Dead rabbit babies

[MartinFamilyHomestead]

We have 3 rabbits. Two “meat rabbits” I believe the correct term is Flemish giants but I could be wrong and one is a smaller breed of rabbit. We got our first at the beginning of April when she was 8 weeks old. Then at the end of April we got another when he was 8 weeks. Some time mid to late May is when we added the smaller breed. We do not know an exact age, just that he is more than a couple months old. This is the one that is a smaller breed.

We usually have them caged all together but this last month they have been escaping so they turned more into free range rabbits. They went to our neighbors more than anything so we made some adjustments and have had them locked up for about a week now.

This morning my husband went out to do barn chores and found a dead baby. He cleaned up hutch and informed me. A little while later I went out to check on the rabbits and in the bottom of the hutch ( we usually don’t clean out this compartment as much because they do not go to the bathroom here) I found two more dead babies. They were not stiff but they did stink. These two looked slightly smaller than the one my husband found. At first I thought she gave birth to 3 stillborns but then I saw really small rabbit poop and having one slightly bigger than the other two and in the main part of the hutch I figured maybe she gave birth a few days ago and the one outlived the others.but then when I went to separate the mother from the males I see that she still has blood coming from her vagina so now I think the birth was today.

We have not had rabbits before and do not know much about them, I tried to be detailed as possible but any information on what you think happened and how to prevent it could be very helpful!! We are keeping a very close eye on her now and have been doing some research but figured I would see ifanyone in here had any suggestions.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

I'm a bit confused on what was being asked. Are you asking why the babies died, how they were bred or if it's safe to keep rabbits together like that?

 

[MartinFamilyHomestead]

I'm a bit confused on what was being asked. Are you asking why the babies died, how they were bred or if it's safe to keep rabbits together like that?

I was wondering if anyone has an idea on why they died or if we should expect more. Also how to prevent the next litter from dying or being stillborns. I posted this once before and didn’t think it came up so I tried to quickly post another and must have left that out.

i did separate the mother for the time being until we see if she’s done or not as I feared the males might havekilled the babies like other kinds of animals but after some research it doesn’t now sound likely

 

[JacinLarkwell]

First of all, rabbits shouldn't be housed together, especially with both sexes present.

The doe is the small one, correct? It's very dangerous for large males to breed with small females as the kits can be too big to come out and can kill the mother.

They also need a nest site. Kits born on wire or dirt will not survive, even if the mother is the best mother in the world. They'll get chilled and they aren't like dogs and cats that will move their offspring somewhere safe

 

[MartinFamilyHomestead]

First of all, rabbits shouldn't be housed together, especially with both sexes present.

The doe is the small one, correct? It's very dangerous for large males to breed with small females as the kits can be too big to come out and can kill the mother.

They also need a nest site. Kits born on wire or dirt will not survive, even if the mother is the best mother in the world. They'll get chilled and they aren't like dogs and cats that will move their offspring somewhere safe

No the small breed rabbit is a male. Our female is one of the Flemish giants. We knew it would be dangerous the other way around. We have friends who house mixed sexes together with no problems. We were told by the person we got them from only to separate if you don’t want breeding to happen.

They aren’t on wire or dirt. Our “hutch” is made out of an old entertainment center.Which is wood but we also have sawdust and hay for bedding in it

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Thats still not a good enough nest. Theres nothing to keep the kits from getting lost. They're born blind, hairless and probably deaf. Nestboxes for rabbits are meant to have just enough room for the doe to have her kits and nurse them every 12 hours

Although I am glad to hear the buck was the small one and not the large one

 

[MartinFamilyHomestead]

Thats still not a good enough nest. Theres nothing to keep the kits from getting lost. They're born blind, hairless and probably deaf. Nestboxes for rabbits are meant to have just enough room for the doe to have her kits and nurse them every 12 hours

Although I am glad to hear the buck was the small one and not the large one

We were not expecting babies which is why we didn’t have a nestbox ready. Well I should say why we didn’t research on what to do to be ready for babies. The breeder we got our two Flemish giants from did not have nestboxes and he’s had many litters. He said the litters just stay together with fur from the mom to keep them warm. They don’t get lost ever they just stick together until they are up and about.

 

[MartinFamilyHomestead]

@AidKD here is the new post!

 

[SBFChickenGirl]

Keep the males and females separated. If you have them you WILL have kits within 28-35 days.

Also keep the mother away from the males. Does can get pregnant while they have kits and while they are pregnant.

KEEP THE DOES AND BUCKS SEPARATE. It takes all of ten seconds for the deed to be done.

 

[Sara L]

If there is no damage to the dead kits, they weren't attacked by the adult rabbits, they probably got chilled and died, or were stillborn. Usually first time moms mess up and lose a baby or the whole litter; even experienced moms can have losses too. Newborn rabbits (called kits) are born hairless and need warmth. A good rabbit mom will make a nest, usually a bowl shaped area out of bedding and fur she has pulled, and will have the kits in the nest. There the bedding and fur will trap the body heat from the kits and keep them warm until they begin to grow fur and no longer need the nest. I recommend adding a nestbox a few days before your rabbit is due to give birth, available at pet/feedstores or plans are available online if you want to diy one. If you find a kit (alive) outside the nest you can warm it up with your body heat and put it back in the nest. If a kit is cold, check the toenails, if they look like there is blood in the toenails it's a goner, but if the toenails are still clear there's a chance you can warm the kit back up and revive it.

If you are planning to do this long term, you really should keep the males and females separate. The mom can be bred again by the males immediately after giving birth, and if her litter had survived, that means she would be abandoning them at about 28-35 days to give birth and care for the second litter. Ideally kits would not be weaned until they are 6-8 weeks old, as they are usually transitioning to eating solid foods at 4-6 weeks. Abrupt change to their diet can cause gut issues, possibly resulting in the death of the kits. Or, if the older kits can still access mom and the new litter, they may cause injury to the second litter as they try to continue feeding from mom. The second litter would not be strong enough or big enough to compete and rabbits only produce a set amount of milk so there would not be enough for both litters.

The health of the mom rabbit will also be at risk, as having back to back pregnancies and lactating will be very hard on her body. Usually female rabbits who are bred that intensively die at a much younger age than those who are allowed to take a break between pregnancies. Rabbit breeders vary as to how much time they wait between pregnancies, but I personally aim for 2-3 weeks minimum of time after their kits are weaned and removed before I breed again.

I recommend reading some rabbit books or watching some YouTube videos and making some changes to how you are currently housing your rabbits. Best of luck to you!