What is allowed to feed baby rabbits that have been abandoned by the mother rabbit? Babies should not be left without food, otherwise they will quickly die. They can put a drop of cow's milk in their mouth, but goat's milk is better, it is more nutritious. Rabbits will learn to suck a rubber cap from a pipette or a pacifier only on the 3-5th day of their life. For the first week, the cubs will have to be fed artificially, dropping 1 drop of milk into the mouth 3 or 5 times a day.
- Is it possible to feed baby rabbits without a mother rabbit?
- How to replace rabbit milk
- Goat milk
- Milk substitute mixtures
- Baby food
- Feeding rules
- Dosage and frequency
- Bowel stimulation
- Feeding depending on age
- From birth to 5 days
- From 6 to 14 days (week-two weeks)
- From 15 to 30 days
- Month
- What not to give to rabbits
- Introduction of fertilizing
- Advantages and disadvantages of artificial feeding of young animals
Is it possible to feed baby rabbits without a mother rabbit?
After birth, rabbits feed on their mother's milk. They live in the same cage with a female rabbit for 30-45 days. At 3-4 weeks of life, the rabbits begin to try the food that adult females eat. At 1-1.5 months, the young animals are transplanted into a separate cage and transferred to independent feeding.
True, sometimes female rabbits abandon their babies, do not feed the newborns, or begin to trample them and eat them. This happens if females do not have milk, the feeding process causes discomfort, or mothers do not receive enough healthy and nutritious food and water. If the rabbit refuses to feed the newborns, they are immediately taken from her and placed in a separate cage.
You can place the cubs with a calm nursing female. True, some female rabbits do not want to feed other people's rabbits. Then the abandoned cubs are transferred to artificial feeding. They are given milk using a pipette, a disposable syringe without a needle, or a bottle with a small nipple (like for kittens). Newborns are given cow's, goat's milk or dry formula, baby food.
How to replace rabbit milk
Baby rabbits that are born need to be fed immediately; without food they will not live long and will quickly die. Instead of rabbit milk, they can be given boiled, cooled, lukewarm cow's milk. Goat is better, it is fattier and more nutritious.
Goat milk
Small rabbits can be fed with goat's milk. This product is similar in composition to mother's rabbit milk. It has a sufficient percentage of fat content and all substances beneficial to the body.Before use, it is boiled, then cooled to 36 degrees.
Milk substitute mixtures
You can buy dry mixtures for feeding rabbits at pet stores or veterinary pharmacies. This is a powder similar in composition to rabbit milk. Before use, it is diluted with warm boiled water.
Baby food
Newborn rabbits are allowed to be fed infant formula. True, you need to choose those with a minimum of sugar and various additives. The dry mixture is diluted with warm boiled water.
Feeding rules
Milk is given to rabbits warm using a special device for feeding newborns, a bottle with a nipple, a pipette or a disposable 10-20 ml pharmacy syringe. It is forbidden to pour liquid into the mouth in a stream. They give milk drop by drop and make sure that the little rabbit swallows it. You can put a rubber pipette cap on a small bottle or syringe and pierce it with a needle. It is better if the rabbit sucks the milk itself, then it will definitely not choke.
Dosage and frequency
Newborn rabbits are pipetted three times a day. They are given 1 drop or 1 milliliter of milk each time. On the second day, the animals are fed 5 times a day. Give 1 drop or 1 milliliter of milk per feeding. At one week of age, rabbits should receive 5 milliliters of food per day. After a week, the daily amount of milk is increased to 10 ml, and after another week - to 15 ml.
Gradually, the animals are transferred to three meals a day. At 20 days of age, rabbits are given 20-30 ml of food per day. During this period, they can drink milk on their own from a saucer.At one month of age, animals should receive 50 ml of milk per day.
Bowel stimulation
Newborn rabbits do not yet know how to empty their stomach on their own. Before each feeding, animals should be given a light abdominal massage. Using a damp cotton swab, wipe the animals' abdomen vertically in the direction from the navel to the hind legs. It is forbidden to put too much pressure on the stomach (internal organs may be damaged). After two weeks, rabbits will learn to defecate on their own.
