Bunny Rearing: Part 2

  As I mentioned in my last post, sometimes our young bunnies flip and flop their way right out of their nest box. Usually this isn't a problem, but last week I was in Blackberry's pen checking on her litter. I lifted up the nest box and discovered that one little charcoal colored bunny had somehow ended up under the large wooden nest box. My best guess is he flipped his way out of the box at some point and since he was so dark, we didn't see him and put the nest box back on top of the poor little thing. 

   He was just laying there all squashed and flat and cold. He wasn't even a week old,. His eyes weren't even open yet, and his fur was barely grown in. I was sure the bunny would be dead or close to it, but as I stood there recovering from the shock of finding a bunny where no bunny should be, the pathetic little thing started moving. I scooped him up and could feel that he was cold and weak so taking a page from one of my favorite blogger friends, I tucked that little creature into a place where he would warm up quick!

  I wasn't kidding when I said the little guy was smooshed flat. He'd be stuck between a heavy wooden nest box and wire flooring for probably around 12 hours. His head was all squished, and he'd missed a couple meals from mom so he was looking thin. Once he'd warmed up, I fished him out and flipped Blackberry over to let the little guy try and nurse. He showed surprising enthusiasm, but didn't seem to be getting much in the way of nutrition. I guess his newly remodeled head shape was keeping him from getting a good latch onto his mother's nipples.

  Luckily, I had just milked the goat so had a more than ample supply of fresh, warm goat's milk. I grabbed a small syringe and somehow managed to get about 4cc's of milk into the little guy.

  Since that day, we have been syringe feeding him twice a day. He is getting a mixture of goat milk, kitten milk replacer, and heavy cream. After that first day, I attached a bit of rubber tubing to the end of the syringe to make something a little softer on his mouth.

  Since we were going to be feeding him twice a day, I decided the little guy needed a name. I've taken to calling him Jack. Short for Flapjack...because Pancake is just a terrible name for a rabbit. If he turns out to be female (I am terrible at sexing young bunnies), I guess we can call her Flap-jackie.

  I pulled one of Jack's littermates to show the size diffrence between him and his siblings. Little did I know that I had grabbed the one behemoth of a bunny in the litter.

This is a more accurate picture of the size difference.

  The little guy seems to have some damaged tissue on both sides of his face which is slowly healing, but other than that and his small stature, he seems to be doing pretty well. He is up and walking around. The last couple days he has started nibbling at the rabbit food and greens in his pen. Hopefully we will be able to wean him off the twice daily feeding very soon.

  I'm not sure what the future holds for little FlapJack/Jackie. With his small size I doubt he'll be any good for meat. He will probably end up being a pretty tame rabbit after all this special treatment . He always totters his way to the front of the pen to get his twice daily feeding. I think he would make a pretty darn good pet for the right family. Hopefully, if all goes well, we will be looking for a home for little Jack in a few weeks.