What to Do If Your Mother Rabbit Doesn't Pull Any Fur

Baby rabbits need to be kept warm. The mother will usually do this by covering them with a layer of fur that she has pulled from her dewlap. But what if the mother didn't pull any fur? There are a few ways that you can deal with it.

[djdawn]

This was very helpful. My doe just had her kits while I was away, and she didn't pull any fur. She's a very nice, docile rabbit. I can usually touch her and pet her, but she wouldn't let me pull any fur from her dewlap. Her kits were almost frozen to death when I came home, thankfully I was able to warm them up, and they started moving. I started looking for ways to keep them warm, and your video helped a lot. They are now cozy and warm.

[porshapressler]

This is my 1st time with having a bunny, & my lil ones first time as mom🐰She is going to have babies any day now. She hasn’t pulled any fur. I appreciate the video🙏🏾Thank you so much for sharing❤️❤️❤️

[kangalkarabash]

Chris your the best ..u have helped me massively with my rabbitry. Thank u very much for sharing so much knowledge...your better than anly vets I have known

[martinikeya]

Thanks Chris.
My rabbit gave birth tonight and did pull her fur but I was scared of loosing them to cold before morning but watching your video was helpful. I was able to pull up some fur from her chin as you suggested in the video.
Thanks

[miriamtracy]

It is pretty cold here (~35 as a high yesterday and high teens at night right now) and we unexpectedly had a litter on the way. I watched several of your videos and saw the pregnancy signs so we were ready with a nest box for the kits when they came three days ago. But last night we were getting some big gusts of wind and I heard things blowing out in the yard, so we ran out to check and secure what was blowing and wanted to peek in on the rabbits to make sure they were ok. I am so glad we did because one baby had fallen out and was right near the nest and was wriggling and was still warm. We scooped it up and put it back in the nest. We did a quick head count and saw we were still missing one. A panicked search and we found the missing baby about 3 feet from the nest and down a level from the cage it should have been in! (We have a larger rabbit pen/house with separate hutches/enclosures for the rabbits with an area for the mother to get out and stretch/play during the day. My question is, everything I read says mother's don't move their young. But how in the world did this poor little guy make it out of the nest, out of the cage, down the ramp, and two feet from where it should have been!?!
Sadly, the kit was cold and limp. We still tried everything we could think of or had read along with lots of prayers, but it was too late. Have you ever seen anything like this? Could the kit have been latched on to eat and mother rabbit left mid-feed and baby came out too? Feeling pretty bad about it and hoping to prevent any other deaths. TIA

[anitaculp]

I try to pull a small amount of fur from every nest and put it in a plastic bag for such times. I have had to use it before and it has always worked so far.

[libbydormouse]

you read my mind! had a doe kindle last week, no fur, had no cue what to do, just covered in broken hay theyre fine but cotton batting is in my shopping cart now! thank you :)

[georgannsherman]

We use strips of an old wool blanket. Stays warm when wet. Can be reused after washing.

[bgtrev]

Just had a doe drop her third litter on the wire, temperatures well below zero and she pulled no fur at all, thanks to the information here we managed to save 7 out of the 9 kits by warming and using cotton wool. Fingers crossed all goes well from here on, just wanted to say thanks.

[odonnellsaussiehomestead]

Hi i thought I would see if i was up to date with my handling of my bunnies ? So I came over, great info Chris and as always your the best. When I sell bunnies I always link u to them as well as my channel. Lol . Catch ya

[rossjacob]

It's a very big help for me the baby rabbits is bout to die in cold, Now they're looking good!

[nochetrizte]

I raise Angora Rabbits. Can i use that wool for my English lop baby rabbits nesting box?

[taylorhayes]

I find anything to help me so I just have 2 questions. I have a doe who gave birth but won't use the nest box and gave birth on wire so we lost 7 this morning. Second time she's given birth. She didn't even pull fur

[LungileMsiza-xp]

Is she going going to nurse them ? How do I make her recognize her kits after doing thata

[thedeus]

My quail is sitting on her eggs but the rest of the quails get in the way of the eggs or brake them.And if I put her in her own area she will not sit on them.what should i do

[jessikruger]

Had a doe have a litter this morning and hardly pull any hair. We’re having a very warm spell for January here but it was -2 just a couple weeks ago. I tore up a bunch of cotton balls and covered them up (she bit the crap out of my elbow) So I’m hoping she keeps them all warm! I don’t even know if she was done kindling because she was still dripping blood drops around and hopping in and out of her nest.

[annjones]

So this morning I found a baby, 8 days old out of the box and honestly thought it was dead. Stiff and cold. I rubbed its little body and hurried inside. I put a warm wash cloth in a zip lock and got the poor little thing warmed up. It finally started moving.
I was praying.
So i've put the baby back in the nest now. I marked the head with a marker so I can check on it later. Did I do right right putting the baby back in the nest as quickly as possible?

[ad]

I have a doe (literally just started my small rabbitry) who didn't pull fur, starved her kits and was peeing and pooping all over her babies in the nest box, you could tell they were starving and they were covered in pee and poop every day. I had to clean them every day, only to find them in the same condition the next. They eventually died at few days old. She's an awful mom! My other doe is great, her babies are fat and well fed. Mom is actually bald underneath because she pulled so much hair!! But the doe in question is about to go to camp kenmore. How many chances should she get to be a good mom? She was born in may 2020. Advice is sincerely appreciated!

[sierralynnyt]

Can you use another does fur? One of my does is molting but my mama doe is a new mom and I want to collect some fur just in case she doesn't pull enough

[stavroskoutsantonis]

Helloo mate all your videos are amazing..I have 4.5 month new Zeland female rabbit and breed her with 1.5 year rabbit ..she starts pulling her hair one day after breeding..can she be pregnant or is a false pregnancy..I am new with rabbits..thank you