Sometimes baby rabbits need hand fed for various reasons such as the doe not producing enough milk, a runt being
unable to nurse enough, or death of the doe. It is a difficult process, but babies that are not hand fed in these instances will die.
In my experience some babies that are supplemented with a formula for a few days will often begin to nurse on their own
after they are stronger. Rabbits have extremely rich milk and it is very hard to duplicate. I have tried Espilac and KMR
pre-mixed formulas, but had little success with them. However; I got a wonderful recipe from my veterinarian that has
saved some babies lives. Here it is...
8 oz evaporated milk (pre-mixed kind, not powder)
8 oz bottled or spring water
1 egg yolk
1 tsp honey
1 tsp pedialyte
This recipe makes a lot so I usually make 1/2 a recipe and freeze most of it into ice cube trays. It only lasts for 24 hours
in the refrigerator so only keep out what will be used in 1 day. Then thaw enough for each feeding after that. It will keep in
the freezer for a few months.
You must be very careful when hand feeding baby bunnies. They can get fluid in their lungs very easily. Once they
get the fluid in their lungs there is no saving them. I wrap the baby in a wash cloth to keep it still (they can be rather squirmy!).
I do not recommend using the nursing bottles you can buy in the store since the flow is too much for baby rabbits to take.
Liquid syringes are also difficult and it's pretty easy to squirt the formula right into baby's lungs. I use glass eye droppers and
start by squeezing a drop at a time on the baby's lips. Let the baby lick it off. Eventually the baby will learn to lick the
formula from the eye dropper on it's own. Only give the baby a little at first, about 1-2 droppers full, but feed
frequently. The mother rabbit will only nurse her litter 1-2 times per day, but hand fed babies will need to eat every 4-6
hours since no formula is as filling for the baby rabbit as it's mother's milk is.