Dead rabbit babies

[MartinFamilyHomestead]

Okay. I didn’t see that they had been separated. I also thought you were asking why they had died. I also thought you had known they were males and a female.
And there is a reason it’s bad she’s having babies. Several.
Unpreparedness, led to the death of babies.
Unknowingness, just bad overall.
And, the fact the babies DIED.

And you can prove the death of the babies were my fault?... Um no you can’t. They very well could have been stillborns and not have been my fault and we could have been prepared and they still died. We could not be prepared for something we did not know on top of that unknowingness? Do you know everything?? Didn’t know I was speaking to god. You are not a very nice person, I would have a better choice of words if we were in person and I could see who was listening in just do my a favor and keep your negative comments off my forums. Thanks !!

 

[JacinLarkwell]

To be fair, I gave several advisments and you argued against pretty much everything I said

 

[MartinFamilyHomestead]

Okay. I didn’t see that they had been separated. I also thought you were asking why they had died. I also thought you had known they were males and a female.
And there is a reason it’s bad she’s having babies. Several.
Unpreparedness, led to the death of babies.
Unknowingness, just bad overall.
And, the fact the babies DIED.

To be fair, I gave several advisments and you argued against pretty much everything I said

I don’t recall arguing but stating what I’ve been told and seen by others. If you look on the whole thread I took many suggestions.this is a little random and I’m new to this site but you quoted a different persons responses. I was not saying you were rude. I took your suggestions in and explained what I was told. Not arguing by any means. Obviously I do not know the right answers or procedures or else I wouldn’t have postedlooking for advice

 

[TheOddOneOut]

I don’t recall arguing but stating what I’ve been told and seen by others. If you look on the whole thread I took many suggestions.this is a little random and I’m new to this site but you quoted a different persons responses. I was not saying you were rude. I took your suggestions in and explained what I was told. Not arguing by any means. Obviously I do not know the right answers or procedures or else I wouldn’t have postedlooking for advice

Well, I think people were pointing out that it seemed like you weren't exactly prepared.
And you clearly weren't doing much with the rabbits other than feeding them. Otherwise you would have noticed she was pregnant.
Look, I know you think my comments are rude, so I'll retract myself from this. But I hope you can heed some of it.

 

[Bunnylady]

Ideally, we do some research before we get animals, so we know what we are getting into . . . . A lot of people jump right in without, but sometimes, even if we do it, we later learn that what we were told or thought we already knew was either wrong, or wasn't nearly enough.

I got into rabbits over 30 years ago, with what were meant to be just pets. Even with my research, my very first pair of rabbits, which I thought were two does, turned out to be a buck and a doe. Fortunately for me, I learned of my mistake before they were old enough to breed (and, having seen very experienced rabbit breeders accidentally entering junior bucks in junior doe classes, I can tell you it's a very common and persistent mistake!). Sadly, an awful lot of people find out the hard way - dead babies. It happens. A lot.

So, now you know, and feel the need to do a bit more research. Hopefully you will learn things that are useful and help to make your rabbit keeping a pleasant experience!

(Incidentally, I have a real problem with that breeder's statement that his rabbits' babies just stay in the mothers' nests. Baby rabbits are highly mobile, and can crawl around a lot before their eyes open. Being born without fur, they need the nest and each other to stay warm, but they can hang on when the doe leaves the nest and get pulled out. If they don't happen to crawl in the right direction, they can wind up a long, long way from the nest, and die of exposure (rather quickly, during cool weather). During hot weather, the babies may overheat in the nest and crawl away from each other, once again resulting in possibly lost and dead babies. The domestic rabbit's wild ancestors dig burrows, so the babies are born at the lowest end of a tunnel - much harder for them to get lost that way, plus protection from weather extremes. Unless the breeder's does are digging tunnels, and even if they are, I suspect he's losing a lot of babies that he may not even know about).

