What can be used as a supplement for a rabbit mother's milk?

Question

we have a nest of very young bunnies in our back yard and we fear that the mother has stopped coming back to feed them. we plan to rescue them, but are unsure of what to use to feed them in place of the mother's milk. suggestions? any other helpful hints as far as care and such would be much appreciated. thanks

Answer 1

Mother bunnies only feed their babies once a day, usually at NIGHT.  Leave the baby bunnies alone as the mortality rate for human raised bunnies is extremely high.

Goats milk is the best milk replacer to use.

Answer 2

get some worms and crush them then feed them to the bunnies with a little bit of water

Answer 3

The mom will come back probably twice a day to feed them, then at night. It may seem as if they were abandoned but she also comes during the night to feed them.

We found a nest of baby bunnies in our horse manure pile, and my dad accidentally dug the nest up with a pitchfork! He had completely ruined the nest, so he put them in a bucket tipped down, with straw, and what he could find of the mama's fur. The next day, she came and moved all the babies under the bucket, so that it was basically squishing them, my dad then moved them from under that bucket to a little den he made out of a rubber bucket, and some rocks, at this point, all the babies were tiny and had their eyes closed, about 4 days later, their ears perked up and their eyes opened, on the 6th day, they were all gone.

Mom came back every night to feed them, and she took great care of them, it's just what she's supposed to do.

However, if you happen to find a dead bunny, or the babies start to look extremely small, and start to die off, then you should take them into your own hands, I've heard Cotton Tails don't make the best pets, but you could try.

If you were to take them in, you'll need the smallest syringe you can find, a heating pad, a large stuffed animal that feels like the mom, a box, and Kitten milk, or goats milk.

First what you'll want to do is get some sort of light cloth, such as cotton, and put it around the babies once their in the box, then I would put a heating pad so it's heating half of the box, but not all of it

I would put the stuffed animal near the bunnies so they can cuddle into it, some people may disagree with my theary but I suppose it works.

The box should be in a dark quite, undisturbed area, away from all other animals, and small children.

You'll need to feed them twice a day, then several times at night, and once they have their eyes opened and ears up, you should already have hay in there, and once they start to sample that, you only need to feed twice a day for a few more days, then go to once, then none.

once their eating just the hay, you should grind up rabbit pellets, and maybe mix in some milk, or warm water.

You'll need to hold the babies upright when you feed them from the syringe, because they can choke and die if their on their backs.

rabbits hinded by humans don't usually survive it, but you could try.

Good luck, and I hope it works out for you!

Answer 4

LEAVE THEM!!!  The mother only comes to the nest twice a day to feed them, as she instinctively does not want to draw attention to her young.  Rabbits are at the bottem of the food chain and they know it.

Many people mistake a nest as "abandoned", or feel that, because they disturbed the area (or even touched the young) that the mother won't come back.  This is false.  She will be back, and if you look around, she may be watching nervously from a distance.

On the off chance that she became a predator's meal, only a licensed wildlife rehabilitator should "rescue" wild rabbits.  They stress very easily, cannot be handled except minimally, and are very difficult to bottle feed.  I don't recommend anyone try it, and it is illegal for you to try to raise them yourself.

Step back and let them be, and I think you'll find the mother is around.  You're more likely to see her around dusk or early evening.  But please don't just bring the young in and try to feed them yourself.  Worst case, contact a local wildlife rehabilitation center (usually through your local parks service) if the young really do need rescued.