Does anyone else have bunnies on the way?

[TacomaFarms]

My NZ kindled 6 kits this afternoon! She's been a great mama so far, and all seems to be well (except her foot placement lol...).

 

[Randomhero]

One of my rabbits had a litter 4-5 days ago. Earlier today she ate one of her young.....the only reason I can think of is too much stress? I've been trying to keep the dogs out of the barn, hope it helps.

Any suggestions?!?!?

 

[showbarnmom]

A doe will eat a kit for several reasons. If its during birth the most common reason is the doe had to pull while giving birth, and damaged the kit. Afterwards, usual reason is a predator. We see it when a raccoon is in the barn.

 

[Randomhero]

Doubt it's a raccoon, the momma and her young are in a crate. The young are in the nesting box and haven't left since they were born, it's impossible for any predator to get ahold of them at the moment. (Unless of course its a large predator that can destroy the cage, not the case.)

Hope this was a one time thing! I'll keep searching for the reason, I'd hate to lose another bunny

 

[TacomaFarms]

In my minimal experience, and vast amount of reading, it is usually stress related. In the wild rabbits will eat their young to avoid predation and/or because they are malnourished.

I like this site: http://www.barbibrownsbunnies.com/having_baby_bunnies_questions.htm


Our Mama rabbit pulled one of her babies out last night to the other end of the nest box. We found it this morning. My daughter's first farm loss, she wants to bury it under the cherry tree. I hope we don't have to bury everything under the cherry tree.

 

[thedollysmama]

A kit at the far end of the nestbox is usually what I call a cling-on, one that was still nursing when mom decided to hop out if the box. That's why a lot of nest boxes have a lip, to scrape cling-ons off. This is also a reason you will find a single kit in the wire.
Barbie brown has a quite informative (and some would say controversial) website.

 

[TacomaFarms]

A kit at the far end of the nestbox is usually what I call a cling-on, one that was still nursing when mom decided to hop out if the box. That's why a lot of nest boxes have a lip, to scrape cling-ons off. This is also a reason you will find a single kit in the wire.
Barbie brown has a quite informative (and some would say controversial) website.

I thought that as well, but the kit was in the far corner of the nest box that is against the corner of the hutch, so the only way it would've gotten there is if it climbed over there, or if mama pulled it out.

We all have our faults, I just look at everything that's informative and make my own educated guess/decision based on the info. Just sharing...

 

[Bunnylady]

Baby bunnies are surprisingly mobile. On occasion, I have had one not only get out of the nest box, but out of the cage (not all of my cages have baby-saver wire) and wind up crawling across the floor of the rabbitry. Usually it's only one or two kits that I have always assumed were pulled out, but I had one very strange litter of Mini Rex where all of the kits did this 2 or 3 times before they were a week old. Fortunately, it was summertime, and they survived long enough for me to find them. If memory serves, I was finding them as much as 10 feet away from the box.

Baby bunnies instinctively cuddle together to share warmth, but I have seen the odd kit that seems not to have that instinct. The kit may still be in the box, but it will be in a corner someplace other than where the rest of the litter is. When I find on like that, I'll put it in with its siblings, but if the same one keeps isolating itself like that, it usually winds up dying.

 

[Dutchgirl]

Checked on Mollie this morning, and she has 6 healthy kits! I'm going to leave her alone for the next few days, so I won't be posting pictures for a while.

 

[UnlabeledMama]

Hurray!

We have two possibly pregnant does. I can't wait!