Help with Rabbit and baby kits!!

[ddavis73]

WE have been bredding rabbit for a short while now but we are having a problem with one momma rabbit. She was pregnant when we got her and she did fine with that litter had 10 and all but 1 survived. The problem is the last litter she had 10 and everytime we turned around we were finding her kits/babies outside of the cage as if she had pretty much pushed them out sometimes 2 at a time. But the end she only had 4 survive. We thought that it was just one of those things and kind of gave her the benefit of the doubt and tried her one last time. She had this litter on 1/31/19 and had 10 kits. For the first day she did great and then low and behold day 2 we find another kit outside the cage. Then the one that got to me was today when we find 2 dead in the nest box and one of them had excessive bruising on it. Both sides, its belly and neck all had bruises. Some almost looked like bite marks and now I'm VERY CONCERNED about the 7 kits left. Would she have intentionally killed her kits and why? And what should we do about the remaining 7 kits.

 

[tacothechicken]

I have no experience breeding rabbits but I've bred other animals lol. Postpartum is a thing in animals too, which is basically what this sounds like to me. In my case I'd find another doe who maybe lost a litter or had a small litter and give the babies to that female If possible. Some animals can't cope whith certain scenarios and it just changes them unfortunately. I had a female rat who bred perfect healthy litters 3 times but then after that shed fratricide any litter of less than perfect pups! It was crazy! Obviously she was retired but she's still a perfect baby sitter for others pups, just can't be trusted whith newborns due to some obsessive need to eliminate 'nonperfection'.

 

[cassie]

If that rabbit was mine I would see if I could foster the kits and invite her to dinner on my table. Mothering ability is to a degree hereditary and I would not save any of her young for breeding stock.

 

[Fishkeeper]

Yeah, some animals do that. It means the individual is no longer suited to breed and raise pups, usually. Seems to be more common in domesticated animals.
If at all possible, take the remaining kits away and hand-raise them. If you can't raise them by hand, and you see any other signs of violence, I'd honestly euthanize them. If it comes down to it, better you kill them than her, you know how to make it humane.

 

[ddavis73]

I'm gonna see about fostering them with the other rabbit that just had babies but I know that I can't trust her to care for the kits at all. THANK YOU BOTH SO SO MUCH

 

[Bunnylady]

Rabbits do not push babies out of the nest - it doesn't happen. Think about it: in the wild, a litter is born at the low end of a sloping tunnel, so there'd be no place to push babies to. This is also why rabbits lack the instinct to put babies that stray back in the nest; the shape of the burrow itself naturally funnels the babies back where they belong. When the doe leaves the nest, sometimes kits are still hanging on and get pulled out, especially if the nest box isn't well designed to keep them in.

I seriously doubt the bruises were caused by bites. Rabbit teeth have edges like chisels, very sharp, and newborns have thin skin, so bites would tend to be cuts, not bruises. I think it more likely that this baby got stepped on (though rabbit claws can cause cuts, too).

Sounds to me like this rabbit is jumping in and out of her nest, and maybe stamping her feet, which rabbits do when alarmed. Is there anything that might be stressing this rabbit out, like maybe some other animals? Rabbits may have sketchy mothering skills due to inexperience, but they tend to get better, not worse. You say she did a fine job the first time, in spite of the enormous disturbance of a new home with new owners during her pregnancy (raising 9 out of 10 is superb), but now, her babies are getting pulled out and stepped on. So my thought is, what is disturbing her now, when she was so unflappable before?

 

[ddavis73]

We have checked and checked and can't find anything that would be stressing her. The other does are not stressed or having any issues just her and as of this morning she is now like making this almost growling sound when you even go to feed her. I really think its just her bloodline and trait. She is the only one having any kind of issue and right now im really thinking that for the safety of the kits that i should go ahead and foster them to another doe

 

[chickens really]

Best wishes. @Bunnylady helped me with my Bunnies when they were born. I definitely followed her advise..

 

[Bunnylady]

she is now like making this almost growling sound when you even go to feed her.

That's a doe that is being protective, which makes me even more sure that she is worried by something - rats or other wild animals in the rabbitry, maybe? Does that are this protective may be a pain in the neck to deal with, but they are generally good mothers.

It's pretty clear that you do not like this animal, and you want validation of your decision to get rid of her. Fair enough; for whatever reason, she isn't working well for you (though most breeders have a "3 strikes and you are out" rule, and as I read it, she really only has, like, half a strike against her). But 7 kits is a fairly large litter on its own (commercial breeders consider 6 to be the "ideal" litter size, and often cull down to that many). Do you have 3 or 4 other does that have kindled within a day or two of this doe, and have small litters that you can add a couple of extras to? Dumping the whole bunch on one doe, especially if she has kits that are significantly bigger than these, will most likely end in the loss of most of them, anyway.

ETA: by the way, I have been breeding rabbits for over 30 years. This is going to sound harsh, but you need to get used to seeing dead baby bunnies - they happen, a lot. If your other does haven't been losing significant numbers, you have been very lucky during your short time breeding.

Also: you said the babies are being found "outside the cage." Those babies are crawling out and falling out on their own, which is what "baby saver" wire is designed to prevent. Some breeders use dropped nest boxes - the nest box is in a hole, under the cage floor - so babies that may get pulled out can fall back into the nest as they crawl around. Those that have tried this design say it almost entirely eliminates the "pulled out" losses.

 

[ButtonquailGirl14]

Does she have a secure nest box????? I have experience with raising rabbits, and the fall out on accident... Not on purpose!!!!!