When the pairing successfully ends and the rabbit becomes pregnant, then the period of waiting for the cubs begins. At this time, the rabbit bosses face many questions, how to take care of the rabbit before and during childbirth, how long the pregnancy lasts and how to help her. It is impossible to predict possible risks, but it is realistic to reduce it, providing the female with the necessary living conditions.
In this article, we will examine the main questions: how long does the pregnancy last in rabbits, how to recognize it, how to care for a pregnant rabbit and how to help the female in labor.
Table of contents
How to recognize pregnancy rabbits
It is possible to determine whether a female is pregnant or not in several ways 2 weeks after mating with a male.
Fingertips need to grope the fruits in the abdomen of the female, they feel like a chain of balls. We must behave carefully so as not to harm the kids. The rabbit should be taken by the ears and scruff of the right hand, and the left should be grasped between the hind paws below. The thumb should be put on the right side, the other fingers on the left. If the pregnancy has come, then it will be possible to grope embryos in the stomach.
For comparison, before this is to check the rabbit, who does not expect offspring. If there was no previous manipulation, there is no confidence in their actions, it is better to contact the veterinarian so that the lives of the rabbits are not threatened.
Other common symptoms are:
- Aggression. Males sit down to the rabbit and look at her behavior. Pregnant women do not accept courtship, growl at the male, run after him in the cage. Sometimes females do not refuse to re-act. Often the rabbit in the position of bite the owner, do not allow to touch yourself. This is due to the inclusion of maternal instinct. Others behave the other way around calmly, hiding in the house, avoid contact with people.
- Roundness Approximately a week after the covering, the female's abdomen begins to round off, but this can and not be noticed under a layer of fluff. Closer to childbirth rabbit is hard to walk, they become like a ball, mostly lie.
- Nesting. It is necessary to put a little hay in the cage and see what the bunny will do to him. A pregnant female will take it to the teeth and begin to nest it. On the same principle, the rabbit plucks fluff from his belly before giving birth.
- Changes in nutrition. In the waiting period for the baby, the females often begin to drink a lot of liquid and eat, their taste preferences change. So, the rabbit can defiantly throw out the food that is familiar to her from the trough, showing that she wants something else.But such changes are usually in the first week of waiting for the baby, then everything falls into place.
This condition, when the pairing did not end successfully, in place of the ovarian follicle a yellow body appeared. About 2.5 weeks after crossing, the female behaves like a pregnant woman. If after this time the activity decreases, the rabbit is ready to mate again, then we can talk about the falsity of the process. This is due to the low survivability of the sperm partner, as well as when the female gives birth without interruption between pregnancies. And then we will talk about how much a rabbit bears rabbits in time.
How many bears and when does the lambing occur?
So how long does a rabbit's pregnancy last? Rabbits begin to mate at the age of 3-5 months. The gestation period ranges from 28 to 35 days, mostly about a month (30–31 days). The term depends on the breed of rabbits, the number of cubs, the age of the animal.
Rabbits of large breeds (Flandres, giants) go pregnant longer, while small (decorative) give birth faster. The more embryos in the stomach of the uterus, the faster they will be born. Young rabbits give birth to about 4–5 babies at a time, their gestation period is longer than that of experienced individuals.
Toxicosis can both greatly disturb the individual, and proceed with mild symptoms. Frequent manifestations of toxicosis are:
- difficulty breathing;
- frequent urination;
- depressed state;
- failures in the central nervous system;
- smell of acetone from the mouth.
How to care for a pregnant rabbit?
As we already mentioned, the gestation period in rabbits lasts on average 30 days. It is necessary for the female to ensure tranquility by isolating it from other rabbits, external stimuli (noise, bright light). It is easy to frighten a pregnant woman, which can provoke a miscarriage.
A male after birth must be transplanted, otherwise he may injure the babies and re-fertilize the rabbit. During gestation, special attention should be paid to the diet and living conditions of the future mother.
Nutrition pregnant
The water in the rabbit cells should always be, especially for the period of the cycle. At this time, the female wants to drink, in case of strong thirst she can eat the cubs. The diet needs to be diversified and included in it:
- fresh vegetables such as beets, carrots, cabbage;
- grass and hay from herbs;
- vitamin supplements such as vitamins C, D, fish oil.
