This is Noel's litter at two days old. From top to bottom: Broken black, solid black, solid tort, broken (blue?) tort, solid tort. The solid black was a peanut and passed away on the 3rd day.

Broken tort at about 5 days old.

About 7 days old.

About 10 days old.

About 2 weeks old.

About 3 weeks old.

About 3 1/2 weeks old.

Growing Up Rabbit

Day 1
     Kits are born with no fur and their eyes are closed. They are kept warm by the fur that their mother pulls from her dewlap before giving birth.

Day 2
     Kits are already starting to grow fur. By Day 4 and 5, they will have a thin layer of fur covering their bodies.

Day 10-12
     Kits will begin opening their eyes. Soon after this happens, the bunnies will start leaving the nestbox for the first time to explore the cage. Usually, they only stay out for a few minutes before returning to the comfort of their nest.

3 Weeks
     By this age the kits have full use of their ears and eyes and a sense for their surroundings. They will begin leaving the nest for longer amounts of time to cuddle with their mother or hop around the cage.

4 Weeks
     At this age, the kits will start nibbling on their mother's food and hay and learning to use the water bottle. I like to include a layer of rolled oats on top of the rabbits' pellets at this age, which helps prevent enteritis in kits.

5 Weeks
     The kits should be eating mainly the hay and pellets and this point and relying less and less on their mother's milk, although I still catch them trying to nurse every once in awhile.

6-8 Weeks
     Between 6-8 weeks, the kits can be weaned from their mother. The best way to do this if you have a large litter is to remove about half of them and put them in another cage and leave half with mom. Then, day by day, remove another kit until they are all in a separate cage from mom. This is easier on her and easier on the kits. However, with the Hollands, I usually have small litters, so I remove them together all at once and just place them in a cage beside their mother so they can see each other.

10 Weeks
     By 10 weeks, the rabbits are ready to leave for their new homes. Some people like to start selling pets at about 8 weeks, and in many states, there are laws prohibiting the sale of rabbits under the age of two months. However, I feel that my rabbits are a little better adjusted to living on their own at 10 weeks.

12 Weeks
     Between the ages of 10 and 12 weeks, the bucks and does should be separated. Sometimes, does can stay in the same cage peacefully until maturity. But bucks needs to be separated as they become territorial sooner and will begin to fight with each other if they are not separated on time.