How should baby rabbits be raised so they can grow up healthily?

Getting enough colostrum. A newborn kit has no fur on its body surface, its eyes are tightly shut, its ears are closed, its ability to regulate body temperature is very poor, and its digestive organs are not yet fully developed. The colostrum secreted by the doe during the first 1-2 days after kindling contains large amounts of antibodies and trace elements, and also has a mild laxative effect, which helps promote the growth of the kits and helps them pass all their meconium. Therefore, if the kits can get enough colostrum in time and sleep well, their normal growth and development can be ensured. Some does, especially first-time does, do not have a strong mothering instinct and do not nurse their kits after kindling. In this case, the doe should be fixed inside the nest box, kept quiet, and the kits should be placed beside the doe's teats so they can suckle freely, maintaining this 4-5 times per day.

Timely fostering of kits and hand-rearing. In actual production, it is common for does to differ greatly in the number of kits they kindle. For this reason, the work of adjusting and fostering kits must be done well. Generally, a doe with normal lactation can nurse 6-8 kits. The fostering method is: take out kits with similar birth dates (preferably no more than 2-3 days apart) from the nest box, divide them into litters according to body size and physical strength, then smear a few drops of the doe's milk or urine on the kits to confuse her sense of smell, preventing the doe from rejecting the foster kits and biting or killing them. If the doe dies after the kits are born, has no milk, or has a mammary disease and cannot nurse, and no suitable doe is available for fostering, hand-rearing must be used. Cow's milk, goat's milk or condensed milk can be used to replace the doe's colostrum. Where conditions permit, 200 ml of fresh cow's milk can be mixed with 3 ml of cod liver oil, 2 grams of salt, and 1 fresh egg, mixed evenly, boiled to sterilize, then cooled to 37°C-38°C before being fed to the kits. Soy milk or rice broth with an appropriate amount of salt can also be used as a substitute, kept at 37°C-38°C. When feeding, a glass dropper or syringe can be used and the kits allowed to suck freely.

Timely supplementary feeding. After the kits open their eyes, they grow very quickly, while the mother's milk has begun to decrease and can no longer meet the nutritional needs of the kits. Therefore, kits should start receiving supplementary feed at 16-18 days of age. The supplementary feed should be nutritious and easy to digest, such as soy milk, okara, or chopped young tender grass and vegetable leaves. When supplementing feed, feed small amounts more often, 5-6 times per day. After 20 days of age, an appropriate amount of oatmeal, wheat bran, cornmeal and a small amount of charcoal powder, vitamins, minerals, and garlic, onion, etc. can be added, to strengthen the kits' constitution and reduce disease.

Doing the weaning work well. Kits have small stomachs and weak digestive power, but they grow and develop quickly. After 30 days of age, they can gradually shift to feed as the main food and mother's milk as a supplement, and preparations for weaning should be made. Kits are generally weaned at 28-30 days of age. The weaning method is generally one-time weaning, that is, separating the whole litter of kits from the doe at once. Another method is batch weaning, that is, first separating the well-developed kits from the doe, leaving the poorly developed kits in the original cage to be nursed for a period of time before separating them. With both methods, care should be taken to keep the kits in the original cage for a period of time, and to keep feed, environment and management unchanged as much as possible, so as to prevent changes in the environment after weaning from having an adverse effect on the kits.

Doing a good job of sanitation and disease prevention. Rabbit cages, rabbit houses and utensils should be disinfected regularly with disinfectants, the ground should be kept clean, and the rabbit house should be well ventilated. Appropriate amounts of coccidiostat powder, robenidine, sulfadimidine and other drugs should be added to the feed regularly, and the corresponding vaccines should be injected regularly, to enhance the immunity of the kits.