The appearance of baby rabbits is an exciting moment for every rabbit breeder. Babies require the care of the rabbit and the attention of the owner. It is necessary to carefully monitor the behavior of the offspring and the female feeding it in order to promptly eliminate possible problems when raising young animals. It is important to notice when the baby rabbits open their eyes and that they leave the nest on time.
Appearance of babies
Born babies are helpless, the body is covered with thin fluff. Thanks to milk, even in the first days after birth, they develop quickly.After a short time, the time comes when they open their eyes and leave the queen cell.
Development of baby rabbits by day
At first, proper care for babies is important. In good conditions and with adequate nutrition, newborn rabbits grow quickly. You can notice changes happening daily.
Vision
The newborn babies are completely helpless. It happens that if an animal accidentally falls out of the nest, it is not able to climb back, so it will die from hunger and cold. The owner needs to monitor this and, if necessary, return it to its place.
Hearing
The baby rabbit begins to hear normally at 7-9 days. The noise begins to frighten the kids, and you need to provide them with peace.
Wool
Babies are born naked. The fur breaks through on the 2nd day. Within a week, the fur grows to 5-6 mm. At the age of 1 month, the animals molt for the first time.
Teeth
Babies have 16 baby teeth, which are formed before birth. At 2.5 weeks their replacement with real ones begins. Newborns weigh up to 100 grams, the female rabbit immediately licks them, which helps remove the original feces. They are only able to react to the parental smell. The first days they sleep almost all the time. The development of baby rabbits depends on the conditions of detention, the temperature in the nest, and the amount of milk from the female rabbit.
When they open their eyes
The young begin to see at the age of 12 days. Before this, their eyes are closed, they survive thanks to the female and instinct, using only their sense of smell. Gradually, rabbits become independent, but they continue to need their mother's milk.
After this, they become interested in their surroundings.After 20 days, the nest becomes small for them, and the rabbits move into the cage. During this period, it is time to remove the queen cell partition to increase the cell area. By day 20, young animals should increase their weight 10 times.
After how many days do baby rabbits leave the nest?
The babies begin to emerge from the nest for the first time at 2-3 weeks. The bravest ones explore the cage for a short time. But even a slight rustle scares them, and the babies run away into the queen cell. Gradually they become self-confident and stay outside the nest longer.
At this time, babies begin to try adult food as an additive to mother's milk. They need to be accustomed to an adult diet gradually. Kids are given high-quality products, including:
- vegetables (seasonal);
- hay (in winter);
- grain feed;
- roots.
Feeding is added gradually to small rabbits. First add grated carrots, then boiled potatoes and just a little fresh herbs. Having tried a new food, the young animals begin to leave the queen cell more often.
Attention! Experienced rabbit breeders say it’s bad if the babies emerge from the queen cell late or too early. If they are chosen early, they don’t have enough milk; and babies who do not leave the nest for a long time are characterized by poor health.
Rabbits tolerate low temperatures well; rabbits are born in winter, even in frosty conditions. But winter breeding should take place in a warm rabbitry. In mild frosts it is not necessary to heat it, but drafts should not be allowed.
Possible problems
Leaving too early is a cause for concern. Experienced farmers understand that if young rabbits that are not yet strong enough get out of the nest, they have too little milk. If you have such a situation, you need to assess the condition of the rabbit:
- The female's nipples are examined and inflammation can be detected.
- As a test, you can easily squeeze one and see if milk comes out.
Females who receive balanced food give a lot of milk. On average, a female rabbit feeds 8 rabbits, but only if she has enough variety of food. If the offspring is larger, then the strongest animals will receive most of the milk, and the rest will eat the rest. They remain hungry and leave the queen cell too early.
So, if the baby rabbits leave the nest early, they are malnourished. This problem is solved in two ways:
- Weak rabbits are transferred to a dairy female with a small litter.
- Babies are fed kitten formula or goat's milk. One week old rabbit is fed 5-10 ml of milk per day, when it is 2 weeks old - 10-15 ml per day, at 3 weeks - 15-20 ml of the mixture.
Gradually they are accustomed to the usual food that is given to adult livestock. It’s good if it is possible to feed the young rabbits feed.
