Why does a rabbit eat her baby rabbits: causes and how to prevent

Atypical behavior of females can be provoked by an improperly selected diet, inattention of the owners or poor handling, harsh noises and strong unusual odors, the birth of dead or sick rabbits. That is why sometimes a female rabbit eats her newborn rabbits. The best solution to prevent such situations is to create good conditions for rabbits during pregnancy and lactation.

Bad diet

One of the main reasons why rabbits eat their young is the lack of nutrients.Owners do not always take into account that pregnant rabbits need to increase the nutritional value of the diet by 200-220 feed units. Moreover, in every 100 g of feed units, proteins (digestible protein) should be 15-18 g.

Therefore, in order to prevent the problem of eating cubs, it is necessary to adjust the diet of pregnant animals. The nutrition of female mothers is formed from feeds enriched with mineral supplements and protein. Soybean meal, sunflower cake are high-protein mixtures.

The stage of pregnancy is taken into account when compiling the diet. In the first weeks, embryos are formed, the placenta and fetal membranes are formed. These processes consume a variety of nutrients. In the second half of the term, the growth of the placenta, embryos continues, and the composition of the diet is slightly changed. Approximately a week before giving birth, reduce the amount of roughage, herbs and increase the mass of concentrates (oats, legume grains, compound feed).

Lack of milk

Most often, poor nutrition provokes a lack of milk. With weak lactation, the rabbit is practically unable to fully feed more than 6-8 cubs. Therefore, a situation arises when the rabbit ate several newborns.

It is recommended to adjust the diet of lactating females with specialized feeds. Suitable mixtures with a high protein content (soybean meal, sunflower meal, oats). In summer, animal food is enriched with vegetable additives (clover, oat mixtures, meadow herbs). In winter, you can diversify the food with boiled potatoes, carrots, beets, high-quality silage. You also need to remember that a lactating female needs a significant amount of fluid to produce milk.

Therefore, free access to drinkers and the constant availability of clean drinking water are necessarily ensured.

Stillborn baby rabbits

Cases of the birth of dead or sick babies are not uncommon in rabbit breeding. In such situations, the female may eat non-live newborns. These actions are explained by the manifestation of instinct: in the wild, cadaverous smells serve as bait for predators. To get rid of the corpses, the rabbit eats them.

Poor nutrition, stress, infections contribute to the appearance of sick offspring. To ensure adequate nutrition and the development of he althy rabbits, the female kills newborns with physical disabilities.

Stress

One of the reasons for the inadequate behavior of the rabbit may be the sudden onset of the sexual cycle. At the same time, the female ceases to pay attention to newborn cubs. In this state, the animal can rush around the cage, tear fluff and hay, refuse to feed the rabbits - does not let them near the udder. Anxious states of an individual can be caused by other reasons:

• moving to other cells or rooms;
• harsh sounds in the room;
• rude treatment of rabbits by owner;
• unpleasant strong odors (other pets, exhaust fumes, gasoline, kerosene, paint, alcohol).

Important! It is not recommended to pick up newborn rabbits - a strange smell on the body of babies can cause stress for the rabbit and refuse to feed the rabbits.

Veterinarians advise washing hands with laundry soap before interacting with animals. To reduce the smell of soap, you can rub dry hands with fluff taken from the nest. And only then take the cubs in their arms. In an open cage, if there is no queen cell, the state of stress in the rabbit provokes the close presence of the male, his tangible smell. In such situations, female rabbits sometimes gnaw to meat.

How to prevent eating?

Rabbits are herbivores, and the manifestation of cannibalism is a phenomenon unusual for their nature. The reasons why females eat babies can be different. To prevent cannibalism, you need to study each case, because decisions are made differently:

• a sharp change in food can cause a lack of certain substances in the body of the female. Therefore, it is not recommended to radically change the diet of rabbits before childbirth or in the first days after birth;
• a rabbit may be hostile to other people's newborns. If the rabbits are transferred to another female, it is advisable to first rub their fur with bedding hay from the nurse's cage, which has the smell of her urine;
• transfer to a new cage can cause a lot of stress for the female. It is advisable to transfer the rabbit to a cage with a mother liquor in advance so that the animal has time to get used to the new conditions before giving birth;
• rabbits have a nervous disposition. It is important to protect from noise, pungent odors of pregnant females and rabbits with newborns. In the first week after birth, they don’t even change the bedding in the mother liquor so as not to scare the animals with fresh, unfamiliar smells.

Visitors with unfamiliar smells become a big stress for females. Therefore, it would be better if feeding and caring for animals is entrusted to certain people. But even in this case, it is undesirable to take newborn rabbits in your arms.

Maintenance of pregnant and lactating females requires increased attention. A diligent owner is interested in obtaining he althy and numerous offspring. Therefore, he must not only monitor the nutrition and he alth of females, but also provide animals with a comfortable and peaceful existence.

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