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New Dutch Rabbit Momma

22 11:16:25

Question
How often should the new mother doe be nursing her kits?  Should she be staying in the nest because she spending alot of time outside of the nest getting water, eating, and just resting.  I understand she is probably tired and she just had them today but she has hardly been in there with them.  Im just worried she doesnt know what to do.

Answer
Hi Lesley,

don't worry.  I am glad you are watching and being observant, but you can take a deep breath and know nothing is wrong.

Rabbits nurse only once a day, and for only a short time - five to ten minutes.  That is basically the only time they are in the nest.  They don't stay in the nest because their instinct is to stay away from the nest as to not attract predators to their babies.  Sometimes they pick a time to nurse when no one else is around and so you may never see her nursing.  If their bellies look round they are getting milk from her.  You can always weigh them and watch their weights go up to show they're okay.

The more rest and space momma can have the better as she won't get stir crazy and perhaps hurt the babies.  She's doing fine.

Please read and print out these good articles about newborns from the House Rabbit Society web site:

http://www.rabbit.org/care/babies.html

http://www.rabbit.org/care/newborn.html

They are great articles to keep on hand for helping care for new rabbits.

Congrats!  If this was kind of unplanned and you don't want more rabbits, you need to get your rabbits spayed and neutered.  The HRS web site has great references to good rabbit vets (not every vet is a good rabbit vet):

http://www.rabbit.org/care/vets.html

After about 8-10 weeks you should determine the sex of the young bunnies and separate the boys from the girls.  Your vet can help show you how to do this.  You don't want to wait more than 12 weeks because at around 12 weeks they hit sexual maturity and you could have a lot of litters very soon.