Female rabbit has babies, do we have to keep the other female out?

[jobear]

Unfortunately, our rabbits were left out one night and the male jumped over into the the female section...and now we have some babies. We have 2 females in a cage together. One had babies and has nested in a box inside the cage. Must we keep the other female rabbit out the cage? We don't have another cage to keep it in...right now we have it in the 'run' just outside of the cage and propped up a recycling box for it to go under in rain, but otherwise, there is now shelter except the cage of the rabbit with babies on stilts above it and some shrubs/trees. The run is about 5' x 3'.
I don't have a lot invested in the babies...it was an accident...but I don't want to make it worse. Should I be more concerned about the other female's safety and keeping her in the cage at night and such....or should I risk keeping her out to try and help the safety of the babies? And if so, how long must she stay out?? Bit of a conundrum...any insight or advice?
thanks!

 

[4boysmom]

We kept ours separated for a short time, but then put them together since the babies kept getting through the divider. We had 2 mamas and 15 babies together at 1 point!

 

[therealsilkiechick]

i bred 2 does and only one took and both moms and babies have been together since and babies r now almost 8 weeks old and all have done fine together. so we have 2 moms and 8 babies together. the non mom actually looks after the baby and guards them more than there mom does it is funny to watch her she is a good nanna. normally i do seperate my does but they r in a huge ground run/hutch so i left them together since it is spaceous enough. some does i do have to keep totally seperate or they will fight or kill babies though so they r always caged seperate. honestly it depends on the does and how teritorial they r but it can be done if they have enough hideing spaces and enough space for them.

 

[Bunnylady]

Has it been long enough that you can be sure that the second doe isn't bred? When I tried keeping does is "colonies," I often had more than one doe trying to use the same nest box, with catastrophic results for the babies. If the mother of the litter is the dominant doe, she could get pretty nasty with the subordinate - or not, depending on their personalities. Motherhood can really change a doe's behavior, so it's really hard to say without knowing the animals.