Hi.......as you may know, I've been hand rearing a litter of 5 cocker spaniels for the past 4 weeks, things are going fine, but I find these pups are very small for their age.  They are eating no problems, they have Pedigree puppy porridge and Burns mini bites soaked and mashed.......no problems with upset tummies.  Is there anything else I can feed that will help bulk them out a bit?

Thanks
Sharon

You should not be aiming for bulking them out.  they will grow at their own pace, just are a little behind due to being hand reared rather than fed by Mum.  They will catch up by the time they are adult so just feed them well but not over feed as this will cause more harm than good.

They just don't seem to eat eagerly, but then saying that Burns mini-bites, up to 5kgs bodyweight, should only have between 50 -100 grms per day!

They are now 4 weeks old and between 3lbs - 4lbs 9ozs

Those weights seem pretty good to me, well done. You could add a bit of tinned dog meat to the puppy food eg butchers tripe, it might get them a bit more interested.
Amos

Sound nice and heavy to me too :D

Hi Sharon, dont worry about them, as brainless has said they will catch up.  Remember the photo I e-mailed you of my pups, little Ollie was half the size of the others. Well at 17 weeks Not so Little Ollie is just slightly larger than Ellie and just right for his age. Its hard not to be overprotective.

Hi Sharon, dont worry about them, as brainless has said they will catch up.  Remember the photo I e-mailed you of my pups that were being hand reared, little Ollie was half the size of the others. Well at 17 weeks Not so Little Ollie is just slightly larger than Ellie and just right for his age. Its hard not to be overprotective.

Thanks guys............I think my problem is that we have two litters here, one litter big and chunky and double the size, still having feeds from mum even at 5 weeks old............whereas Daisy's are just smaller pups in general, so I'm probably 'seeing' them smaller than they actually are!

I did actually get some tinned Butchers tripe this morning and added a small amount to their Burns..........crafty little devils managed to find the meat and leave the Burns :-)

Mash it up realy well! If you add hot water to the tinned meat it almost melts and then you can mix it well with the puppy food. It sounds like you and me are going through the same thing as I also have two litters days apart and one lot is steaming along with a most attentive mother and the others are 'scrappy' looking although gaining weight and doing all they should be but their mother just jumps in to feed occasionally then clears off and isn't really mothering them much. I hope that at 8 weeks there will not be much difference.
Amos

Sharon, they are doing fine.  What you are giving them is fine also.

Bare in mind they are still so young. If they have a slow start it takes a bit longer for them to catch up, it can be a few months.  My Abbey is 7 weeks now and she is the smallest thing you have ever seen but bossy and fiesty well that is another story :-))

I can't find my camera since Xmas day so can't get pictures going to have to borrow my mothers or Abbey will be past the small stage.