10 of 11 baby bunnies lost

[Krisdavis0919]

I had an accidental litter after waiting too long to remove my male from the mom’s cage. He and his sister got along perfectly with mom, and I made the mistake of thinking he couldn’t breed that young. Long story short, she had 11 kits. She ended up with an infection in her cheek and I had to take her to the vet to get antibiotics and they had to clip her teeth. After that, when the babies were about 9 days old we started getting freezing weather. I took mom and babies inside, I knew it would be a while so I brought as much of her own nest inside as I could. Everything seemed okay, then the ice storms came and we lost electricity. We had to then move her again, to a place with a generator and they had to be kept together in a kennel, but they stayed warm. After about 4 days in the new environment, they all started dying. I noticed three of them weren’t looking well so I attempted to supplement with some goats milk and a miracle nipple. I couldn’t get any raw goats milk so I had to use the Meyenberg’s. Within 24 hours all three died. The rest of the litter lasted several more days, and I began noticing a few of them trying to play but looking off balance. Within a few hours, those had died. I didn’t want to use the store milk as I was afraid it didn’t mesh with their GI systems and I could see them feeding under mom, though sometimes she would jump away. Yesterday I lost another 2, and today I have one with me this morning exhibiting the same imbalance. They are eating the alfalfa, I see them under mom, and they are three weeks old today. She has had many litters before this and we only lost the peanuts. It has been devastating to say the least. I don’t know if I should try to hand feed the last one. It is running and playing this morning, but the dying one I’m holding now was playing like that yesterday. I don’t know if it’s just because it was a mother/son thing, or if I’m doing something wrong. Please help!!

 

[LizzzyJo]

I am so sorry! This is awful! I don't think it's a mother/son issue. I would guess it is just the cold and the moving - maybe early nutrition? Maybe she just didn't take to them. In my experience, we can't always know why a litter is lost. To loose such a large litter is so sad. I don't think you did anything wrong. I suppose note the age of the 'father/son' and remove future males before this point. Even then, you shouldn't blame yourself. This was a one off problem that you learned from and can now be an even better breeder than you were before! Do you know if the mom is producing any milk? If she is, I would supplement a bit of milk and leave baby with mom.

 

[cassie]

Just a comment. Goat milk is good for a lot of things but not for baby rabbits. It isn't nutrient dense enough. You would be better off with evaporated milk diluted six parts milk and one part water. Or KMR. Somebody mentioned that some rabbit breeder had a formula for baby rabbits but I don't remember who posted it. It is very difficult to hand raise baby rabbits.

 

[SpotTheCat]

I had an accidental litter after waiting too long to remove my male from the mom’s cage. He and his sister got along perfectly with mom, and I made the mistake of thinking he couldn’t breed that young. Long story short, she had 11 kits. She ended up with an infection in her cheek and I had to take her to the vet to get antibiotics and they had to clip her teeth. After that, when the babies were about 9 days old we started getting freezing weather. I took mom and babies inside, I knew it would be a while so I brought as much of her own nest inside as I could. Everything seemed okay, then the ice storms came and we lost electricity. We had to then move her again, to a place with a generator and they had to be kept together in a kennel, but they stayed warm. After about 4 days in the new environment, they all started dying. I noticed three of them weren’t looking well so I attempted to supplement with some goats milk and a miracle nipple. I couldn’t get any raw goats milk so I had to use the Meyenberg’s. Within 24 hours all three died. The rest of the litter lasted several more days, and I began noticing a few of them trying to play but looking off balance. Within a few hours, those had died. I didn’t want to use the store milk as I was afraid it didn’t mesh with their GI systems and I could see them feeding under mom, though sometimes she would jump away. Yesterday I lost another 2, and today I have one with me this morning exhibiting the same imbalance. They are eating the alfalfa, I see them under mom, and they are three weeks old today. She has had many litters before this and we only lost the peanuts. It has been devastating to say the least. I don’t know if I should try to hand feed the last one. It is running and playing this morning, but the dying one I’m holding now was playing like that yesterday. I don’t know if it’s just because it was a mother/son thing, or if I’m doing something wrong. Please help!!

Are you sure the mother is not feeding them? rabbits only feed their young 1-2 times a day.
Maybe I missed it but how old are the baby rabbits?
To me it does not sound like lack of food it sounds like it is something else