Our mother rabbit just gave birth to five (5) baby rabbits. It is my first time to have observed how a mama rabbit gets ready for giving birth. The mama rabbit becomes uneasy for some days, chewing things she could reach-like a plastic bag that I used to plug a hole in the rabbit house. The next day, I would notice fur- lots of clumps of fur that has fallen on the ground. Fur that mama rabbit removes from her body is preparing a warm bed for her infants-as rabbits do in the wild. For sure, this is a sign that a rabbit is giving birth. Earlier on, I took mama rabbit and brought her in to the cage of a male rabbit. They mate and hours later, I bring mama rabbit back to her cage.
Aunt Lourdes, our farm help placed a red soft cotton shirt as she knew that the mama rabbit is ready to give birth. In the morning of April 27, 2013, the mama rabbit gave birth. Aunt Lourdes came down to share the news. This afternoon, May 1, 2013, we take the jeep with the kids and they just are so excited to look at the rabbits. Only three rabbits are seen, but I notice movement under the cloth. Remembering what I read online, about rabbits giving birth, I put on a double pair of gloves. Handling baby rabbits with bare hands will put them in danger. "Smell" from your hands will transfer to the babies and mama rabbit will no longer recognize them as her own and so will tend to eat them or no longer care for them. I gently removed two of the babies from underneath the cloth and so we now have the two babies back.