She decided not to love and feed one of them (the little white one) and knowing that momma’s will not feed the ones they feel will not survive has put Erica into momma mode. She is the handler of the bunnies and they respect her, even Cotton Head who can be a little hissy and mean. For the first day we could not tell if she was feeding the little white one or not since momma’s bunnies only jump into the nest and nurse their kits twice a day! Can you imagine only nursing your baby twice and day and then covering them in wool and walking away for the rest of the day??
By the second day it was clear that Cotton Head was not feeding the littlest kit and compared to the other three she already looked quite small. She had green stuff around her nose and we were very worried. We contacted a few friends who raise angoras and put together a plan. We knew the kit had to nurse to live and when they are so little you can easily kill them while trying to feed with a bottle so that would have to be a last resort. Erica decided to force the momma to feed this little one. She and Veronica take the momma out of the rabbit hutch, lay her on her back and hold her down while the baby kit is placed to nurse until she/he is content. Afterward, the kit is put back with its siblings and covered with wool to keep them all warm. The momma does not stay in the nest with them. As soon as she is done, she jumps out to resume her single life until it is time to feed again.
Her efforts seem to be working as the little white kit is getting bigger and is still alive. As soon as the girls wake up in the morning they are in with the bunnies taking care of their charge. All through they day the check on them and two more feedings are done before it is time to go to bed. I’m not sure if you can tell the difference but here is a shot of them this morning. They are getting lots bigger.
Here is Erica grooming the momma a few days before she had her kits…we were not sure if we would be able to handle her once she had her babies so we needed to make sure she was groomed since Angoras have to be thoroughly groomed once a week or they get matted.
I will be back tomorrow with Stash Bash and another farm baby!
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