Early Weaning

My preference is to wean babies at 8 weeks old. However, I wean early in several circumstances.

I currently have a mom with a litter of 7. SEVEN!! I'm going to definitely take at least the biggest 3-4 away from her at 6 weeks to reduce the strain on her. I also want to give the smaller babies a chance to have some alone time with mom and more of a chance at the feed bowl.

I'm also about to wean a litter of five babies early. Quite simply, one normally sized wooly doe and five normal sized 6-week old wooly babies is entirely too much bunny for the cage! Since I've had multiple LARGE litters, the biggest cages are taken up, and some of these big bunny families are having to make due with a 24x24.


When I wean early, I make sure to double the amount of oats mixed in with the food, as well as upping the amount of hay for both mom and her babies. I also keep an extra close eye on the babies for the first few days. I've never had a problem with weaning earlier than my preference, but you can never tell when something bad WILL happen. Rabbits are such delicate little animals.


-Kristen
Keep's Rabbitry