How to Care for Kits in Winter

1 Keep the Nest at 30–32°C

Prepare the nest before birth with warmth; kits can freeze to death within minutes in cold. If outside is below 5°C, place a hot-water bottle in the nest, removing it as fur grows.

2 Clear Nostril Crust

Amniotic fluid, blood or dust can crust on a newborn’s nostrils, blocking breathing and nursing. Clean with a drop of chloramphenicol eye drops to soften the crust, then gently remove it.

3 Nurse 1–2 Times Daily

Place the doe in the box center, wake the kits by touch and put them at the teats to nurse.

4 Feed Weak Kits First

Litters vary in size; weak kits are frailer. Let weak kits nurse 1 minute before the whole litter, so after a week they grow evenly.

5 Foster If Milk Is Short

If the doe has too many or low milk, foster some to a full doe. Rub her inguinal secretion on the kit’s head and belly so she recognizes her scent; avoid urine, which irritates skin.

6 Mastitis Care

If a kit’s urine is clear and its droppings black and pelleted, it is healthy. Yellow or white, loose, foul stool means doe mastitis: inject the doe with gentamicin (80k units) mixed with houttuynia injection (2 ml), twice daily with warm compresses, for 2–4 days. Give the kit oral chloramphenicol or gentamicin injection and it recovers soon.

7 Dark, Small Environment

Newly opened eyes still regulate temperature poorly and fear light and sleep much; keep them in a small dark space until they adapt.

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