Why Should You House Rabbit Kits Separately from the Doe?

1 Benefits of Separate Housing

Separating means moving the kits, nest box and all, to another cage after birth, and letting the doe nurse them twice a day (morning and evening), returning her right after. The benefits:

1. Better for the doe and for productivity. In a shared cage the doe is chased for milk, loses rest, and recovers poorly; she may even crush or eat the kits. Separated, she nurses on a schedule and eats and rests freely, aiding recovery. A well-recovered doe can come into heat and be bred again about 3 days after kindling and produce another litter within a month.

2. Avoids food competition and gut disease. From about 18 days the kits start competing with the doe for feed, which hurts both — the kits’ guts aren’t mature, and the doe’s feed is hard for them to digest, damaging normal gut function and causing digestive illness.

3. Fewer kit illnesses, higher survival. Coccidiosis is a common kit disease, usually from the doe’s feces (carrying oocysts) contaminating food or water. Separation sharply cuts coccidiosis, septicemia, and infectious stomatitis.

2 Care After Separation

4. Once separated, check the kits’ growth often. Red ears signal good nutrition; pale, dull ears mean poor nutrition needing prompt correction. Also prevent the kits from escaping and from attacks by other animals.