# Urgent! How do I know when my doe is in labour?



## Akittay (Aug 22, 2015)

I'm guessing she is in labour, she's been doing this "pushing" gestire and licking her parts for about two hours now.. Im really tired and its her first time giving birth and I'm staying awake to make sure everything goes well but now I'm starting to worry.. She hasen't even built a nest so what do I do about the babies? Help! Urgent!


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## ladysown (Aug 22, 2015)

you may need to check if the kits are stuck.

some rabbits make up a nice nest AFTER the kits are born.


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## swarning1222 (Aug 22, 2015)

I caught my girl in the middle of having them so I'm not sure how she was acting before, but I do know there will be blood if she's in labor. And that's normal. But you should give her a box. It will probably put her a little more at ease too and then she will have somewhere to put them. Anything you can grab right now will work, I used a cardboard box and her favorite blanket. It happened so fast, but I think my rabbit built her nest (with the hair) after she put them in the box too.


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## Akittay (Aug 22, 2015)

I gave her a box and hay but she never built a nest, she was pushing last night but today she's not doing it anymore, and she was due on the 21st


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## ladysown (Aug 22, 2015)

you may need to turn her over and take a good looks at her girlie bits, just to make sure you have no stuck kits.

Keep a good watch on her.


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## MiniLopMad (Aug 23, 2015)

Rabbits shouldn't be in labour for too long, so make sure you check there is no stuck kits  

If you really can't tell, take her to a vet and they'll be able to help! 

I hope everything goes well


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## Akittay (Aug 23, 2015)

She had two babies so far but not in her nest, I gave her another box and she now uses it, but still no furView attachment ImageUploadedByRabbit Forum1440311752.605908.jpg


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## JBun (Aug 23, 2015)

When you think she is done and had a chance to rest, you can try plucking some fur off of her belly to line the nest with. This will also help expose the nipples and stimulate milk production. Her fur should be easier to pull off of the belly at this time. Though she may still pull some out on her own once she's all done giving birth.

Until you get a nice pile of fur in there for the babies, they need to be able to nestle into something to keep warm. The hay needs to be built up some, then make a hollow towards the back of the nest box(like a burrow) that they can nestle down into. If you have a grass hay that is softer, I would use that. Maybe use a bit of fleece(nothing with holes in it or loose threads) to put under and around them temporarily, to keep them warm until you get some fur in there. You'll need to pluck enough fur so that there is a layer below them and on top of them when they nestle down into it. If it is warm where you are, you won't need as much fur in the nest, as you don't want the babies overheating. Just enough for them to nestle into if they are a bit cold.

Also make sure to use a nest box the babies can't squirm their way out of and get separated and chilled. Something with high enough sides to keep them in, but low enough for mom to jump in to nurse. The nest box should be big enough for mom to turn around in comfortably, but not so big that the babies will wander too far away from the main part of the nest.

Keep a close eye on them the next 24 hours to make sure mom feeds them. They will have plump bellies if she has, usually with a whitish spot where the milk is in the stomach.

Cute babies 

Here's what my nest box looked like.


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## Akittay (Aug 23, 2015)

Pulling the fur right now


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## Akittay (Aug 23, 2015)

Sorry for the fast comment I'm just nervous


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## Akittay (Aug 23, 2015)

Does pulling fur hurt her?


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## Akittay (Aug 23, 2015)

Two hours later,,, both of the babies are okay.
My doe gave birth to another one out of the nest and it's dead, But it was still warm when I arrived but dead. 
I don't know what to do, I'm really tired but I don't want her to have babies out of the nest.


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## BlazeBunnies (Aug 23, 2015)

She should be done now... Just make sure the two are nice and warm and in a secure place that the doe can access easily


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## Akittay (Aug 23, 2015)

Nope she wasn't even done.. I had to go to sleep and I wake up with a fourth baby... Dead because of the cold I think


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## JBun (Aug 23, 2015)

Sorry about the baby  

The baby may have already been dead due to the length of time it took for her to deliver it. Usually once a rabbit starts having the babies, she should have them all in half hours time. If it drags out too long, this puts the babies at risk.


