Joe's Bunny

Joe is my son in law and comes over to help me often.
He came over today and wanted to till the garden OK, don't turn down good help.
As he was working he stopped and called me, 'Look at this' he had turned up two small animals from the soil, they were very mangled from the tiller. He said they looked like moles...I said NO NO they are baby rabbits .
I raise rabbits and know what they look like when very small.
We dug around and found one that had not been hit by the tiller, very alive.
Two day ago one of my rabbits had bunnies so I garbed it and put it in with the 6 others babies.
I've read a mother will accept other babies up to a week. Well this rabbit is black looking, has about the same fur as my white ones so we will see what happens.

Keep us posted on how they are doing

Good save!! I hope they are all okay.

Hey Rentman, way to go. I just have one question, will the wild bunny infect your domestic stock due to any diseases it might carry. Just asking...Thanks Hay

Don't know Hay , will let you know.
May not know for a while.
Dwight

I have put wild babies in with my does several times, sometimes at a few weeks old. They have always taken them and done well. I used to put all the babies in my shirt for a few minutes so they all smelled similar and then put them back in the box. She couldnt tell the diffrence.

Clever JYL. It's just always so cool for me to see men who are tender hearted to the so helpless baby animals, poultry, whatever. Women are generally so kind to the little one but when I see a man show acts of kindness it makes me feel proud as a man...Haystack

glad your doe accepted them. Hope all goes well

It's my understanding that doe rabbits are not very 'motherly' in the way a lot of other animals are...
They clean up the bunnies after birth but only visits them once a day to nurse them.
If a baby dies it will stay in the nest, she will not remove it, so I must check the nest every day for the first week.
This wild rabbit is right in the middle of his new brothers and sisters, so he knows how to keep warm. ( I say He....wont know for sure for a month or so )

Oh wow, I've never come across one sooo small. Great save, rooting for the little guy or gal :0)

That's a very cool story. Hope all turns out well.

I had a nest of baby bunnies in my veg garden last year. Smart momma rabbit realized that putting them inside the fenced garden was safer than anywhere else. Except that the fence was supposed to keep the rabbits out! Oh well. They were very cute and after a few days of my discovering them, she moved them to a new nest.
I have almost pitchforked bunny nests several times....

Checking to see how the baby bunnies were doing..? Hope all is well.

Every one doing well and getting fat.
I've been checking every day and will take a pic when his eyes open, soon.
'Joe's Bunny' is going to be very interesting color, his fur has shades of brown black and white.
Can't explain it but a picture will show his color, SOON.
Mom has been more aggressive than ever before when I inspect them in the mornings. The bunnies are all snuggled together in a nest of her fur and when I pick up one they don't like it because my hands are cold, and I don't handle them any more than necessary.

Dwight

Wonderful news, so happy to hear it. You did good!!!

That is great!

If that cottontail baby is still alive most likely it will make it. I raise rabbits so I am keen to any news about them. Around here occasionally I read about crosses between Californians or New Zealands with cottontails. I never thought about how until I read this post.

Hope you keep posting pictures until it is grown. It will be interesting to watch the progress.

I plan to make a pet of the cotton tail and will breed him or her, but that will take six months or more.
The NZW I have take that long to mature into a breeder.
Does anyone know how long it takes for a wild rabbit to mature ?? Maybe sooner ?

Dwight

You will have to watch the cottontail to see how he is adapting to captivity. In my experience, they don't do as well as domestics once they are grown. We had a domestic rabbit escape when he was very small and he lived loose in the yard, under the chicken coop. He bred with every cottontail he could find. Now we have lots of wil rabbits with black ears and noses.

Good Morning everyone from 'Joe's Bunny'
His eyes are open today and when I took him out of the nest, I could tell he was looking at every thing.
The other ones are also doing well but do not have their eyes open yet, they were born March 17 and I found 'Joe's Bunny the 19th
He's getting his milk but is not as large as his new siblings, but he is a 'Wild One' and they are never as large as my NZW's which get to 8-12 lbs when adults.

He is looking pretty good. Guess you will be handling it a lot just to get it tame.

I have to say I am suprised it has lived. I'm sure it's because it was raised by a rabbit and not on a bottle.

Oh he's a cutie. I didn't know it was even possible to tame wild rabbits. At least he'll never have to worry about predators.

AnnieBBB, I think you are right, this bunny IS wild.
Before his eyes were open I could pick him up and take a pic with little trouble.
His eyes have been open and I was trying to show him to my sister and I almost lost him three time , jumping, trying to get out of my hands, had a hard time showing him.
So I don't know.... I will try and hold him more and see. He is a cuttie and his colors are distinctive.

Dwight

yeah, he will probably a little wild. But you know if I don't handle my babies when it comes time to butcher them they can be real hard to catch sometimes.

Here is a pic of my first litter this Spring from my older doe. I have two fist time does due any time. I hope they deliver some babies for the freezer. Rabbit food ain't cheap anymore!

Lots of fluff! How many bunnies are there?

Would it help to put one of your shirts, a sock or something that smelled like you in the hutch? It would be nice not to have him/her be so afraid.

texasrockgarden, I was going to ask the same thing Porkpa asked, how many babies are in that pile of fluff?

Texas, I love those little fuzzy wazzys, so cute, not much fur around them...I clip some of the fur off the ones I butcher and put it in with a doe that is due, works great All of mine are out of the nest and looking good. I give the adults a treat of spinach leaves now and then..
I only have 3 adults rabbits, 1 male NZW a female NZW and another female of unknown breed, she is as large as the NZW but solid black, I named her Shadow. The white female always has 6 babies while as Shadow has 10-12...a real problem for me. I know she can only take care of 6 or some one will not get milk, so I must go in at birth and cull the smallest. Now that is a job I wish on no one but it must be done.

AnnieBBB, I'll try that sock trick, can't hurt...



This message was edited Apr 4, 2011 8:13 PM

We had baby rabbits once, and thought they looked like little hippopotamuses.

I guess they do when they are small and their tummy's are full.

Culling is not something I'd like to do, but I understand that it's sometimes necessary. I hope she has a smaller litter for you this time!

My two first time does had babies last night. The NZ first timer had hers @ 35 days and they are tiny little fellers. The American Chinchilla first timer had hers @ 32 days. Don't know big they are. I just saw movement under the hair she pulled. It always amazes me how they know to make a nest in the straw and to pull hair.

Don't have a count on the new babies yet cause I don't like to handle the new babies for several days until the mother settles down some.

My old NZ doe had hers at 36 days and some more at 38 days. The first three were big and the last four were small. She must have double bread somehow because I left her with the buck 3 days. She had not taken the buck the first two times this year.

I no longer breed in the winter, lost 2 litters from the cold, but had the rabbits outside.
Had a hard time getting the 2 does to breed this time, heard to with hold food for a day before putting them in with the buck. Never have left them in for more than a couple of hours.
Both my does have theirs in 30 32 days.

Happy Bunnying ^_^

I saw the prettiest rabbits in the pet store yesterday. Expensive too. Over $100 for a pair.

They can pretty expensive these days when you are trying to buy them. Try selling them though. ^_^ Make one wonder where they come up with those prices.

Isn't that thw way with most stuff. *sigh*