The Kits

Kits are born with no fur, their eyes are sealed shut and they can't hear. At birth, mom will clean the kits, cover them with her fur and exit the nest box.

1. Rabbits feed their young only once or twice a day. Feeding time is usually less then five minutes.

2. Rabbits do not sit on their young to keep them warm. They enter the nest box to feed and get right out again.

3. Because she generally feeds in the middle of the night, you will not see her feed. You will know if the kits are being fed by seeing their big round bellies.

As long as it is the person or people who regularly cares for the rabbit, a  rabbit does not get upset if you look at or touch the kits. It is a myth that they won't feed the babies if your smell is on them. As a matter of fact, it is important to look in the nest box right after birth and each day there after to check for and remove any dead kits. Occasionally you will get an over protective doe who doesn't want you near her kits, but that is the exception not the rule.

Newborn kits are susceptible to the cold. If the weather is cold, but the mom has made a nice nest, the kits should be fine. If the weather is freezing, there is a possibility that the kits may freeze to death. If the litter is small, only two or three kits, they may not generate enough heat between themselves to keep each other warm.

There are some things you can do to keep the kits warm. You can put a clamp light over the nest box with a 40 or 60 watt light bulb. This is a great way to keep them warm. 

If it is bitterly cold you can bring the entire nest box in to your house right after birth. This is a method we use during our cold Northeastern winters. Take the nest box to mom once or twice a day. As soon as you put it in her cage, she will hop in to feed and hop right back out again. Remove the box and bring it back in to your house. It is best to do this in the morning and again in the evening, the same time each day. After a day or two your doe will get use to this routine. We have never had a doe get upset doing it this way. Some does will chose to feed only once a day, this is fine and perfectly healthy for the kits. Most of our does like to feed once a day in the morning.

A big mistake people make when bringing the nest box in the house is to keep it too warm. The warmth of your house is enough for kits. Don't use a heating pad under the box, a cover over the box or put it near a heater or under a lamp. You can overheat them causing death.  A sign the kits are overheated is when they are scattered all over the nest box not touching each other. They are trying to escape the heat. Kits should be huddled together in the middle of the box. If they are slightly chilled, they will squirm around and cover themselves with Moms fur. If they are warm, they will squirm around and kick the fur off of themselves.

If your bringing the nest box in your house, take them to Mom for feedings. Don't bring Mom in the house. This is too stressful for her and she will not produce adequate milk.

By three days old they should have a good layer of fur on them. You can pick them up at this age. If you touch them in the nest box,  they will pop up like pop corn. This is OK, you are beginning to teach them that human touch will not harm them. 

Around 10 days old their eyes should open and they can hear.  If by day 13 they have not opened their eyes you will have to do it for them. Simply use your thumb and pointer finger to gently pry the eyes open. It is not as difficult as it sounds. You are not going to hurt them. You may have to do this several times over the next day or two before the eyes stay opened permanently.  It is very important you get those eyes opened. Closed eyes past the age of 14 days can cause infection and blindness. 

At 10 days to two weeks of age you will need to clean the nest box out. Those kits have been peeing in it for the past two weeks and it will begin to smell. That is not very healthy conditions for them to be in. Take them out and put them in a shoe box or something similar. Keep some of the fur. Keep a lot of the fur if these are outside kits. Give the box a good rinsing and scraping. Clean all the corners. Make sure it is completely dry before you put the kits back in to it.

If you have one of those does that pees in the nest box each time she feeds her kits you have a real problem on your hands.  A wet urinated nest box is a disaster for the kits. It can cause respiratory problems, infection and eye problems. Each time she pees in it, you'll have to take the kits out and clean it out. This is not to common, although we have had a doe or two do this on occasion. Don't confuse this with the doe pooping in the nest box. This is normal behavior and, as disgusting as this may sound, will be the kits first meal. It is necessary as this passes on certain nutrition and antibodies to the kits.

At the age of three weeks it is time to take the nest box away. It is probably very soiled, unhealthy and unnecessary. We add a piece of wood to the corner of the cage so the bunnies have a place to get up off the wire, huddle together and sleep.

 If your kits are inside and you are bringing them to Mom twice a day for feeding, now is the time to cut back to once a day. 

Four and five weeks is a good time to do a lot of holding of the kits. The more you hold them the tamer they will be. Warning, have an old towel on your lap or your going to get wet.

Some people make a big mistake when the kits are 5 to 6 weeks old. They figure since the kits are eating and drinking on their own, then they can be adopted to their new homes. This is not true. A 5 or 6 week old kit is no where near ready to leave its mother or siblings.  The mortality rate of a kit taken from its mother too soon is very high. Imagine the disappointment of someone falling for their new baby rabbit only to have it die a week later.

Another mistake people make is to begin to give the kits treats like fruits and veggies. Their digestive systems are so delicate at this age nothing should be introduced but pellets, hay and water. We can't stress the importance of that enough. Treats will send a kit in to diarrhea and that will kill a kit in as little as 24 hours.

At six weeks, you can begin to wean the babies. We begin to take the babies to Mom every other day for a week, and then every three days for the next week. By the time they turn eight weeks, they are usually no longer interested in nursing, and Mom had dried up leaving nothing left to give. If you have left the kits in the same cage with Mom, six weeks is a good time to put the whole litter in a cage by them selves. This way you can begin the weaning process by putting Mom in with them every other day and follow as we said above. And frankly, by this time, Mom has about had it with the kits and spends most of her time trying to get away from them.

Weaning is very stressful on both Mom and kits. Watch Mom for signs of decreased appetite or loose stool. Watch the kits very closely for the same problems. 

Once weaned, a kit can go to their new home. We like to hang on to our kits another week or two just to make sure everything is in working order.

At eight weeks, you can add a tablespoon of rolled oats to the top of their feed each day, this is the only extra we give our kits until they are four months old. We see not point in adding things that can cause death in so short of a time. Enteritis can kill a rabbit in 24 hours. We'd rather play it safe.