How to raise a rabbit after giving birth
Rabbits have strong reproductive capabilities. Once a female rabbit gives birth, the owner needs to master scientific care methods to ensure that the baby rabbits grow up healthily. The following is a guide for the feeding and management of rabbits after birth, compiled based on the hot rabbit raising topics on the Internet in the past 10 days.
1. Prenatal preparation and postpartum examination
The female rabbit needs to provide a quiet environment and sufficient supplies before giving birth:
| Preparations | Specific requirements |
|---|---|
| farrowing box | 40cm long x 30cm wide x 25cm high, bedding with soft hay |
| diet | Add alfalfa and carrots to supplement nutrition 3 days before delivery |
| environment | Maintain a constant temperature of 25°C and a humidity below 60% |
| postpartum checkup | Confirm within 24 hours whether the placenta is completely discharged and the number of baby rabbits |
2. Key data on feeding young rabbits
| Age in days | Feeding points | Things to note |
|---|---|---|
| 1-3 days | Breastfeed every 2 hours | Check whether the female rabbit’s nipples are smooth |
| 4-7 days | Breastfeed 4-5 times a day | Fine fuzz begins to appear |
| 8-14 days | Breastfeed 3 times a day + a small amount of alfalfa | When eyes are open, avoid strong light stimulation |
| 15-21 days | Self-feeding + breast milk 2 times a day | Provide baby rabbit food with diameter <3mm |
3. Key points of postpartum care for female rabbits
Three major care points that have been hotly discussed in rabbit raising forums recently:
1.Nutritional supplements: Postpartum female rabbits need to supplement 20g of protein every day (can be through cooked soybeans or special feed), and the water intake should reach 300ml/kg body weight.
2.Mastitis Prevention: Check the hardness of the breasts every day. If redness and swelling are found, apply hot compresses with a 40℃ towel immediately. Recent hot searches show that wet compresses with dandelion water can relieve early symptoms.
3.psychological adjustment: Female rabbits are prone to anxiety after giving birth. A popular Douyin video recommends placing a shelter in the cage and playing light music to reduce the probability of abandoning the litter by 30%.
4. Emergency handling of common problems
| question | performance | solution |
|---|---|---|
| Baby rabbit refuses milk | A sunken abdomen/constant crying | Use cotton swabs dipped in warm milk to stimulate defecation and then feed artificially |
| Mother rabbit bites cub | Baby rabbit with wounds | Isolate immediately and check for calcium deficiency or shock |
| developmental arrest | Weight <80g in 7 days | Supplement rabbit milk replacer powder (a popular brand recommended by Xiaohongshu) |
5. Environmental control parameters
According to the latest measured data from the rabbit raising UP owner at Station B:
| cycle | temperature | light | noise |
|---|---|---|---|
| Week 1 | 28-30℃ | natural light | <50 decibels |
| Week 2 | 25-28℃ | 12 hours/day | <60 decibels |
| From week 3 onwards | 20-25℃ | natural day and night | normal home sound |
6. Newbies are prone to making mistakes
Summary based on Zhihu’s recent highly praised answers:
1. Excessive touching of baby rabbits (mother rabbits will identify their cubs by smell)
2. Use cotton wool to pad the nest (it can easily entangle rabbit legs and cause necrosis)
3. Clean the birthing box too early (the plucked hair of the female rabbit should be kept to keep warm)
4. Misjudgment of weaning time (Tik Tok’s popular test method: weaning can only be done when the baby rabbit’s weight reaches 3 times its birth weight)
7. Growth Monitoring Standards
Growth comparison table shared by WeChat rabbit raising group:
| Weekly age | weight range | behavioral characteristics |
|---|---|---|
| newborn | 40-60g | Hairless, eyes closed, crawling |
| 2 weeks | 120-180g | Open eyes, jump short distance |
| 4 weeks | 300-400g | Eating and grooming independently |
| 6 weeks | 600-800g | territorial awareness |
Through the above structured data management, combined with the methods recently recommended by rabbit raising experts (such as "Emotional Soothing Techniques for Female Rabbits" hotly searched on Weibo), the survival rate of young rabbits can be significantly improved. Remember that the mortality rate of each litter of young rabbits is less than 10%, which means the breeding is qualified. If it exceeds this value, environmental or nutritional problems need to be investigated in time.
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