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Raising Kindles: From Infant Kit to Weaning |
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After the kits are born the doe will care for the kits completely. The kits will nurse once a day for about 10 minutes. This most likely will occur at night when all is quiet. You should not worry unless the kit's stomach is not round with a prominant milk line which can be seen easily around the navel area. If this is the case if it has been more than 48-72 hours the doe might not be lactating. You can tell by turning the doe over and feeling around the nipples and try stripping them for any indication of milk. If you cannot find any you should probably consider bottle feeding. You can feed them with the kitten formula and bottles. You local vet can tell you how much to feed since there are many different breeds with different nutritional needs. Or you can simply go by weight requirements. At 14 days the kits will generally start showing some interest in pelleted feed of hay. Do not be alarmed if they do not. They will generally nurse until they are 4 weeks old. Most smaller breeds will start weaning themselves at 4 and a half-5 weeks old. Most breeders will take them away however to be sexed out by 6 weeks. They should be fed as much as needed to keep up with their growing bodies. Though by 8 weeks you can start them on a normal feeding schedule. Kits should NOT be sold before 6 weeks of age. They should be wormed and given supplements and vitamins (usually put into water) or at the least a teaspoon of yogurt a day for a week to get the "good" bacteria count up in their intestines. Below are some pictues of one of my does letting her kindle nurse. |
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This is Red's first kindle nursing at 4 weeks old. |
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This is Red's first kindle at 1 day old. |
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