Babes are constantly hungry!

[bunnyjames]

Okay guys so got a question as some of you may know Zoe is feeding 7 bunnies that i am fostering, the babes are 4wks old already but they seem to always be hungry! I keep them in a huge box and Zoe in her cage. she usually feeds them once in the morning and thats it. My mom when she comes visit she puts zoe in the box so she will feed them AGAIN but she really doesnt like that. But the babes rush to her like hungry  piranhas, like if hse hasnt fed them at all. I get mad at my mom because she does this but she says the babes need to eat at least twice a day. should i be putting Zoe to feed them a 2nd time at night? she stomps her feet when my mom puts her in against her will. I’ve heard rabbits only feed their kits once a day since their milk is so rich in vitamins and protein that one feeding is enough for the day. But the babes just feel i stick my hand in the box and they all rush out thinking its Zoe going in to feed them. What do you guys think? With her OWN kits remeber she had 3 of her own, well she would only feed once but maybe because it was only 3 and they got more then enough milk and didnt have to fight with four other buns for milk. I dont know i feel bad putting Zoe to feed them twice a day.

[Monkeybun]

From what I am reading on the HRS site is once in the morning, once at night for feedings. So yes, twice a day.

[Nibbles_NZ]

Zoe had enough milk with her 3 kits BUT these are not her kits and there are more than twice that amount of kits and she has been nursing longer than normal. It is possible that they are not getting enough milk twice a day. I nursed my baby for a month and then brought home a foster preemie and nursed her too. I know it sounds weird but she is my neice and she needed it. My body wasn’t used to that and went a little into overdrive. A human body will produce enough milk for their baby. It’s possible that Zoe isn’t any different and isn’t producing enough milk. I would let them nurse but watch them to make sure they do not get hurt if she is protesting a little when you first put her in there. That’s just my opinion

[bunnyjames]

hmmmm okay I guess ill put her in at night to feed them, I just feel bad since she objects to it at first and stands on her hind legs so that i could take her out. But ill do the night feedings and keep an eye to make sure she isnt been too stressed out or hurting the babes. Here’s a pic of her feeding them you cant see that well but you can see some lil legs there. LOL! she still uses the pepsi box to feed them i dont know why, maybe she feels safe in there but I made an addtion to it by attaching a way bigger box. so when the babes arent in there feeding they can come out and play in the larger box.

[bunnyjames]

Oh and Nibbles the whole thing about you nursing your niece who was a preemie, I TOTALLY get my daughter was born under weight… 4lbs, and i was so stressed that my body didnt produce any milk but my daughter really needed the nutrients of breast milk so MY BEST FRIEND who had her 4 month old and was breast feeding decided to breast feed my daughter and I am SO THANKFUL for that, so no does not sound weird at all to me I’m thankful there are women out there like you. =)

[jerseygirl]

Could you supplement them with milk replacer? They would be coming off the milk in the next couple weeks and probably do ok now with assisted feeding. This may give Zoe a break. (I mean she could still do one feed and you could give the extra later.)

@Nibbles_NZ, doesn’t sound weird to me either. ^^ Sounds amazing actually!

[BinkyBunny]

I am a bit confused as I also thought it was once a day. But this is one area in which I really do not know that much about. The HRS website though can have some conflicting info at times because they have great experts who write the articles, but may vary a bit.     This article http://www.rabbit.org/care/newborn.html, it says the mother’s milk is rich enough to sustain babies for a 24 hour period. I wonder if the feeding twice a day is what may be causing the problem with her teats (in your other post).

In another article by Dana Krempels which was also in the HRS site http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/surpriselitter.html, it says a mother may nurse once or twice, but it doesn’t say that it HAS to be twice.  

And this article says feed NO more than twice a day, but that they are normally fed once a day. http://www.mybunny.org/info/newborn.htm and it seems that once is just fine if they are healthy.    See paragraphs one  two and three.

Again, this is just info that I have as common links for people who are dealing with new borns.  I am VERY inexperienced when it comes to caring for babies, so I can only offer you other resources that  I rely on. 

 

[Nibbles_NZ]

Jerseygirl and Moz…thank you for those very nice comments I appreciate it.

[bunnytowne]

Baby buns will always run up to the teats as if they are starving when actually they aren’t. 

I now if they get overfed they can die.  2x a nite feeding wont’ kill them I mean like if you force the mother to stay for  20 minutes of steady nursing that is way too long.  

I did this with  a kitten when I was about 13 and didnt’ know any better.  It was so big n round and it died cuz I force the mother to feed it several times a day for a long time.

So even if they act starved they aren’t.  1or 2x a nite is fine.  IF she wants to feed them once in 24 hours they will be ok.

Is this an old post? 

[Beka27]

It isn’t an old post BT, altho it has actually been resolved elsewhere. Zoe (foster mom) can no longer feed the babies, so it’s a moot point.

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