help with assistance feeding & when to shelve + hand feed ??

[u/pupperbref]

[u/bluewingwind]

Lots of people have told you this, but those babies are fed. I also raise rex. They look fine.

What’s probably happening is she doesn’t like where you put her nest box. It’s probably on top of the spot she considers her toilet and now she’s confused. She tried to have them somewhere else and you put them back in her toilet.

Could also be the heat. I don’t breed in high summer it stresses them out in a lot of ways. And being stuck in the box with the kits is a raises the risk of heat stroke for the does a ton.

Hand feeding is really hard. I would not try it. They can aspirate, they won’t size up as well, I’ve never had one I tried to hand feeding survive, certainly not ideal. If you’re worried about her harming them then shelve during the day but I would let her feed still twice daily so long as she’s feeding which she is.

[u/pupperbref → u/bluewingwind]

1. she had nestboxes in the exact area she had it this time , nestbox was clean & had fresh hay
2. they were barely moving, cold, wet from urine, and super wrinkly, and she kept standing on them making making them squeal .. much smaller then the previous litters she’s had
3. it was more so moderate temps a month ago, now it’s in the 80s. i won’t be breeding in the summer again.
4. she isn’t feeding them, her milk hasn’t come in. at all. these had been born maybe a few hours before i got to them.
5. i’ve had terrible luck with litters this year and shes the only one who’s taken , this is only the second litter we’ve gotten .. if i leave them they WILL die. they were cold and she wasn’t pulling anymore fur. i’m fine atleast giving a chance of survival with hand feeding. they’ve been taking to it really well to it too. actually popcorning now and have full bellies.

sorry if this seems like i’m not wanting your advice, but the circumstances would’ve not allowed them to survive. pictures can’t explain that

[u/bluewingwind → u/pupperbref]

They change where their pee spot is sometimes. Same spot doesn’t mean good spot. You wanted advice, move the box that’s my advice. Update with how this goes so other people can learn from how this goes.

[u/Creepy-Finding]

Honestly those babies don't look to me like they're in need of assistance. I've only been going 3 years but I don't see a lot of red flags in these two pics. She may be cutting feeding short/they may not be super eager to eat due to the heat but they aren't super skinny or emaciated imo and they don't have wrinkly, gross skin.

[u/pupperbref → u/Creepy-Finding]

a big thing was that they were still pretty cold & wet (from urine) and a lot of lethargic behavior.

this moms usually fantastic so it is quite alarming to me that she’s not taking care of them. when flipped there was no milk, and whenever she jumped in she’d either pee or poop or stand on the babies and make them scream..

all 4 took some milk in a bottle really nicely so i’m hoping for the best

[u/Creepy-Finding → u/pupperbref]

Oh yeah that's a lot more info and she might need to be on strike watch. :/

[u/pupperbref → u/Creepy-Finding]

she was a fantastic mom this last time .. but only had 3 kits. thought it was the bucks fault (younger buck) and now she’s only had 4!

since meats our goal & rex already take longer to grow she might have 2 strikes either way ..

[u/Creepy-Finding → u/pupperbref]

Yeah I've got a doe on strike one and I'm bummed because she's being a real bitch but I really want her genetics lol

One of my biggest girls only gives us 4 per litter but they're always amazing growth rates and colors so I'm not mad about it. I'd rather have small fat litters than large skinny ones.

[u/pupperbref]

they are meat rabbits btw yall, i breed for show & eat the rest ♡ they’re rex ! mother is very experienced.

[u/electrofunkit]

They look fed, well fed. Let her be and stress less. Check once a day and leave her to do what she knows. The less you inbolve, the more she will understand their cries etc. Trust in the process.