What and how to feed the rabbits without the rabbit

If suddenly you had a newborn rabbit in your arms and you do not know how to feed it due to the absence of its mother next to it, or if you don’t want to feed it, don’t be in a hurry to give up. There are several great ways to keep such offspring and grow it healthy and fit for household needs.

In this article you will find information that will help you figure out how to feed the little rabbits, what is the methodology of their feeding and what are the age-related features of the menu of fluffy animals.

Is it possible?

If your rabbit does not feed the rabbits, there are several ways that you should do in order to save offspring. Rabbits are very caring mothers, so it will be useful to figure out what led to such consequences. If the female has ceased to feed her cubs due to illness, then she should be completely removed from this duty.

It is well known that rabbits are very shy creatures. Fright can also cause the cessation of feeding, so new mothers should not be subjected to excessive stress.

Protect them from excessive noise, try as little as possible to drop them into the cage and do not allow too intense light radiation to enter the cage.

There are two methods that are equally well applied to preserve the newly-hatched brood: this is sharing the rabbits with another female, which has recently given offspring, or with artificial feeding.

Tossing to other rabbits

Rabbits, unlike many other animals, do not react aggressively to those of their young, which adopt the smell of a person after contact with him.

Therefore, you can safely transfer the offspring from one rabbit, who gave birth to too many rabbits or stopped feeding them, to another - able to properly feed additional "children."

To do this, it is necessary to remove the rabbit from the cage in which you will transplant newborns. You can give her some delicacy in order to distract for a while from attempts to return to his brood. Repot the little rabbits in the center of the nest and cover it with a little fluff.

After that, you can run the rabbit, but it is worth some time to observe her behavior. But since little rabbits are pretty caring mothers, this manipulation should be painless for the litter.

Artificial feeding

If you have no other bunnies on your farm who recently got a dung, it doesn't matter. You can apply another, slightly less popular, but no less effective method - artificial feeding of baby rabbits.

This technique will require you to be satisfied with a lot of effort, since you will have to closely monitor the diet of the baby rabbits, the degree of their saturation and change the composition of nutrient mixtures depending on the age reached by the rabbits.

Basic feeding rules

The survival of the litter and the process of its development directly depend on the correctness of this manipulation, so we recommend to treat this issue with particular attention. You should know all the biological features of the structure of gentle rabbit organisms and copy the natural feeding process as accurately as possible.

Below is information about how and how you can feed a newborn rabbit without a rabbit.

What to feed?

Despite the fact that all mammals, which include rabbits, feed their babies with milk, not every milk is equally well suited for feeding newborn rabbits.

However, if you do not have access to milk - do not despair, there are options for feeding with the help of various mixtures available for purchase at veterinary stores.

Goat and cow's milk

Goat's milk is best suited for feeding small rabbits, since it is most similar to rabbit milk, although it lacks fat.

However, goat milk is a rather rare product that is rather difficult to find, so you can also use cow's milk, which, although it has a slightly different protein composition with a rabbit one, is still able to provide the young with sufficient nutrients.

Herbal and dairy mixes

If you have not managed to find milk for litter - it does not matter, you can feed the newborns, using a whole range of different dairy mixes. Any specialized mix for rabbits will do, although you can also use dry milk such as dry milk or even dry milk for babies, for example, “Baby”.

Herbal inclusions should be added to the diet of rabbits when they reach the age of 3 weeks. The inclusion of such additives in earlier periods is fraught with stagnation in the intestines of small animals. The weight of the herbal supplement is directly proportional to the mass of the rabbit and is in the region of 3-4% of the mass of the cub.

How to feed?

For the smallest, syringes with needles removed, or bubbles from under the drops are used. In addition, in veterinary pharmacies, you can buy special syringes with nozzles that mimic the nipples, with which you can feed the rabbits without a rabbit.

As your pet grows, the nozzles are replaced with standard pipettes, then nipples, and eventually, when the rabbits reach a month of age, they are placed on the saucers, from which they excellently polish.

