When the rabbits open their eyes and leave the nest: development by day and time

The appearance of baby rabbits is an exciting moment for every rabbit breeder. Babies require the care of the rabbit and the attention of the owner. It is necessary to carefully monitor the behavior of the offspring and the female feeding him in order to timely eliminate possible problems in rearing young animals. It is important to notice when the rabbits open their eyes and that they leave the nest in time.

Baby appearance

Babies born are helpless, the body is covered with thin fluff. Thanks to milk, even in the first days after birth, they develop rapidly. After a short time, the time comes when they open their eyes and leave the mother liquor.

Development of baby rabbits by day

At first, proper baby care is important. In good conditions and with good nutrition of the rabbit, newborns grow quickly. You can see the changes happening daily.

Vision

Babies born are completely helpless. It happens that if by chance the animal falls out of the nest, then it is not able to climb back, therefore it will die of hunger and cold. The owner needs to control this and, if necessary, return it to its place.

Important! Up to 10 days old babies are blind, if their eyes do not open before the age of 14 days, they need to be checked for conjunctivitis.

Rumor

It is normal for a rabbit to hear at 7-9 days. The noise is starting to scare the little ones and they need to be quiet.

Wool

Babies are born naked. Wool breaks through for 2 days. In a week, the wool grows up to 5-6 mm. At the age of 1 month, the animals molt for the first time.

Teeth

Babies have 16 milk teeth, they are laid before birth. At 2.5 weeks, they begin to be replaced by real ones. Newborns weigh up to 100 grams, the rabbit immediately licks them, which helps to remove the original feces. They are able to react only to the parental smell. For the first few days, they sleep most of the time. The development of rabbits depends on the conditions of detention, the temperature in the nest, the amount of milk the rabbit has.

When they open their eyes

Young growth begins to see at the age of 12 days. Before that, their eyes are closed, they survive thanks to the female and instinct, using only their sense of smell. Gradually, rabbits become independent, but they still need mother's milk.

After that, they have an interest in the environment.After 20 days, the nest becomes small for them, and the rabbits move to the cage. During this period, it is time to remove the septum of the mother liquor to increase the cell area. By day 20, the young should increase their weight by 10 times.

After how many days the rabbits leave the nest

The first time babies start to climb out of the nest at 2-3 weeks. The most daring do not explore the cage for long. But even a small rustle frightens them, and the kids run away to the mother liquor. Gradually, they become self-confident and stay longer outside the nest.

At this time, babies begin to try adult food, as an additive to mother's milk. They need to be accustomed to an adult diet gradually. Toddlers are given far high-quality products, among them:

vegetables (seasonal);
hay (in winter);
cereal feed;
root crops.

Feeding is added to small rabbits gradually. First, grated carrots are added, then boiled potatoes and quite a bit of fresh herbs. After trying a new food, the young begin to leave the mother liquor more often.

Attention! Experienced rabbit breeders say that it is bad if the babies get out of the mother liquor late or too early. If they get out early, they don't have enough milk; and babies who do not leave the nest for a long time are characterized by poor he alth.

Rabbits tolerate low temperatures well, rabbits are born in winter, even in frost. But winter kindling should take place in a warm rabbitry. In light frosts, it is not necessary to heat it, but drafts should not be allowed.

Possible problems

Too early exit is cause for concern. Experienced farmers understand that if young rabbits still get out of the nest, they have too little milk. If you have such a situation, you need to assess the condition of the rabbit:

The female's nipples are examined, inflammation can be detected.
For a test, you can easily squeeze one and see if milk comes out of it.

A lot of milk is given by females who receive a balanced diet. On average, a female rabbit feeds 8 young rabbits, but only if she has enough variety of food. If the offspring is larger, then the strongest animals will receive most of the milk, and the rest will eat the rest. They remain hungry and leave the mother liquor too early.

So, if the rabbits left the nest early, they are malnourished. This problem is solved in two ways:

Weak rabbits are transplanted to a dairy female with a small offspring.
Babies are fed with kitten formula or goat milk. One week old rabbit is fed 5-10 ml of milk per day, when it turns 2 weeks old - give 10-15 ml per day, at 3 weeks - 15-20 ml of the mixture.

They are gradually accustomed to the usual food that is given to adult livestock. It is good if there is an opportunity to feed young animals with compound feed for rabbits.