How to feed rabbits: the rules of artificial feeding and what not to do

What is allowed to feed the rabbits, which the rabbit refused? Babies should not be left without food, otherwise they will quickly die. They can drop a drop of cow's milk into their mouths, but goat's milk is better, it is more nutritious. A rubber cap from a pipette or a nipple will learn to suck only on the 3rd-5th day of its life. For the first week, the cubs will have to be artificially fed, dripping 1 drop of milk into the mouth 3 or 5 times a day.

Is it possible to feed rabbits without a rabbit?

After birth, rabbits feed on mother's milk. In the same cage with a rabbit, they live 30-45 days.At 3-4 weeks of age, rabbits begin to taste the food that adult females eat. At 1-1.5 months, the young are transplanted into a separate cage and transferred to self-feeding.

True, sometimes rabbits refuse their cubs, do not feed newborns or start trampling them, eating them. This happens if females do not have milk, the feeding process causes discomfort, or mothers do not receive enough he althy and nutritious food, as well as water. If the rabbit refuses to feed the newborns, they are immediately taken from her and placed in a separate cage.

You can put the cubs to a calm lactating female. True, some rabbits do not want to feed other people's rabbits. Then the abandoned cubs are transferred to artificial feeding. They are fed with milk using a pipette, a disposable syringe without a needle, or a bottle with a small nipple (as for kittens). Newborns are given cow's, goat's milk or dry mixes, baby food.

Substitute for rabbit milk

Baby rabbits need to be fed immediately, without food they will not live long and die quickly. Instead of rabbit, they can be given boiled, cooled, slightly warm cow's milk. Better - goat, it is fatter and more nutritious.

Goat milk

Baby rabbits are allowed to be fed goat milk. This product is close in composition to mother's rabbit milk. It has a sufficient percentage of fat content and all substances useful for the body. Before use, it is boiled, then cooled to 36 degrees.

Important! Milk should always be fresh. It is boiled, stored in the refrigerator and slightly heated before feeding

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Milk substitute formulas

In pet stores or veterinary pharmacies, you can buy dry mixes for feeding rabbits. It is a powder similar in composition to rabbit milk. Before use, it is diluted with warm boiled water.

Baby food

Newborn rabbits are allowed to be fed infant formula. True, you need to choose those where there is a minimum of sugar and various additives. The dry mixture is diluted with warm boiled water.

Feeding rules

Milk is given to rabbits in a warm form using a special device for feeding newborns, a bottle with a nipple, a pipette or a 10-20 ml pharmacy disposable syringe. The liquid must not be poured into the mouth with a jet. Milk is given drop by drop and they make sure that the rabbit swallows it. You can put a rubber cap from a pipette on a small bottle or syringe and pierce it with a needle. It is better if the rabbit sucks milk himself, then he will definitely not choke.

Dosage and frequency

Newborn rabbits are pipet fed three times a day. Each time they are given 1 drop or 1 milliliter of milk.On the second day, animals are fed 5 times a day. In one feeding give 1 drop or 1 milliliter of milk. At a week old, rabbits should receive 5 milliliters of food per day. A week later, the daily amount of milk is increased to 10 ml, and a week later - up to 15 ml.

Gradually, animals are transferred to three meals a day. At 20 days of age, rabbits are given 20-30 ml of food per day. During this period, they can drink milk on their own from a saucer. At the age of one month, animals should receive 50 ml of milk per day.

Intestinal stimulation

Newborn rabbits are not yet able to empty their stomachs on their own. Before each feeding, the animals should be given a light abdominal massage. With a damp cotton swab, the animals wipe the abdomen vertically in the direction from the navel to the hind legs. It is forbidden to press hard on the stomach (internal organs may be damaged). After two weeks, rabbits will be able to defecate on their own.

Feeding according to age

Feeding starts with a minimum dose - 1 ml. On the first day, a newborn rabbit should receive no more than 3 ml of food. The rate is gradually increased.

