Mary Allen
The coldest days are over, and feeding and manure with clammy fingers are also forgotten. Now the best time in the rabbit hutch begins: The first young animals are in the nests.
The tension increases when the mother rabbit bustles around the stable with straw in her mouth. Although the gestation period for rabbits is comparatively short at 31 days, the eager anticipation of the offspring strains one’s patience. Rabbit births usually go smoothly. Nevertheless, it is advisable to keep an eye on the expectant mother. Mating appointments on Wednesdays guarantee a weekend birth with a normal gestation period so that one can be at home and intervene if necessary.
A good dam builds a solid nest of shredded straw and plucks out plenty of belly hair just before giving birth to keep it warm. But there are also carefree mothers who only collect a little bit of straw and put wool in the nest that is barely warm. The breeder has to help out and pluck the wool from the breast and belly of the rabbit after the birth. This is very easy and does not hurt the animal either, because hormones ensure that the hair comes off easily.
Birth is usually very quick. The rabbit crouches over the nest, one or two contractions each time a young animal is removed, which is immediately freed from the fruit husks and licked clean. In a normal birth, the litter is complete after about a quarter of an hour. The doe suckles the young for the first time and then leaves the nest until the next day.
Distance From the Nest Gives Protection
A first nest check should take place shortly after birth because any dead young animals and remains of the afterbirth must be removed. In the case of long-haired dams whose the last appointment with the hairdresser was some time ago, the nest wool is cut into short pieces. This prevents the little ones from spinning a thread out of the wool with their paddling movements and tying off a leg with it. Until then, the rabbit can be locked up in the other stable compartment or set free.
Wild rabbits dig a separate burrow for their nest. After birth and the first suckling, they carefully dig up the burrow. They visit their young only once a day to nurse. So in nature, the rabbit lives away from the nest, she doesn’t cuddle with the young ones as a mother cat does. This “neglect” is a protection against predators.
Domestic rabbits show similar behavior; they too visit the nest only once or twice a day. In order for the mother rabbit to be able to keep enough distance from the nest, a double pen or a large and well-structured single pen is required. In a small barn, the rabbit smells the nest all the time. This causes her stress, she keeps returning to the nest, rummaging around, laying extra straw on the little ones. The nestlings consume a lot of energy due to the frequent disturbances and as a result, often crawl around in the stable.
Watch Out for Breast Engorgement or Mastitis
If the birth is difficult or if the doe is disturbed during birth, she does not stay on the nest but scatters her young around the stall. This can also occur in very nervous animals. The young cool down quickly outside the nest and die without help. If you find them in time, you should take the little ones into the house and warm them up with a hot water bottle or your hands. It’s amazing how cold there is in such a small body. Nevertheless, the heat source must not be more than lukewarm, towels placed in between protect against too much heat.
When the little ones have warmed up again, you put them back in the nest so that the rabbit can suckle them. The high-fat milk provides the little ones with the energy they need to produce heat. Nervous rabbits are given lemon balm tea. It also calms and stimulates milk production.
Regular nest checks are important, and it is sufficient to feel with your hand whether it is warm in the nest. With a little practice, you can even count whether all the young animals are there. If they lie comfortably in the nest, everything is fine. If they grab your hand and have wrinkled little tummies, this is a sign of hunger. In this case, the rabbit’s teats are checked to see whether there is engorgement or even mastitis (inflammation of the mammary glands). The latter belongs in the hands of the veterinarian. In the case of breast engorgement, on the other hand, the hardening can be removed by irradiating it with a red lamp – a flashlight, not a heat lamp! – solve. Shine on the red light for a few minutes, then push out the accumulated milk in the direction of the teat.
The first milk, the colostrum, is vital because it is not only food but also contains a concentrated load of antibodies (immunoglobulins). Only in the first few hours after birth can these antibodies be absorbed as a whole through the intestines into the blood; later they are digested – like other protein compounds too – and lose their effectiveness as a result. However, rabbits receive additional protective immunoglobulins before they are born via the placenta – and therefore, like humans, belong to a minority that is not born completely defenseless.
Intestinal Flora is Transferred
The formation of so-called milk oil in the stomach of young rabbits is unique in the animal world. It is formed from substances in breast milk by the nestling’s digestive enzymes. Milk oil is a natural antibiotic that keeps the nestlings’ digestive tract bacteria-free for the first two weeks. In most animal species, colonization with the important intestinal bacteria occurs passively during the birth process and during suckling.
Rabbits, on the other hand, actively colonize their intestines by ingesting the mother’s bacteria-rich cecal feces, which she deposits in the nest for this purpose. If the mother has a favorable composition of the intestinal flora, this also benefits the young. Small amounts of hay, which are now placed in the nest, are eaten by the little ones and form the food for the developing bacterial flora. This lays the foundation for a healthy digestive system and good future development.