# Litter of 12 baby rabbits!!!



## milkmaid (Sep 15, 2010)

My sister's rabbit had 12 babies last night!
We know she won't be able to care for them all. We have another rabbit getting ready to kindle, so hopefully she will be able to adopt a few, but meantime we want to be sure the babies get enough colostrum. The mama is not very tame and is in a very bad mood this morning. Is it okay to hold her to let all the babies nurse?


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## Dayna (Aug 16, 2012)

I don't know but I'm eager to find out what others have to say!


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## clearwtrbeach (May 10, 2012)

You may want to give her some alfalafa hay for some extra roughage. I had one doe who was just mean when she had babies but was a good momma, so I just didn't mess with her. I'm not sure you can hold her for them like a goat, dog or other livestock. Her not being in a good mood, could be she'll be like the one I had and just mean when she has babies- be careful you don't get bit until you know. Congrats.


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## sbaker (Nov 11, 2012)

I have done that before! I kept one little kit alive for a week that way while I was waiting for another mama to drop. 12 bunnies is awesome! The biggest litter I ever had was 14, and the poor mama's definitely need help feeding that many if you want a good turnout. The best way to do this would probably be to take a few bunnies out, and keep them warm with a heat lamp. keep these separate from the others, and feed them a few times a day off the mama. Most mama rabbits only feed thier bunnies once a day, but doing it by hand, you would want to do it at least twice, to make sure they are getting enough. Have fun!


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## neubunny (Nov 7, 2012)

First - congrats! and what breed?

entirely possible that she WILL be able to care for them all -- some rabbits, especially the larger breeds, do just fine with large litters. 

While I handle all my baby bunnies right from birth, I can do so because the mamas are very tame and know my scent. And I know breeders who 'help' the weaker kits by flipping mama over and letting the weaker ones have more chance to nurse. But if the mama isn't friendly, attempting to handle her and the babies may cause more problems (re mama rejecting kits) than just leaving them alone. 

If your other bunny has a smaller litter within a week, I would definitely foster a few over.


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## KarmakeeFarm (Jun 3, 2012)

DItto what Neubunny says-If a large breed she will do fine-they nurse only once a day and mom will make sure all nurse unless one or 2 are "not right" 
Good Luck!


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## milkmaid (Sep 15, 2010)

Thanks! She is a New Zealand rabbit.


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## goatiegirl (Jan 7, 2013)

My mini rex only would feed her babies if left alone. She would jump right out of her nesting box if someone came in the room. They only nurse once or twice a day if I remember right.


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## J.O.Y. Farm (Jan 10, 2012)

I have NZ doe too! We are going to breed her come March


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## neubunny (Nov 7, 2012)

NZ are a nice large breed. She should handle 12.


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## hrlej1 (May 22, 2013)

My California just had 12 last night. I have a second due in 4 days. I am hoping she can handle them. Her last litter she had 7 and took real good care of them.


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## milkmaid (Sep 15, 2010)

That's great! Sadly, we lost 3 out of that litter, but we've had like a dozen litters since then, and now we have about 96 rabbits. We're going to be processing more than half of them next week.


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## J.O.Y. Farm (Jan 10, 2012)

Wow! And I thought our 30+ last year was a lot! 

We just had a liter of 12 a few weeks ago and only list one  I was pleasantly surprised


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## arcadia (Mar 12, 2014)

I have a l ionhead that just had 12 babys today they all look health y hope everything go well


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## kbrenton92 (Oct 7, 2013)

My sister and I bred and showed rabbits for almost 7 years and lost a very minimal number of babies. If we did it was just from the mom rejecting them, which is normal for any animal. Our biggest litter was 13 out of a rex rabbit and lost none of them! If she just had them recently in the past couple of days I would let her be. You can uncover them to check on them but I wouldn't recommend holding them for about 4 or 5 days


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