Feeding depending on age
Feeding begins with a minimum dose of 1 ml. On the first day, a newborn rabbit should receive no more than 3 ml of food. The norm is gradually increased.
From birth to 5 days
Newborn rabbits are fed three times a day. At one feeding they are given 1 milliliter or one drop of milk. On the second day of life, the cubs are fed five times a day. Give 1 milliliter or one drop of food. The rabbit should drink 5 ml of milk per day. Animals must be fed in an upright position. Drop a drop of milk mixture into the mouth (on the tongue) with a pipette and make sure that the little rabbit swallows it.
From 6 to 14 days (week-two weeks)
From the sixth day of life, the feed rate can be doubled. Rabbits are given 2 drops or 2 ml of milk 4-5 times a day. At 14 days of age, they should drink 10-15 milliliters of milk per day. Animals can be fed three times a day (3-5 ml per feeding). At two weeks of age, rabbits should be able to suck fluid from a teat on their own.
From 15 to 30 days
When the rabbits are 15 days old, the rate can be increased again (up to 15 milliliters per day). Rabbits are given 5 drops or 5 ml of milk per feeding. They feed three times a day.The norm for 20-day-old animals increases again. A small rabbit at the 3rd week of life must receive about 20 ml of milk per day, that is, 7 ml per feeding. At 30 days of age, the animal should be able to drink milk from a saucer. The norm is 30-50 ml per day.
Month
One-month-old rabbits no longer need to be fed from a pipette, pacifier or syringe. At this age, the baby rabbit willingly drinks milk from a saucer. The norm per day is 50 ml. At one month of age, many rabbit breeders stop milk feeding and switch the animals to dried grass, oatmeal and vegetables (grated carrots). True, baby rabbits can be fed milk until the 45th day of life.
What not to give to rabbits
It is forbidden to suddenly switch baby rabbits to lush green grass. Animals are first weaned off milk. It is simply diluted with water, each time in greater and greater proportions, until the rabbits lose all interest in milk. At the same time, the animals are given dried plants (clover, dandelion leaves, cereal grasses), and their well-being is monitored. Babies can be fed grated carrots. Other vegetables are introduced into the diet with caution. Fresh cabbage, for example, can cause bloating.
Introduction of fertilizing
New food is given to rabbits from 3-4 weeks of life. At first these are herbs dried in the sun. At one month of age, rabbits are given grated carrots and pumpkin. Fodder beets, turnips, and cabbage are gradually introduced into the diet. Little by little, rabbits are beginning to be accustomed to cereal crops. First they are given oatmeal. Then grain mixtures are prepared from crushed grains of wheat, barley, corn, and oats. At 45 days of age they are given boiled potatoes and wet steamed grain mash.
Important! To form healthy microflora and normal intestinal function, baby rabbits at 3-4 weeks of life should be given caecotrophs, that is, the morning feces of adult healthy rabbits. Peas (2-3 pieces) are added to hay or grated vegetables.
Advantages and disadvantages of artificial feeding of young animals
Small rabbits that have been abandoned by the mother rabbit can be raised on their own. In the first month of life, animals mainly feed on milk. At 3-4 weeks, a little dried grass and grated carrots are poured into their feeder. Baby rabbits are weaned off milk gradually.
At one month of age, they are fed like ordinary animals after weaning from their mother. For weakened and developmentally delayed rabbits, vitamin preparations and probiotics are added to their food. Of course, artificial feeding is a necessary measure, but it is the only way to save animals.
Advantages of artificial feeding for rabbits:
- receive the necessary nutrition;
- quickly get used to new food;
- easily digest food;
- gain weight regularly.
Disadvantages of artificial feeding:
- the formation of the swallowing reflex occurs slowly;
- a person must be present during each feeding;
- It is impossible to replace rabbit milk with an identical one.
Motherless rabbits can be saved. True, for this they will have to be transferred to artificial feeding. The main thing is to teach animals to suck milk from a nipple or pipette. Baby rabbits must be fed very carefully. If you simply squirt a stream of milk into their mouth, they may choke and die.