From birth to day 5

Newborn rabbits are fed three times a day. In one feeding they are given 1 milliliter or one drop of milk. On the second day of life, the cubs are fed five times a day. Give 1 milliliter or one drop of food. During the day, the rabbit should drink 5 ml of milk. Animals should be fed in an upright position. Drop a drop of the milk mixture into the mouth (on the tongue) with a pipette and make sure that the rabbit swallows it.

From 6 to 14 days (weekly-two-weekly)

From the sixth day of life, the feed rate can be doubled. Rabbits are given 2 drops or 2 ml of milk 4-5 times a day. At 14 days of age, they should drink 10-15 milliliters of milk per day.You can feed the animals three times a day (3-5 ml per feeding). At two weeks of age, rabbits should be able to suckle liquid from the nipple on their own.

From 15 to 30 days

When the rabbits are 15 days old, the rate can be increased again (up to 15 milliliters per day). Rabbits are given 5 drops or 5 ml of milk per feeding. They feed three times a day. The norm for 20-day-old animals increases again. On the day of a little rabbit at 3 weeks of age, he must receive about 20 ml of milk, that is, 7 ml per feeding. At 30 days of age, the animal should be able to drink milk from a saucer. The norm is 30-50 ml per day.

Month

Month old rabbits can no longer be pipet, pacifier or syringe fed. At this age, the rabbit willingly drinks milk from a saucer. The norm per day is 50 ml. At the age of one month, many rabbit breeders stop milk feeding and transfer animals to dried grass, oatmeal and vegetables (grated carrots).True, rabbit milk can be fed up to 45 days of life.

What not to give to rabbits

It is forbidden to abruptly transfer rabbits to juicy green grasses. Animals are first weaned from milk. It is simply diluted with water, each time in greater and greater proportions, until the rabbits lose all interest in milk. At the same time, animals are given dried plants (clover, dandelion leaves, cereal grasses), and their well-being is monitored. Babies can be fed grated carrots. Other vegetables are introduced into the diet with caution. Fresh cabbage, for example, can lead to bloating.

Introduction of dressings

New food is given to rabbits from 3-4 weeks of age. At first, these are herbs dried in the sun. At the age of one month, rabbits are given grated carrots and pumpkin. Gradually introduce fodder beets, turnips, cabbage into the diet. Slowly, rabbits are beginning to accustom to cereals.First, they are given oatmeal. Then grain mixtures are prepared from crushed grains of wheat, barley, corn, and oats. At 45 days of age, they are given boiled potatoes, wet steamed cereal mashes.

Important! For the formation of a he althy microflora and normal bowel function, rabbits at 3-4 weeks of age should be given caecotrophs, that is, the morning feces of adult he althy rabbits. Peas (2-3 pieces) are added to hay or grated vegetables.

Advantages and disadvantages of artificial feeding of young animals

You can feed the little rabbits who were abandoned by the rabbit on their own. In the first month of life, animals mainly feed on milk. At 3-4 weeks, a little dried grass and grated carrots are poured into the feeder. From milk, rabbits are weaned gradually.

At one month old they are fed like normal animals after weaning from their mother.Weakened and retarded rabbits are fed with vitamin preparations and probiotics. Of course, artificial feeding is a necessary measure, but this is the only way to save the animals.

Advantages of artificial feeding for rabbits:

• get the nutrition they need;
• get used to new food quickly;
• easily digest food;
• gaining weight regularly.

Disadvantages of artificial feeding:

• formation of the swallowing reflex is slow;
• human presence required at each feeding;
• it is impossible to replace rabbit milk with an identical one.

Motherless rabbits can be saved. True, for this they will have to be transferred to artificial feeding. The main thing is to teach animals to suck milk from a nipple or pipette.Rabbits need to be fed very carefully. If they simply squirt milk into their mouths, they could choke and die.

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