baby rabbit with broken leg

Question
Yesterday our dogs found a rabbit nest.  We discovered that when they brought the last one to us.  It was alive - but its back left leg is broken.  How will we ever return this baby to the wild if its leg is broke.  He appears to be about 10 days old - ears perked up and eyes just opened today.  He ate this morning around 7:00 am and we will feed him soon tonight.  Please help with what we should do.

Answer
Dear Loretta,

If you can get the baby to a good rabbit vet for splinting of the broken leg, it might not be too late to save him.  But it's critical that the leg be stabilized so that the blood supply and nerves are not severed, rendering the leg forever useless (and likely to just die on the stump).  The baby probably also should be put on antibiotics if the break is severe, since it can act as a nidus for infection.

You can find a good rabbit vet here:

www.rabbit.org/vets

and more information on the care of baby wild cottontails here:

www.bio.miami.edu/hare/wildbabies.pdf

I hope this helps.

Dana