 

[Sara L]

We might keep one baby. We will find homes for the rest. These are not house pets but more of barn animals pets. They won’t be going to the vet. Not to be insensitive because we love all of our animals but they were barn bunnies when we got them and that’s what they are now. On top of that I would rather keep them separate and risk then getting cancer than putting them through a surgery that might have complications regardless.

Ok. I know you've separated out the doe, but you may also want to separate the males too if you haven't done that already. OR make sure you have that third pen ready to go if you don't want to separate the males from each other right now. Rabbits do get along till they don't and you could have a majorly injured rabbit very quickly.

Also, have you made sure (check for testicles) that the dwarf buck is actually a buck?

 

[MartinFamilyHomestead]

Ideally, we do some research before we get animals, so we know what we are getting into . . . . A lot of people jump right in without, but sometimes, even if we do it, we later learn that what we were told or thought we already knew was either wrong, or wasn't nearly enough.

I got into rabbits over 30 years ago, with what were meant to be just pets. Even with my research, my very first pair of rabbits, which I thought were two does, turned out to be a buck and a doe. Fortunately for me, I learned of my mistake before they were old enough to breed (and, having seen very experienced rabbit breeders accidentally entering junior bucks in junior doe classes, I can tell you it's a very common and persistent mistake!). Sadly, an awful lot of people find out the hard way - dead babies. It happens. A lot.

So, now you know, and feel the need to do a bit more research. Hopefully you will learn things that are useful and help to make your rabbit keeping a pleasant experience!

(Incidentally, I have a real problem with that breeder's statement that his rabbits' babies just stay in the mothers' nests. Baby rabbits are highly mobile, and can crawl around a lot before their eyes open. Being born without fur, they need the nest and each other to stay warm, but they can hang on when the doe leaves the nest and get pulled out. If they don't happen to crawl in the right direction, they can wind up a long, long way from the nest, and die of exposure (rather quickly, during cool weather). During hot weather, the babies may overheat in the nest and crawl away from each other, once again resulting in possibly lost and dead babies. The domestic rabbit's wild ancestors dig burrows, so the babies are born at the lowest end of a tunnel - much harder for them to get lost that way, plus protection from weather extremes. Unless the breeder's does are digging tunnels, and even if they are, I suspect he's losing a lot of babies that he may not even know about).

Thank you!! Your input was very helpful, I appreciate it

 

[HorsesRMe123]

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.

Hi! I’ve had over 7 years experience with rabbits and have had 2 litters. So I know enough about raising kits. First of all, your buck and doe should be separated. Bucks will get the doe pregnant right after birth once they get the chance. So if your doe and buck are still together, there’s a good chance she’s pregnant again. The males can also kill the kits, so this could be a cause. I would separate them immediately. They should only see each other for mating or if they’re both fixed and are bonded. Otherwise, they should be living apart from each other.

Another possible reason your kits could have died is because they are housed outside in a hutch. If at all possible, I highly recommend bringing mama and the babies inside with a hideaway for the nest and warmth. If you can’t do that then your babies won’t have a good chance of surviving. But, you can give them a better chance of survival by putting fleece or even a towel will do, on the wire. Wire isn’t good for rabbit’s feet. It can give them sore hocks, cause an infection, and is very painful. It’s not good for the kits either because they can get their feet stuck in the wire or even their head. The fleece will help them to also stay warm. Make sure they have a hideaway hut to go into to get out of the elements. Make the hutch as warm and cozy as possible. Maybe even put a tarp up on the sides to lower the amount of air flow and cold getting to the kits.

I’m not sure how many kits you still have alive, but I really hope the best for them and you as well!

 

[BurkheadHollerRanch]

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.

I am new to raising and breeding rabbits and I have had two litters from my momma rabbit. The first litter she had eight and 3 were still born. We wound up losing all but three of them. I am not sure what happened. The second litter she had about two months ago and she had 10. To my amazement everyone of them are fat little healthy babies. She didn't lose one of them. I have learned that the first litter is the hardest and because they don't really know what to do it can be quite a loss. From my experience its a learning process for both momma rabbit and her owners.