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## Akittay (Aug 23, 2015)

Yeah, youre right, but the thing is, she doesnt feed them, she hops in the breedning box, she squishes them and eats the hay in the box, their belly isnt round at all, this is so hard.. What can I do?


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## JBun (Aug 23, 2015)

Does she have plenty of hay elsewhere that she can munch on instead of the hay in the nest? Rabbits only nurse once a day, at the most twice, so she probably won't feed them until tonight. 

If she has plenty of hay in her cage that she can eat, and she is still going in the nest box, you may need to pull it out of there until this evening, so the kits don't get trampled. Then this evening put it in there to see if she will nurse them. If not, then you may need to pull it back out and try again later. If they haven't been fed by morning, when it's been more than 24 hours since birth, then you will probably need to step in.

I just want to warn you to be prepared for this not to work out. First time mothers often have issues knowing how to be good moms, and sometimes these litters may not survive. There are some things you can try if you need to intervene like holding her and carefully putting the babies to her belly to nurse, but they don't always work out.


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## Thumperina (Aug 23, 2015)

I would say try not to stress her too much 
Rabbits instinctively hide their kits so that only mother knows where they are (in the wild I mean)
I hope things work out for the 2 survivors. 
could I recommend Sherwood forest pellets for nursing mothers and babies? IS she supposed to switch to alfalfa?


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## Akittay (Aug 23, 2015)

Tomorrow I'm going to the pet store to get high quality food 
Thanks for the advice 
She gave birth to a 5th baby just now and of course it's dead, I don't mind I just want my doe to be okay and nothing stays in. If however the mother gives up on her young I'll send them to a rabbit shelter with great moms


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## Akittay (Aug 23, 2015)

Oh! And I forgot to mention she does have hay scattered everywhere


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## JBun (Aug 23, 2015)

What food do you have her on now? Is it alfalfa based? How much does she get and how much does she weight? 

There's not really anything a shelter could do for the kits unless they just happen to have a nursing doe with new kits or kits ready to be weaned, that they could foster to. Hand feeding can be done but is really the least advisable option due to the aspiration risks involved.

If she hasn't fed them by morning, your best bet is to hold them up to her belly to try and nurse. Best way is to sit her on your lap and hold onto her, then have someone else bring the babies up from underneath to nurse. But you may not even need to worry. As long as she has milk coming in, she should get to the point where she will want to nurse them to relieve the pressure from the milk.


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## Akittay (Aug 24, 2015)

I threw away the bag of food she currently has, it was one the pet store recommended (no they dont give false advertisement) for pregant rabbits and I'm pretty sure it was alfafa based, i'm not sure of the weigh but she's reaaalaly fat, 
Oh and her nipples are red when I lay her on her back and feed the babies to her,,View attachment ImageUploadedByRabbit Forum1440389551.261322.jpg


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## Akittay (Aug 24, 2015)

I'm not here till tomorrow afternoon so I figured I'd let feed them now
(I left a blanket on her cage in a quiet room all day)


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## JBun (Aug 24, 2015)

It's not usually a good idea to suddenly change a rabbits pelleted food. Reason being it can cause digestive problems. Usually changing a pelleted food takes a gradual transition period of a couple weeks at the least. If you want to change her feed then it's best to continue to feed the pellets she is used to and gradually start adding in some of the new pellets and taking some out of the old pellets, gradually doing more of the new pellets and less of the old, each day until after 2 weeks she would be switched over.

You will also need to start increasing her pellet amount over the next week. Nursing mom's eat quite a bit more, usually 2-3 times the normal amount of pellets, but this needs to be gradually increased over a week or two.

Can you tell if the babies got any milk at all? Or if there was milk in the nipples?


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## Akittay (Aug 24, 2015)

I don't think the babies got any milk at all, I dont even think she's lactating, and ohhh, I didn't know it wasn't good to suddenly change the food. Ugh >.<.. 

I put the doe on her back and let the babies drink for about 10 minutes and their belly hasnt changed :/..


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## JBun (Aug 24, 2015)

Babies will usually only nurse for about 5 minutes. So after 10 minutes, if there was any milk they should have plump bellies. She could still start producing milk, but if not you may need to take her to the vet to get a shot of oxytocin to help stimulate milk production. It may or may not help though.

