Weaning ages for kit

[haleybobl]

What does everything think is the proper age to wean kits?

[FantasyChins]

I would say 8 weeks unless there is a good reason to wean earlier, such as the health of the female. I've weaned as early as 4 weeks with a kit I have right now, her mother had to foster out another litter and she was already 238g. She's now 12 weeks and almost 400g. I've also weaned out at 6 weeks either from a mother tearing into her kits from lack of milk, or a female dropping a sudden massive amount of weight due to stress.

[Megan.]

I normally go 8 weeks. However if mom looks worn out, or like she needs a break I'd wean at 6 weeks.

The earliest I 'weaned' was at just about 6 weeks, when a female up and died. The kits were old enough to eat on their own, and did fine. I believe mom held on long enough to raise her kits, and then passed. It was one of those freak deaths- never saw it coming, she was healthy, and happy..and then boom dead, and I had two 6 week old kits with no mom.

[Midwest Exotics]

I agree, i wean at 8 weeks. I would rather the kit stay with its mother until its really ready to go as i would not advise in a human mama to wean their child at 6 months.

In some cases i could see a reason to do so if it was in the best interest to the mother or kit.

I could also understand leaving the kit with the mother a week or two past 8 weeks if need be.

[CTChin]

I prefer 8 weeks but it depends on the kits growth and mom's attitude. I had one mom that was seriously sick of her trips at 7 weeks so I pulled them.

[HedgeMom]

Since I've dealt with listening to a woman cry over a dying kit that was weaned and sold too early and she was trying to hand feed him to keep him alive, I beg everyone to wean when the kit is old enough and big enough and to be on the cautious side.

I can't do that again.

[Alecia]

I wean between 8 and 10 weeks. Boys go at 8 weeks, if they're big enough, which they always are. Girls stay with mom generally for awhile - either until Mom is ready to go back with dad, or until girl is sold. However, if the mom is pretty worn out, like Victoria was after her last litter, I pull them earlier. I pulled Iceman and Dove at six weeks - both were about to hit 300grams and were just too draining on her. Both went in with older half-sibs of the same sex, and Victoria is now enjoying the single life in the lap of luxury. :)

[Arf2184]

It depends really. I try to keep a kit for at least one week after weaning to make sure he/she is taking the change ok. I usually wean at seven weeks, hold the kits until eight weeks, and then if everything is going well, they move onto new homes. If a kit is small, I'll leave him/her with mom for up to ten weeks. If mom wants them out of her cage now, I'll wean at six weeks if the kit(s) are ready.

I always wean kits in pairs to quads or in with one of my non-breeding adults of the same sex. They tend to do better when they have some company and it helps keep the number of cages that I have to use down.

[lilchinchilla]

8 weeks or 7 weeks. Really depends. I absolutely refuse to wean too early. But I won't wean too late either unless the kit is a runt or something.

However, after knowing someone who weaned at 8 weeks, and the baby girl ended up being pregnant to her father(he was put back in after ten days after the mother gave birth), you never can be too careful. I always keep the father's locked out of the mother's cage until the babies are fully weaned.

I do suggest for those who might want to put daddy back in with the mom after those first couple weeks after she gave birth, to still err on the side of caution when it comes to the father possibly getting his own daughter pregnant.

I also pair kits together when weaning. I find it makes them more social with other chins and friendly. :)

[Spoof]

I've weaned 4.5-10 weeks, with no issues either way.

If there are no problems and mom is doing well I'll leave in as long as 10 weeks. They seem to come out more robust.

That last one at 4.5 weeks had me worried, but he pulled through well. :)