit must be placed on her side and slip the baby rabbits to the nipples. If the behavior of the female rabbit does not change after the second or third litter, then such a female is discarded and is not placed with the male again.
2. The culprit for this reason may be the owner of the rabbit himself, who was late in preparing the place for her litter. Two weeks before the litter, you should not change the rabbit’s place of residence, and it is not advisable to move the cage to a new place. For a female rabbit, this is a stressful situation. It is better to set up a nesting house a week before the expected litter. The house should have sufficient hay to build a nest. Careless rabbit breeders do not burden themselves with worries about timely preparation of the house. And only when the female has given birth do they think - but what to do? Of course, if all the above conditions are not met, the female will dig a nest for her babies and, of course, getting carried away by this process, will scatter them.
3.The next reason is Why does a mother rabbit scatter her babies immediately after giving birth?, poor feeding may occur. To prevent a female rabbit from having milk, you must, of course, try very hard. This can happen if the female rabbit is poorly fed, not given water or food. From mating to birth, and then during the feeding of the babies, the female rabbit needs significantly more water and vitamins. Water should be constantly and freely available. The amount of milk a rabbit has depends on the availability of succulent food in the rabbit’s diet. The more there is, the more milk she produces, which means the better she feeds the rabbits.
4. Another reason may be the increased excitability of the rabbit (rare, but still occurs). Any disturbance of calm leads to a nervous breakdown and, as a result, rabbits scattered around the cage. As a rule, they do not feed the young rabbits. If you find such a female, then she should be culled and not allowed to mate again.
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Female rabbits are pregnant up to 5 times during the year and give birth to up to 10 rabbits at a time. Sometimes a mother rabbit scatters her babies immediately after giving birth. If such a problem arises, the owner should take action.
Causes of the problem
A situation where an animal scatters babies is rare. Reasons for this phenomenon:
- Lack of maternal instinct.
- Cold cell.
- Lack of milk from the female.
- Mastitis.
- Sick and weak rabbits.
- Lack of nest.
- Lack of feed.
- Stress.
- Hunting.
Usually the maternal instinct in first-time mothers disappears with subsequent births. The cage should be warm, approximately 15-18 °C. Lack of milk causes malnutrition. Mastitis develops due to hardened mammary glands.
The reasons for the scattering of baby rabbits are that the atmosphere in the cage is too cold
Sometimes some of the cubs are born sick, so the female gets rid of them. Before giving birth, the female begins to prepare the nest: she brings pieces of wool, leaves and straw and puts them in the corner of the cage. If the owners move her to another cage, then the pregnant individual does not have time to settle down. The diet must include balanced food and plenty of drink. Before birth, concentrates are added to the food, and after birth, the animals are fed hay or greens. Newborns cannot be picked up or moved to another cage. There should be no noise. You cannot change your diet suddenly.
The phenomenon of heat sometimes occurs immediately after birth. The female marks the nests and refuses to feed the babies and becomes irritable.
Help for rabbits
A week before the birth, they bring a box into the cage and put chicken feathers and straw in it. The female does the rest on her own: she peels off the fluff around the nipples and adds hay to the nest.
The abandoned rabbits are collected and placed in a nest, covered with down. Before this, they are warmed in a separate room. If the mother does not accept the babies, they are assigned to another nursing female.
For mastitis, hard and reddened nipples are gently massaged. The first drops of milk are expressed by hand. If the pain does not go away, the animal is taken to the veterinarian. If the mother needs the rabbit, she is transferred to his cage for a day and then returned to the cubs. If nothing has changed, the babies are transferred to artificial feeding. They are fed using a pipette.
At the next birth, you need to observe how the female receives the cubs. If rejected, the female is no longer used for breeding. The first-time mother does not immediately accept offspring because she is not used to it. Small rabbits are separated from their mother for a day, then returned to the nest. If there are foreign smells in it, then they put a branch of wormwood, then the female calms down.
After birth, it is necessary to check whether there are stillborn cubs. Before the procedure, hands are washed with soap so that the individual does not abort the newborns. The smell of a human repels the female. Dead rabbits are removed from the cage.
If the female still scatters the rabbits, they are transplanted into a nest with another nursing rabbit. Before this, the babies are cleaned of sawdust and fluff. It is important to place them next to other cubs so that the female accepts them as her own. Afterwards, the nursing rabbit is brought into the cage. If there is no dairy rabbit on the breeder’s farm, then the long-eared offspring are artificially fed with cow, goat or dry dog milk. It is diluted with one part of the condensed liquid.
First, milk is dripped onto the finger, then the cubs are fed through a pipette. Do this up to 6 times a day. On the first day of feeding, they should consume 5 ml of this product. The dose is increased daily. At the age of twenty days they switch to nipples. Month-old babies feed from a bowl.
After birth, the animal needs a special diet. Vitamins and minerals are added to the feed, succulent feed, and the water must be clean. In order for the female to produce milk, she must consume a lot of liquid.
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