Weaning baby rabbits

Question
First of all, I want to thank you for your advice on how to get a stubborn doe to breed. I will always remember that the next time I have that problem. Now I have a doe that has 13 babies and they are 3 weeks and 2 days old and I usually wait until they are 4 weeks old or so to wean them but, I am starting to see a lot of differences in their sizes and there are a couple that are really small and skinny. Can I start weaning a few of the bigger ones to give the others a better chance to survive?

Answer
Hi Karen

13 is a huge litter.  I am honestly surprised that they all survived.  You really shouldn't wean them until they are 8 weeks.  It is way to early.  They don't develop the normal bacteria in their stomachs until they are between 5 and 6 weeks old.  If they don't have their mother's milk they can succumb to enteritis and other painful GI disorders.

I think your just going to have to risk it.  To tell you the honest truth as a breeder and absolutely not as a caregiver.  If I have a litter that large I cull the smallest or the biggest by giving them to a foster mother with a smaller litter.  If you don't have another doe with the same size litter of course you can't do that.  I also do it when they are first born.  If you take the biggest one's away now they will die.  If you absolutely need to wean some of the babies you really need to try to wait until 6 weeks at a minimum.

If it comes down to some of them dying off its because nature doesn't generally provide the doe with enough milk to feed that many babies.  The decision about what you want to do is up to you.  You can try giving some of the smaller babies supplemental feedings.  Here is a web-site that tells you how.

http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/orphan.html

If you have any questions about feeding orphaned or unfed kits Ms. Dana Krempels PhD is the expert who wrote this article.  

Good luck Karen and I hope the babies do ok.

Thank you

Pam