How to feed little rabbits at home
When breeding any animals, it is necessary to monitor their nutrition, because food is a kind of fuel for a living organism. Without a balanced diet, it is difficult to grow up healthy, strong and productive offspring. Therefore, if you plan to breed rabbits, think about whether you can feed young animals, especially if you have to do this artificially. For those who are ready for difficulties, we suggest that you familiarize yourself with feeding rabbit babies.
Basic rules for feeding rabbits
Newborn rabbits grow very quickly and gain weight, and their diet is significantly different from the diet of adults. For kids it is very important that all food is as nutritious as possible.
Did you know? The maximum number of cubs that a rabbit can bring at a time is 24 individuals. This record was set twice in 1978 and 1999.
Given this fact, when compiling a menu for young animals, you need to adhere to such rules:
- Choose highly nutritious and easily digestible feeds containing a sufficient amount of protein, vitamins and minerals;
- the stomach of small creatures has not yet formed completely, so it is difficult for him to cope with heavy food;
- the basis of the diet is breast milk containing all the necessary substances;
- when a baby rabbit is weaned, each new product should be introduced gradually into its diet (with an interval of at least 3 days);
- It is advisable to feed the first 14 days of the weaned baby the first 14 days with the same food as before weaning;
- the older the younger generation, the more diverse their diet should be;
- if you give rabbits fresh grass, then be sure to sow it;
- all root crops included in the diet of rabbits need to be thoroughly washed and chopped;
- cereals should also be crushed;
- it is necessary to introduce vitamin and mineral supplements into the diet.
How old is the rabbit to feed milk
Rabbit's milk is a very valuable and nutritious product for her newborn babies. Within 2 weeks, the body of rabbits is not able to take any other food than mother's milk. Therefore, a very early jigging of small eared negatively affects their further development.
After 14 days, rabbits are fed, but still mother’s milk remains the main product on their menu until the babies reach 2 months of age. During this period, it is very important to monitor what their mother eats and what kind of relationship she has with her offspring.
Find out what you can’t feed rabbits at home.
What to feed rabbits after jigging from their mother
During the first 14 days after the birth of rabbits, it is important to balance the rabbit's diet as much as possible so that her milk is nutritious and contains all the necessary elements for the growth and development of the young generation. If, for some reason, the female refuses to feed her cubs or they don’t get the right amount of energy with food, they should be fed with special feeds and hay.
In 1 week
From a weekly age, young rabbits can be given a little adult food. At first it should be only special feed, hay, meat and bone meal and fish meal. Grain can be introduced gradually. For better assimilation of food, sour milk and herbaceous plants (chamomile, St. John's wort, yarrow) should be given.
Feed weekly eared 5 times a day (2 times at night). So that immature rabbit organisms do not experience severe stress, add 50 ml of vitamin B to drinking water.
Read in more detail whether it is possible to give grass to quinoa, grain and corn to rabbits.
In 2 weeks
At this age, the nutrition of little eared is not very different from what it was before. The diet remains the same, but the number of meals is reduced (night feeds are removed), and the amount of food consumed increases. 2-week-old babies are given twice as much food as weekly babies.
In 3 weeks
At 20 days, rabbits change their teeth, so they can now eat more coarse food. In an existing diet, you can add dry herbal mixtures (twice a week), more cereals, herbal granules, bran.
In 1 month
At this age, babies are already able to eat adult food. Milk is gradually being squeezed out of their diet. In its place come mixers, feed, hay, grass. Vegetables are gradually introduced, starting with potatoes, then carrots. It is better not to give cabbage, as it can provoke bloating.
2 months and older
From 2 months of age, the diet of young animals becomes similar to the menu of an adult animal.
Important! Regardless of the age of the rabbit, in its cage there should always be a container with clean fresh water, and in the feeder there should always be feed that does not deteriorate quickly.
The scheme for feeding a rabbit at the age of 40 days and older may look like this:
| 1 kg of live weight | 100 g feed units |
| Dry matter (62 g) | Digestible Protein (16–17 g) |
| Feed units (70 g) | Calcium (0.6 g) |
| Exchange energy (730 kJ) | Phosphorus (0.3g) |
| Carotene (1 mg) | |
| Vitamin D (3 mcg) | |
| Vitamin E (2.8 mg) |
In summer it is advisable to feed the rabbits:
- young grass;
- fishmeal;
- compound feed;
- milk powder;
- oats;
- carrots;
- boiled potatoes;
- bran (a little);
- chalk, salt;
- vitamin and mineral complex.
