My sister doesn't give up easily and wasn't about to just sit by and watch her kill off the rest of the litter without at least trying to save them. After some research on the Internet, she found some advice to try goat milk and an eye dropper. So she tried feeding them once a day and once at night like the mother would normally do.
The first night was really difficult, the babies had trouble breathing from all the fluid still in their noses, and they were cold, even though they had been in a nest of hay and rabbit fur. She managed to get at least a dropper or two into each one and tucked them in next to each other.
The next morning when she checked on them she was amazed to find they all made it through the first night and were warm and wiggling around. It takes about 1 hour and 1/2 hours to feed six with an eye dropper.
They are four days old now and get around well for not being able to see yet. They seem to be getting used to feeding time because they settle down quickly once she picks them up and cradles them. Each eats up to two droppers (about 1ml), so they are eating well. She says as soon as their tummies are full they fall asleep just like human babies.
I've attached pictures that my sister sent me of the tiny babies. The pictures are a bit fuzzy, because she wasn't sure how far away to hold the camera.
These are mini French lops and although it doesn't look like it in the photos, the babies do have some hair. The blue grey color you see in the pictures is fine slick hair; they even have tiny whiskers on their noses. The pink bellies no not have hair yet. Those will eventually be white. They have a little grey dot on their chins. If you want to keep up on their status, you can check her blog: http://www.kimberlake.com/
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Comments: 11
We, too, fed them milk with eye droppers. We took shifts with the neighbors and fed them every four hours. Our parents either stayed home with them or took them to work with them to make sure the feedings continued. You have to be very careful feeding them with eyedroppers because if you aren't careful, the milk will come out their little noses. I think they became used to the eyedroppers rather quickly, and it became easier and easier to feed them. As has already been mentioned, it is very difficult to keep them alive. In our cases, only one bunny out of the litters made it. The others seemed to get sick one by one, and I remember my father put a green mark on the rabbit's head who ended up being the sole survivor. The one that lived was eventually released into the woods near our house when she was old enough to fend for herself.
I wonder, since these were wild bunnies, if their ability to survive may have been better since their breed was used to "roughing it"? That was almost 30 years ago. Isn't it interesting that the procedures for keeping them alive haven't changed at all? Eyedroppers filled with milk and keeping them in a warm bed sound like really all you can do for them. And avoid cats. We learned that one the hard way!
Please keep us up to date on how they are doing. I wish you all the best.
Hope cupid is wonderful to you and here's a ten too! Happy Valentine's Day