Hand feeding is a possibility, but can be complicated as it is difficult to prevent the babies from aspirating the milk. But if she doesn't start producing milk, it may be something that will be necessary to try.

The babies can't go more than 48 hours without feeding or they will gradually become too weak to nurse, so keep that in mind. Even waiting 48 hours is pushing it though.


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## BlazeBunnies (Aug 24, 2015)

The doe will fee them at dawn and dusk ... Put on the nipples like how a kit would and see if milk comes out, if milk does then she is lactating if no milk comes out then she isn't.... I have heard that does won't start lactating until all babies are out but I don't know if this is true as all my girls give birth within 30 mins and I miss the birth


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## Akittay (Aug 24, 2015)

Thank you everyone I'll wait 48 hours then I'll start to call the vet


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## BlazeBunnies (Aug 24, 2015)

I wouldn't wait 48 hours a rabbit can hide its pain and then the pain gets too much for them to handle and they show it and they crash fast!


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## swarning1222 (Aug 24, 2015)

My female didn't feed her babies for the first couple days. After about 24 hours (which was probably too long for the babies since they were very week at that point) I started putting them one at a time underneath her to nurse. If you have to do this be very careful she doesn't jump away quick and hurt them. They weren't getting very much milk, if any at first so I had to do it quite a few times throughout the day. But a day or two after she started feeding them on her own. I'm thinking she either didn't have milk at first and the suction helped get the milk out, or, I had a baby die on day 2, so she might not have been going near them because she knew there was a sick one. Just keep watching their bellies to make sure they're eating and don't let them get to the point of dehydration.


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## JBun (Aug 24, 2015)

I agree. I would keep trying to let them nurse throughout the day, several times. If by this evening, or if they seem to be getting weak or dehydrated, I would start syringe feeding them. This needs to be done *very* carefully and very slowly to try and keep them from aspirating.

If there is no milk and you plan on taking her to the vet, you will want to do it today. If you wait til tomorrow that is too late. After 48 hours the kits will be too weak.
http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/orphan.html


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## Akittay (Aug 25, 2015)

She still doesnt feed them, one died and there's the last one on the edge of dying right now, very cold, And is it normal if my doe's nipples are very swollen?


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## swarning1222 (Aug 25, 2015)

Mine were very swollen but I would maybe look up some pictures to see how swollen yours are compared to how they should normally be because they can have some problems with that. Since there's only one left you have to really make sure it's staying warm. Does it seem dehydrated? I rescued a wild baby who was very cold and dehydrated, I put him in a warm room in a cat carrier and I took one towel and rolled it up like a hot dog and made a small circle with it and put hay inside (you can use the mamas fur if you have some) then I would tuck him in there and cover the top with another towel. Then I filled a water bottle with warm-hot water and put that on the outside of the towel close to him (not touching him). He survived so it worked pretty well. If he's weak he might not make it to the top for feeding times though so I would just keep pulling him out (making sure your hands are warm and he stays warm, their temperature can drop very quickly!) and trying to get it to eat. Good luck


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## majorv (Aug 25, 2015)

Does should start feeding their kits within 24 hours. If they haven't been fed by 36 hours you have to find a surrogate doe who's currently nursing or try to feed them yourself with goats milk or KMR. First time moms don't always do things right, unfortunately. I'm sorry you're losing them


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## Akittay (Aug 25, 2015)

Sadly the last one died overnight, I wasn't home all the the day before so I could do anything


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## MiniLopMad (Aug 25, 2015)

I'm so sorry to hear that  First time mothers don't always do a good job, which sucks. 

You did a good job though and you tried, and that's all we can do sometimes


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## Thumperina (Aug 25, 2015)

I am so sorry about her babies. 
Do you plan to just keep her separately from the males?


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## BlazeBunnies (Aug 26, 2015)

I'm sorry to hear that  
First time mothers aren't the best but you did everything you could and your getting her sprayed to avoid this again so good luck!


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## Akittay (Aug 27, 2015)

Yes I am separating them from the males until the vet accepts to spay them


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