4 become 3... again

Poor Crookshanks. We have lost one of her kits only to discover the other 3 in the nest, cold and obviously hungry. We decided to pull the remaining three as there was obviously a problem.

The chances of successfully hand rearing rabbit kits is slim to nothing as there is just so much that can go wrong and the absolute best chance that the kits have for survival is a foster mum, but sadly there is not one available. We can still hope that one becomes available before it is too late but in the mean time the best option was to try to hold Crookshanks and allow the kits to feed.
However, when we tried this method we found that poor mum has no milk. Therein lies the problem.

Therefore all we can do is try to hand feed and pray another doe gives birth in time for us to slip these kits into her nest.

Our hopes that they will last the night are very slim.

They are on a heat mat and we have given a small feed of condensed milk but this has to be done far more regularly than the once or twice per day that their mother would feed them. Rabbit milk is so nutritious that rabbit kits are built to take a feed in the night then receive very little attention from mum all day.

Things that could go wrong here are that the kits have to get the hang of either sucking milk from a cotton wool bud or taking from the end of a syringe. Then they could get too little or too much. The milk could go down the wrong way or go down too fast which could be fatal. The milk could end up going up their nose which could be fatal. It could be too cold for them to digest or too warm. We might fail to toilet them properly after each feed which is something their mother is most skilled at. They could physically get too hot or too cold. Mum keeps the kits naturally in a nest made from her own fur and blows air under the 'roof' of the nest, keeping it at a perfect temperature. Us meer humans cannot provide such exacting care let alone provide the natural makeup of their mothers milk which changes in properties as they grow.
Moreover, the kits may not even have received the colostrum which is the first drink of their mum's milk containing all of the antibodies which they need to remain healthy.

Many many breeders would not waste their time attempting to hand rear such young kits, but our philosophy is that at least we tried and the kits may pass away feeling cared for and loved as opposed to literally left to die by their helpless mother and by us, who are almost as helpless.. but with a little effort, a lot of skill, even more luck and some simple hand rearing supplies, there is a slim chance that we might be graced with good luck and enough time for another rabbit mama to save the day and foster the poor things.