Rabbit Kits Pose for Baby Pictures

Emma and Heather gave birth last week. See Heather Gives Birth. Sasquatch gave them their space for a couple days until we couldn’t take it any more. We had to dive in and check on the kits and get some photos of the babies.

Baby rabbits are called kits. The average doe gives birth to six kits. Emma is getting old and only gave birth to three kits. Heather gave birth to five kits, but one died and we believe one was stillborn. 

When we received Emma and Heather from my uncle (see Sasquatch Goes Down the Rabbit Hole), we knew the does were getting old and would need to be replaced soon. Emma and Heather will be retired after these litters. Whether that means they will be put in the stew pot or released on the farm for other purposes, is yet to be determined.

Contrary to popular opinion, domesticated rabbits are not concerned about human smells. As such, you can handle them without the doe abandoning the litter.

While rabbits build nests, they don’t sit on the nests like chickens do. Rather, the nest provides a place for the kits to burrow and keep warm, out of the sight of predators. If the doe sat on the nest it would attract predators. The doe will only nurse her kits once per day, usually in the middle of the night. She stands over the kits to nurse them.

So while it may appear that a doe has “abandoned” her litter of kits, she is really taking great care of them. You just aren’t seeing it happen.

Speaking of taking care of things. I’m fairly sure Luke won’t abandon this deer leg he found from a mountain lion kill hiking today until it is all in his belly.