Food from a syringe should be applied with a thin layer around the perimeter of the animal's mouth and wait until it lick everything by itself. In a similar way, the procedure is repeated until the rabbit is completely saturated. During the manipulation the body must be kept upright. At first, the rabbits may be anxious, but soon they will get used to this method of feeding, and the problems will be considerably reduced.

Power Features

At different stages of the development of litter requires a different amount of feed and, accordingly, its different composition.

Although the difference in the menu may seem minimal, it must be borne in mind that this may critically affect the development of the litter, slowing it down or even with an incompetently composed menu - completely stopping, due to the onset of death.

Newborns

A newborn rabbit requires about 4-5 milliliters of a mixture or milk per day, which is best divided into 2-5 feedings. The number of feedings directly depends on the rabbit itself - watch the intensity of their saturation, adjusting the diet accordingly.

It is also worth remembering that small bunnies cannot self-defecate, this process is actively promoted by their mother at first.

In order for the animals to die as a result of a rupture of the intestine, after feeding they should lightly stroke their tummies in the direction from neck to tail, until the animal is empty.

Up to two weeks (5-14 days)

There is a very simple answer to the question of how to feed a rabbit without a rabbit when they reach the age of 5 days: exactly the same as before.

The composition of feeding should not undergo any changes, especially if you see that rabbits respond well to this menu and develop correctly (the formation of wool begins, the weight has doubled since birth and motor activity increases). Remember only that it is necessary to gradually increase the quantitative indicator of feeding. So, by the end of the first week, young animals need a widowed more milk from the original volume, and by the end of the second - three times more.

Do not forget to also massage your pets' tummies after feeding. At the end of the 2-week period, the need for this procedure will gradually disappear, as the rabbits will get used to self-emptying.

Up to a month (14-30 days)

From this age on, animals can gradually begin to offer various green foods and dry rabbit food by placing in a cage where they are kept, containers with the latter. Finely chopped vegetables, such as carrots, turnips or cabbage, will work well.

Feeding dairy products should be continued, gradually increasing its quantity.When the rabbits reach one month of age, their daily ration should include at least 60 ml of dairy food. During this period, they are already excellently lapping the milk from the saucers, so you can no longer use special tools.

You can add to your formula for feeding special grass granules in the amount of 3% by weight of the young rabbit.

After a month

Starting from the 30-day age, the volume of milk feeding is gradually reduced and more and more various plant foods and specialized feeds are added to the diet of young animals. The most developed representatives of the litter can already be deposited in separate cells and stop the milk diet for them.

When they reach the age of 45 days, the young rabbits completely stop consuming dairy food, they have a complete replacement of their teeth and their internal organs are fully ready for the consumption of solid food. During this period, it is recommended to wean rabbits from mothers if they are naturally fed. Young rabbits are transferred to an adult diet consisting of various vegetable feed.

Remember cleanliness and sterility

Newborn rabbits are creatures with rather tender organisms, and if we also take into account the fact that they don’t receive the immunoglobulins necessary for protection against various harmful agents of the external environment with mother’s milk, the cleanliness of the cells and the sterility of the feeding gear become one of the most important factors contributing to the survival of young animals.

It is recommended to thoroughly boil all the pipettes, nipples and dishes in which the preparation of mixtures takes place. Milk is allowed to be stored in the refrigerator for no more than 3 days, and before giving it to the little rabbits, warm it up to a temperature of 38-40 ° C. When preparing the mixture, follow all the rules that are listed in the instructions, and do not store it for more than 1 day. Before proceeding to the feeding procedure, wash your hands thoroughly with soap and wipe them with a clean towel.

So, we hope that this article will help you save the litter of rabbits, who lost his mother for one reason or another. Approach feeding and care issues with due care and diligence - this will contribute to the best results and help you grow a truly amazing brood that can satisfy any of your economic needs.