Missing bunnies...Cannibal mom??

[denasfarm]

We have just started raising NZ and Cal meat rabbits.
This is the 2nd time we have raised litters. First time went well. 4 litters everyone lived and flourished.
This time I only bred two rabbits, one had 11 and one had 7.
We gave 7mom one of the 11 kits so it woulr be 9 and 8.
About 3 days later mom 7 has 7 again. Looked all over, in and under no kit.
(They are in Rubbermaid storage boxes with doors cut, inside a wire cage, INSIDE the closed garage.) No predaters, no escaping, nada, no way!
A few days later I find one of 11s(has 9) dead on the floor from being cold over night I presume. (wire cage is on cement floor for easy mopping)
skip ahead to today. 11 who now had 8 is down to 7!
Again no where for these bunnies to go!
Is mom eating them?? Surely they dont just evaporate?
They are now open eyed and trying to explore but cannot get out!

Ideas?

 

[treeclimber233]

It is possible that the mother that recieved new babies did eat the "transplants". Were the babies the same age (within 48 hours)? Sometimes babies die for no apparent reason and get trampled by the living ones. Sometimes the dead ones get hidden in the hay and unless the hay is completely removed and carefully looked thru are not seen. It is not likely the mother is eating them if they are older than a few days. Usually if she starts eating them she does not stop until they are all gone.

 

[denasfarm]

EXACT same age! I was told to always breed two at a time just in case.
Born basically at the same time.
I Just assumed as much on the trasplant kit because it was back on the 2nd day when swapped, but it didnt disappear for days after that.
Todays missing kit just baffles me. There is just no where it could be...other than eaten.

 

[Chatychick]

we used to raise rabbits when I was a kid and yes they will eat the babies ...we used to put hamburger balls in the cage to stop this and it helped alot. Some wont take others babies and this is what will happen, maybe it died and she ate it to keep the crate clean. who knows....it just happens...sorry
We had 1 that would do this all the time, if you looked at her babies before they were 48 hr old she would eat all of them. Well she wound up in the frying pan after about 3 times with this...

 

[cackleberries]

My inlaws raise NZ for PELFREEZE on occasion they would have a breeder that will deliver and eat everyone and transplants never seemed to work very well either there was always a high mortality rate with them. Shift through the straw carefully they may have been laid on and buried. Sorry this has happened

 

[denasfarm]

I am heading out to the garage to look again. I will post my finding tonight when I get back from work.

 

[denasfarm]

We have looked everywhere possible and its just gone!

A friend of mine at work said to feed the mom bacon grease...
Ever heard of that?

I hope now that they are hoping around they are safe.
I am going to get some vitamins and see if that helps.

 

[Run-A-Muck Ranch]

This by no means is a sure fire thing, but I have found that if you have a rabbit that's eatting her babies, but a drop of vingear in her water...
(I put 2 drops in for a water bottle).
Not sure why, but the vinegar is suppose to get the taste of blood outta the rabbits mouth...
On a plus side, it also helps to keep the water from freezing in the winter...

 

[laughingllama75]

unfortunatly, it happens. I used to raise SQ mini rex and mini lops for years, I had 100 does at any given time. I always got rid of the doe's that ate or killed the babies. They don't usually stop......
Also, do not handle the kits until they have fuzz....most times, momma does not like the scent of people on them. And sometimes, there is just no ryme or reason to it..... sorry for your loss.