Many rabbit farmers are always enthusiastic about their rabbits during pregnancy but find its rearing tough at the critical phases like kindling and weaning. These phases are critical to the success of rabbit production. It requires proper management to ensure the health of the kindled rabbit kits and that they survive this critical period. I will share my experience about these challenges  during kindling and weaning and how I overcame them. I hope this will be helpful to you as well.

The common challenges in Kindling rabbits and how to overcome them

• Difficulty During Kindling: Kindling is the act of giving birth in rabbits which happens at 29 - 30 days of pregnancy. At this time the rabbits often face difficulty such as prolonged birth or stillbirths, which is not in any way good for the doe. This can be caused by lots of stress experienced by the doe. Like I emphasize in the article “why rabbit eats their kits”  stress, threats and  environment disturbances are not good for the doe especially during this period.
  Once you notice that your doe is pregnant you have to start caring for your animal. Ensure that you improve the ration that you serve your doe. You must ensure that you supply good hay and grasses for your doe and supplement it with compounded feed. This alone could help avoid cannibalism in rabbits. Which means you won't have to lose your kits after it has just been kindled.
  Provide a kindling box that is wide enough to accommodate the doe and her litters 2 or 3 days before kindling. You could ensure that the bottom of the kindling box is wired so that faeces and urine can pass through to ensure cleanliness, and ventilation of the kindling box. Soiled kindling boxes could be detrimental to the health of both the doe and her litters. You could help provide wool in the kindling boxes if the wool provided by the doe isn't enough to keep the litters out of cold. Always observe your doe and consult your vet if labour complications arises.
  
  

• Cannibalism and Kit Neglect: Some do eat up their kits or refuse to take care of them. Some even abandon them. Farmers may advise not to frequently handle kits if not the doe may find them alien to her litters and fail to nurture them. Why that may be right, it is largely a result of stress and inexperience from the doe.
  
  I will advise that stress must be minimized to the nearest minimum especially for first time mothers, loud noises and threats are not acceptable around them, and avoid handling kits excessively or frequently.
  
  Good plan of nutrition is most advisable. Provide doe with high quality hay and forage grasses complemented with compound feed to prevent any nutritional deficiencies that could lead to cannibalism. Most of all support first-time mothers.if any does reject her kits you can foster them with another lactating doe, which sometimes may not be available in your farm. You can choose to force feed your kits. Hold down your doe carefully without inflicting any injury or pain, then place your the unfed kid on a nipple until the kits is well fed. 

• Mortality of Kits Due to Cold or Suffocation: Kits are born without hairs and so are vulnerable to cold or extreme weather. Instinctively the doe removes her fur to cushion against extreme cold but may not be enough and make kits die. As a rabbit farmer you must be able to devise means to cushion this effect by providing bedding materials like wool in the nesting box. Also clean materials like hay or straw could be provided.  Maintain a comfortable temperature for the rabbits, just enough heat source provision especially during the colder months.  Make sure you check your animals daily, ensure that kits are not buried in the nesting materials provided.

The common challenges in Weaning rabbits and how to overcome them

• Stress during weaning: Weaning can be stressful for both the doe and her kits which most times lead to stunting of the kits or even mortality. Whenever it's time to wean your kits usually 8 weeks if you are not experienced, it's advisable to wean them gradually. In a litter of 10 kits, 5 kits or fewer can be removed from the doe in a day until all are weaned. While some rabbit farmers will suggest that the doe should be removed from the cage leaving the kits in their familiar cage still having the scents of the doe. This  may be less stressful than changing the location of the kits. Provide access to a clean environment and  water for the newly weaned kits to minimize stress. They must be daily observed for the next few days for any signs of stress or lack of appetite. Multivitamins may be provided in their drinking water. 

• Digestion problems: You should introduce them to solid food gradually. Weaning could be seen as a phase where there is transition in the type of feed the kits consume. During this period kits are prone to digestive issues like diarrhea since their guts are not used to forages. Their abrupt change in their feed is the reason and so forages may be introduced gradually, offering the high-quality pellets and fresh hay alongside the does’ milk for a few days before completely weaning the kits. Clean drinking water should always be available for the kits because it aids digestion of whatever feed they consume and always remember to replace any dirty water. The use of a watering system would reduce dirtiness, but that would incur cost for the beginner.

• Emaciation or Stunted Growth: Emaciation is simply weight loss and this is very prominent to kits that have been weaned abruptly. They sometimes find it difficult to get back to grow better, since they didn't have the nurture naturally. This may rather result in stunted growth after they struggle to thrive after weaning.
  
  This is why it is very important that rabbit farmers provide for the weaned kits diet that are not nutritional deficient. Diet should be rich in protein and fiber that would support healthy growth. Regularly weigh the kits weekly to track their growth, identify the slow growing kits and provide additional care and supplements if necessary. Also the weak ones can be isolated for proper monitoring and husbandry. House them separately away from competition for feed and water under daily observation.

Bonus Tips for Success in Rabbit Kindling and Weaning

A daily routine of cleaning of cages and feeders and drinkers would take you not just a step but ten steps away from the diseases. Always ensure that after due observation of the animals in the morning, cleaning of kindling boxes, feeders and drinkers is the priority before feed is served.
Record keeping is important to keep track of the farm progress. Tracking each doe’s kindling and weaning history would give an overview of the mothering ability of each doe in the herd.
You could consider consulting other experienced rabbit farmers around you and also stay informed by engaging in rabbit husbandry workshops about best rabbit farming practices.

Conclusion
These are some of the common rabbit farming problems faced especially during kindling and weaning. This article has suggested some solutions to these problems of kit neglect and weaning stress. These are the ways in which I have been able to overcome the challenges, and I believe you could replicate this to have a successful kindling and weaning experience.

Have you faced any of these challenges in your rabbitry? Share your experiences and solutions in the comment below!

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