When Should You Take Bunny Babies Away From Their Mom?
If cage space allows, I remove the doe from the litter at seven weeks. I like to keep them together and in their original cage for another week before moving them. I think that allows them to deal with one stress at a time.
At eight weeks or beyond, I move the kits into individual cages, if there’s space, or by pairs, or perhaps I have just moved the bucks into one cage and the does into another. In the worst case, I’ve moved the dam and does to a cage and left the bucks together. Optimally, each kit would have their own cage so that none are damaged as I wait until the four-to-six month old period when I can better assess their show potential, brood potential, or pet potential.
If I didn’t rebreed the dam at five weeks, I will most likely rebreed her now or within the week, assuming she is in good health.
The dam and the kits now receive the regular 3 oz. of feed. Several kits still together are free fed to make sure each gets enough feed.
Weaning is a stressful time in the lives of young rabbits. Keep an eye out for weaning enteritis. If it is your practice to put probiotics in water during stressful times, this would be a good time to do that.
