Can someone tell me about baby rabbits?!?!

[MandyH]

We have 2 rabbits that were my childs Easter pets that were supposed to be both females..... well they weren't. Foo Foo had 7 babies a few weeks ago and they are all dead now. The first 4 looked to have not been getting enough milk and died within a week or so. I tried to bottle feed but they didn't cooperate. The other 3 lived to be like 4-5 weeks old, growing big and fast and very healthy and fat and active. Well a few days ago 2 were dead and yesterday the biggest fattest one was dead too. What the crap is happening? There was no obvious sign of trauma or anything like that and the day before they were great and spunky. The first ones I can see were not getting enough milk, but the last 3 that have lived so long and were looking so fat and fine??? I don't have a clue. Any suggestions. They were just laid out flat, still warm. could the Mama be smothering them? She IS a big rabbit.

 

[Freebie]

Had they been eating any of Mama's food? If I remember right, their little digestive track is very sensitive, and they can sometimes have a hard time adjusting to food. When I had baby rabbits, things went very smooth. I guess if she is a new mother, she may smother them. Have you looked anything up online yet about them? I know that they are very hard to bottle feed, and they are only fed twice a day, once in the morning and once at night. You can always get your rabbits neutered. that should help with any attitudes they may be develping too.

 

[Rafter 7 Paint Horses]

We raise rabbits and there are a lot of things that can happen to cause this.

Were they all together with the male rabbit? If so, he probably killed them.

If they were all together, you female is also probably bred back. Does will breed back the day of, or a day or two after they have a litter. You will need to separate the male & female.

The doe may have killed them, protecting them.
If she felt anything as a threat, a doe will kill her babies to protect them from danger.

What were you feeding them? Lettuce is a big NO-NO.
Baby rabbits need hay to munch on, and feed available 24/7 once they start to eat rabbit feed.
They eat a lot while growing.

There also may be a chance that your male & female are brother & sister. If that is the case, there was probably something wrong with the babies genetically.

Without more information, this is all the suggestions I have for you about what may have happened.

Jean

 

[bantymum]

Im sad for you having to see this, If the buck (male) was in there with them, the odds are that she would have killed them before he could or he did it.
. Some breeds are terrible for this.
I had a buck chasing babies all over my yard once and I rescued them one at a time from him.
My buck tried to kill all the male babies.
It would be best to have your male neutered and just have 2 nice pet rabbits!!!thats what I did and its much better!!

 

[FutureChickenMan]

ok not really related to the baby rabbit issue, but rabbit health in general. it is very very (one more time) very important to feed them a little kibble/pellets as possible. their digestive tracts arent made for pellets. they can easily get plugged up. I know from experience and force feeding a rabbit pumpkin pie filling isn't fun. Thats what you gotta do when they get plugged up and stop eating or pooping. Ok, so what you want to feed them (as mentioned already) hay, alfalfa (fattens them up), leafy greens; kale in particular is good. Broccoli, spinach, stuff like that. No lettuce! it will give them the squirts. lots of fiber.

 

[MandyH]

OK let me answer all my replies:
1) The babies and mother were alone from the moment of conception onward. I was outside feeding the chickens when it happened so I marked it on the calender and seperated Momma.
2) They only had access to alfalfa pellets, water, and fresh hay
3) They should not have been in harms way or threatened at all. They were isolated by themselves so nothing would happen to them.
4) Male and Female are from two different breeders so they are not related
Thanks for the replies so far. Any other suggestions are welcome and appreciated.

 

[bantymum]

Hi again, The mum feeds them at night or really early in the morning and only once a day, correct me if im wrong, but If i remember right the mum doesnt feed them every few hours like other mammals. we usually dont get to see her feeding them.
My mumma bun fed hers once a day then covered them up in the nest and came outside to run around.
Rabbits are lactose intolerant, they cannot have cow milk, baby milk or kitten milk.
They have special milk powder which is available only from specialist pet stores.
If your mumma bun wasnt very tame, she may have become worried when they were handled for feeding, also she would not have liked the milk smell on them, she may have indeed ended their lives.
If you wish to retry breeding her, she will be very fertile right now.
I am confident if you try rebreeding and just leave her with them for at least a week before even looking in, you will get success.
I hope this helps.
Hugs

 

[chickbea]

I'm so sorry.
This is very sad, and it makes me mad at the "breeders" who are out there selling. This is the second thread recently about someone who unknowingly bought a pregnant or mating pair of rabbits and ended up with an unexpected litter. One would think that someone who calls themselves a breeder would have enough knowledge to be able to reliably sex the animals they are selling, and certainly that they would be able to tell you if the animal had been mated or not. Unfortunately, it happens all the time, and not just with bunnies. Any fool can stand there while an animal they own mates with another and call themselves a breeder, but that isn't the same as knowing what they are doing!
If you want a great bunny and you want to be sure not to end up with a litter, check out the House Rabbit Society at www.rabbit.org. They'll help you find a bunny that is spayed or neutered, and probably even litter trained!