So hopefully hand rearing baby Angora rabbits is rarely needed, but in the eventuality that it is, here is some guidance on how to do it. Recently I had a doe who gave birth to a litter of babies, she started to show signs of failing health prior to the birth and sadly died immediately following the birth of the babies. The two babies were born on the 6th September 2021.
With no mother and no other does with babies at the same time to act as a surrogate I was left then to hand rear the day old babies which is often not overly successful from day one.
There were two babies to hand rear so I immediately made a small nest in a felt hat for them and placed a face towel inside to soak up and urine and regularly change this each day. They are born with minimal hair and their ears are tucked back on the sides of their head and they have their eyes closed to start with so are fairly helpless.
I feed them every 2-3 hours throughout the day from around 7am to 10pm but not overnight and they take about 8ml at a time but it does vary a bit though. One is larger and stronger than the other and feeds really well, while the smaller of the two takes a few minutes to get the hang of feeding each time.
I take each one out of the home made nest and use a paper towel to hold it on its side or back and use a small syringe with a mini miracle nipple small animal feeder to feed them a mixture of goats milk and small animal milk.
Here are some videos from week one and I am pleased to report they are doing well and made it past the first week.
I will do follow up posts to show their progress and for now I am glad they are over the first week.