Artificial feeding of rabbits
Such feeding is resorted to if the rabbit for some reason can not feed its offspring. With artificial feeding, it is very important to find a good substitute for breast milk, since without it the rabbits will not be able to survive.
Why the rabbit does not feed newborns
The reasons why a rabbit refuses to feed babies can be different:
- If the female brought the offspring to the world for the first time, then her maternal instinct may simply not wake up. They awaken him by compulsory sitting several times a day of a newly-made mother in the heads of young rabbits. Babies crawl to the nipples on their own and begin to eat. You need to do the procedure until the maternal instinct wakes up and the female begins to feed the cubs herself.
- A common reason for rejecting rabbits is the start of hunting in the female. Determine the willingness to mate an animal by its behavior. The female becomes restless, active, begins to pluck down fluff on her stomach. If at this time the male is nearby, try to put him away. If it didn’t work, then you need to make a mating. After her, the female should calm down and let the children in. But the owner will nevertheless have to feed the babies himself for some time and earlier carry out the jigging.
- It may turn out that the young rabbit’s nipples are roughened and any touch to them causes discomfort. This problem can also be dealt with. First you need to massage them gently and try to express a little milk. If it does not help, then massage the nipples with vegetable oil and special ointments. At this time, the offspring should be transferred to artificial feeding or, if possible, transplanted to another female.
- Smells can also lead to refusal of feeding, especially if they are harsh and strong. They make the female worry. The presence of other animals can also nerve it.
- Mastitis is another of the most common reasons for not feeding offspring.
Important! Most often, rabbits feed their offspring at night, so for beginning farmers it may seem that the mother does not pay enough attention to the children. Before you sound the alarm, you need to observe the state of the rabbits. If their bellies are full, their skin is tight, and they behave calmly, then everything is fine. A sunken belly, wrinkled skin, emerging ribs - an alarm.
How to feed rabbits without a rabbit
If the female died, or cannot feed the babies herself, or if it is not possible to plant the offspring on another uterus, urgent measures must be taken, since in the first 5 days after birth, eared babies are very vulnerable. First you need to choose a substitute for breast milk. The best option would be a goat, as its composition is as close as possible to a rabbit. If there is no opportunity to get such a product, then you can take a cow and mix it with condensed milk in a 1: 1 ratio. In the pet shop you can buy mixtures for feeding puppies and kittens.
When the food is ready, it is poured into a clean plate, and then a sterile pipette or syringe is filled from it. The eared newborn is held in the palm of his hand and gently, drop by drop, squeezes milk into the mouth from the pipette / syringe. It is necessary to give 10 drops. Rabbits are fed 3-5 times a day. For 1 time, the baby eats about 1 ml of the milk mixture. Before eating, it is necessary to cleanse the animal’s intestines by massaging the abdomen, and after eating, wipe the face with a cotton swab and wipe the body with a damp cloth.
From a week's age, the volume of food is increased by 2 times, and the frequency of feeding is reduced to 3. From 15 days, the portion is increased by 3 times. And from 20 days, rabbits are able to independently drink milk from a bowl. You can start giving them complementary foods, and from a month of age - hay, compound feeds, vegetables. Milk is now excluded from their diet.
Did you know? After mating, a number of embryos are formed in the uterus of the rabbit, but fewer cubs are born than there were embryos. Some of them simply resolve due to stress. In this way, nature independently regulates the population of the species, preventing it from growing excessively.
When artificially feeding young animals, it is advisable to follow these rules:
- diluted milk mixture or goat milk is heated to 36 ° C;
- a bowl, pipette, pacifier and syringe must be disinfected before each feeding;
- drip milk so that it does not get into the nose;
- Do not overfeed the animal (a smooth and even stomach will speak of satiety).
What can not be fed
Little rabbits are strictly forbidden to give the following products:
- any sweets;
- mushrooms;
- flour and pasta;
- wet grass;
- spicy, fatty, salty foods;
- waste from fruits and vegetables;
- poisonous plants;
- spoiled food;
- buttercups;
- tops of tomatoes.
