Chubby Bunnies

Big milk belly on a 1-day-old Californian kit.

Eight 1-day-old Californian kits.

Even though Chesna's abilities as a mother are questionable, Lisi is amazing!  Checking on Lisi's kits, the day after they were born, I find that they are all big ping pong balls.  In the picture above, you can actually see that the stomach is full of milk (the pale area taking up most of the very-distended abdomen).

Of course, healthy kits won't necessarily have such distended abdomens.  In fact, an overly-full stomach can actually result in deformities such as splay leg from the kit being unable to move its legs properly.  Usually, though, overfeeding is only a concern with smaller litters.

The reason these kits were so full is probably because their mom had just finished feeding them.  Their tummies usually only stay this round for about an hour or so, and slowly shrink back down to a more normal profile.  Rabbits also usually only feed once--sometimes twice--per day, so most hours, the kits look more streamline, but still hydrated and healthy.