With a poor diet, females will have problems with milk, babies will be born weak.
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Preparing the cells for the period of birth time
In the rabbit house provide ventilation, while avoiding drafts. High temperatures, bright light should also be excluded. Do not forget about hygiene, cleaning is best done at times more often than usual. Approximately 5 days before delivery, a nest for babies should be placed in the cage.
The rabbit dwelling should be disinfected so that the infections to her and the offspring are not terrible. For treatment, you can use a special disinfector or hot water with potassium permanganate. After applying the first cage, rinse with hot water.
Excellent homemade nest out of the cardboard box. It should be about 10 cm longer than the female in the supine position. If it turns out differently, the rabbit will not understand the purpose of this structure. On one side of the nest should be cut out with a threshold for the rabbit. It is necessary to do so that the female was able to go in and out, and the litter and the kids did not fall out.
In the finished nest you need to put clean, soft hay, part of it should be left in a cage. So the rabbit will be able to arrange a place for kids to your liking. Instead of hay they use sawdust, shavings, pieces of newspapers.
Signs of the approaching rabbit circus
What is the gestation period in rabbits we have disassembled. The female has cubs for about 1 month. The last week of gestation of offspring is especially hard tolerated by females. They should not be let out for a walk. The efforts of man, rabbit, should be directed to the improvement of the cage and nest for future offspring. You can judge that babies will be born from day to day by the following features:
- Rabbits are nervous, they behave aggressively towards other individuals and people.
- Sometimes the state of the females is too calm before the birth of babies, they climb into a dark corner and sit quietly there. This is not a deviation from the norm.
- The female again begins to actively eat and drink plenty of fluids.
- Future mother arranges a nest a few days before the roundabout. She moves the hay to a place designed for babies and lays it out. In the same place, she spreads her down from her belly and chest.
If the female pinches down, but does not carry it into the nest, it should be carefully moved there.When the rabbit tears up fluff long before giving birth, you should tidy it up so as not to clog, and later put it back in the cage. Such mothers require attention to themselves, most likely they will not properly care for their offspring.
Does a person need help at birth and how many days does the rabbit give birth?
Bass rabbit occurs more often at night or in the morning, rarely during the day. The process takes 10–60 minutes, but can take several minutes, more than an hour. Females usually give birth without help, you just need to control the process, checking whether everything passes without problems every 10 minutes. If the rabbit cannot give birth to large calves or other difficulties arise, then the help of a veterinarian is necessary.
But how many rabbits does a rabbit give birth? Up to 15 rabbits can come into the world, guessing the exact number before the birth will not work. Usually there are 5–8 babies in litters, but in young females 3-4 babies can be born.
Rabbit leaders make sure that children are not born on the floor. If this happens, the rabbit needs to be transplanted into another cage, wipe his hands in fluff from the nest and transfer the cubs there, covering them from above.It is necessary to return the female not earlier than in 20 minutes so that the human smell will disappear.
Ideally, the rabbit after giving birth licks its young, covers it with down in the nest and feeds it. But if she behaves differently (scatters, tramples rabbits, shows aggression towards them), it is possible to provide babies with a hot-water bottle and to plant the female only for feeding.
If this does not work out, the cubs will have to be transplanted to other females. To do this, they are cleaned of the old fluff, rubbed with fluff from the new nest and enclosed by a calm and mature female.
When the rabbits are in the nest well-fed and heated, you should not disturb the mother, it will unnerve her. You can pick up the young when they are covered with wool and begin to crawl out of the nest.
Rabbit breeders get from healthy rabbits, which will soon multiply the offspring. But Pregnancy and childbirth females require moral, practical training from humans. He should pay attention to the baby and the newborn, as well as observe the rules of care relating to them.
Now you know how much a pregnant rabbit walks and how to correctly determine her interesting position.
Finally, we propose to see an interesting video on the topic:
Good time
Can you please tell me if the rabbit has wound up at night, how should the nest be checked? Thanks