Unfortunately one of our rabbits rejected her babies at nearly 3 weeks of age. 5 had to be put down by the vet but thankfully 2 are now being hand reared by my son and myself.

It must be remembered that although the mother rabbit only feeds her babies briefly once a day, the milk being fed during hand-rearing is only a substitute and is not as rich as the “real thing” and therefore you need to feed the orphans 3 or 4 times a day, spacing the feeding times as evenly as possible. It is not necessary to feed during the night unless they are not feeding well, in which case you need to feed them every few hours until they are taking a few mls at a time.

A 1 day old baby rabbit would consume on average 2 mls of milk daily.
By 5 days the volume increases to about 12 ml. At 10 days it increases again to about 15 mls.
By 15 days increasing to about 22 mls.
By 20 days increasing to about 27 mls.
By 25 days to about 30 mls.
By 30 days of age you will expect to see a decline to about 20 mls.
By 35 days a rapid decline to less than 5 mls or weaned altogether.

The milk should be warm but not hot (test it by putting a few drops on the back of your hand). Hold the infant with one hand whilst gently inserting the teat or syringe into the mouth with the other. They often wriggle around and jump whilst feeding so take care not to drop them! If the babies are under 6 days old you usually will need to stimulate urination. This is a straightforward task. After each baby has been fed, wet a finger or cotton bud in warm water and gently tap or stroke the genital area. Have a tissue ready! Some babies, however, manage to urinate on their own from the start, so if after several attempts at each feed you get no results, it is likely because they are managing independently. Also, be aware that sometimes the droppings can accumulate around tail area and can cause a blockage, with very serious consequences if not attended to straight away. Gently wipe away the accumulation with some moistened cotton wool to allow the baby to pass droppings normally again. You may find that a lot of droppings are passed immediately after the problem has been cleared! Make sure that you keep the mouth and chin area clean and dry after each feed. This is very important otherwise the fur will start to fall out around the mouth due to a fungal infection setting in.