my boys seem small

[chinchillasrox]

I have 2 kits that i am hand-raising. They are 5 weeks old. one kit weight 121 and the other weighs 164. Are they unusaly small or just right. Alos we are feeding every 3 hrs. when can we go to every 4?

THANKS

 

[VolunteerChin22]

Those are ok weights, although you might need to keep handfeeding until at least 8 weeks to hit 200g. I would be more concered with the smaller one - you may need to keep feeding that one longer than the bigger one. Usually mine hit 200gs by 6-7 weeks. What kind of daily weight gain are they averaging?

 

[starleomach]

I wouldn't go longer until they weigh 200 grams. If they are small at 8 weeks still I would also feed another week. do you have dry formula for them to nibble on? food and water for them in the cage (like pellets) and hay?
The weights are a little on the low end but are ok

 

[chinchillasrox]

do you have dry formula for them to nibble on? food and water for them in the cage (like pellets) and hay?
The weights are a little on the low end but are ok

yes i do and they eat (the dry formula) it wonderfully! Just a worried momma i guess

 

[chinchillasrox]

Also how do you wean babies? I haven't seen anything on how???

 

[EMSChins]

I agree, not bad for being handfed. I have two right now that turned 5 weeks yesterday and they are 186 and 192 gms but come from decent sized parents and are with mom. Just make sure they are steadily gaining and have free access to dry food and hay as well as water and the handfeeding formula. keep up the good work.

 

[chinchillasrox]

thanks

 

[VolunteerChin22]

most people cold turkey wean from mothers so same goes for handfeeding - stop handfeeding once they reach 200gs and keep weighing them to make sure they are gaining and eating on their own.

 

[tunes]

I'm going to disagree. 121 gm at 5 weeks is small, I don't care if it's hand fed or nursing from mom. I have hand fed many, many kits, and it seems on average they get larger than the kits that nurse from mom. How could they not? I stand there, every 2 hours, and feed them formula until they are stuffed enough that their tails curl over their backs and they totter away dragging their bellies. I don't agree with the comment "for hand fed babies" as being a reason why those kits are small. Ask anybody on forum who has seen Dixie or her brother. They were both hand fed and Dixie weaned at 350 gm at 8 weeks and her brother was 345 and they are both now in the 950 gm range as adults. But I fed them, around the clock, every 2 hours until they were 6 weeks old, then backed off to every 4 hours until they weaned.

IMO, your kits are small. How often are you feeding them, how much are they taking in, how much cereal do you add to the formula, and do they fight the feedings?

 

[Brittany]

If they're being fed the appropriate amount could this be more of a genetic issue then a feeding issue?

 

[tunes]

Eh, I don't think so much with kits. 121 is just small. I've used 600 gm females and have used 550 gm males in breeding and the kits are nowhere near that small at this age.

 

[AZChins]

It is a little small because usually kits that survive to over a month on handfeeding turn into little gluttons and put on a lot of weight. Kits have to use much less work to be handfed on a eyedropper or syringe than nursing on mom to get nourishment. Some kits hit 120 grams in the first few weeks of life because they put on weight so quickly. My average weight gain in the first week for newborns is over 20 grams, after that they put on even more weight each week.

These kits will probably catch up without any real problem, but you may want to increase the amount being fed. They should be eating pellets and hay by now, as well.

 

[chinchillasrox]

.

IMO, your kits are small. How often are you feeding them,
how much are they taking in, how much cereal do you add to the formula,.
and do they fight the feedings?

we are feeding them every 3 hrs., 6-8 droppers per feeding, 1 tbs per cup

 

[tunes]

Try mixing in more cereal to the liquid formula. I've known people to have good success with getting their kits to gain that way. You can add a decent amount of cereal and it still stays really liquid. You just don't want to add it to the point that you are making it pasty or thick.

 

[chinchillasrox]

Try mixing in more cereal to the liquid formula. I've known people to have good success with getting their kits to gain that way. You can add a decent amount of cereal and it still stays really liquid. You just don't want to add it to the point that you are making it pasty or thick.

Thank you very much. I love all help you can get on here. :thumbsup: