NZW 1st litter, no motherly instincts.

[pintail_drake2004]

So, one of my NZW does had her 1st litter yesterday evening. I had checked on the does around 3:20pm then did some chores around the farm. My wife came home and we had dinner, and I suggested we go check on the rabbits again around 5:40ish. Our smaller doe had 11 kits on the wire. They were still wet, but cold. so we warmed them up and put them in the nest box covered with hay.
I checked on them again around 8pm, and the doe had not made a nest nor pulled any fur. By this time the kits were cold. So, we took them inside and put them by the fireplace. within 30 minutes 10 of the kits were wiggling and squeaking. 1 was dead.
I took a fox fur and put it in the nest box, added some more hay and put the kits back into the box and took them outside. The doe had not moved once from where we left her in the cage. We put the nest box with the kits back in the cage.

I am planning on giving her another chance, as I do not have high hopes of this litter surviving. She didn't even seem interested in the little ones. She still looked like she was in shock this morning.

 

[Rickba]

Rabbits, all moms, are funny like that. Some are good moms and some aren't. If she does that with her second litter then eat her not breed her. You can bottle feed the kits with goats milk, not cows milk, and some may make it. Rabbits grow fast. They'll be eating on their own in a few weeks.

 

[Tale of Tails Rabbitry]

How old is your doe?

I have never had the problem, but I do know it is more common with first kindles when the doe is very young, too young. I do not to breed my meat rabbits earlier than 6 months and prefer 8 to 9 months, but I had a NZW doe that got impregnated by her brothers while in grow out and had her kits before she was even 6 months old. Thankfully, she was an excellent mother from the beginning.

It is not uncommon for does not to go to the nest to feed the kits for a day or two, but hand feeding so many for four weeks is quite a task. Her mothering instincts may get a nudge when her milk comes in.

 

[pintail_drake2004]

The does are 9 and 10 mo old. This is their first breeding.

 

[Bunnylady]

Some does are totally clueless, and just never get any better. Some improve with time.

Some people will flip a doe over in their lap and put the kits on her; I've not had a lot of luck with that. For me, that generally turned into a big fight between me and the doe, with the kits getting caught in between - in fact, one doe refused to have anything further to do with her litter when I tried that. That doe turned out to only have a couple of functional teats, and as long as I left her alone, she could raise one or two (I learned to farm out the extras on other does, though I didn't breed her much after I found out about her "issue."

I've had a few dingbat does that I had to teach about nursing their litters. What I learned to do is take the nest box, put it in a carrier that is only slightly bigger than the box, put the doe in the box, and close the lid. I stay close by, because I have had the occasional doe that simply refuses to nurse the kits, and I'd prefer the kits not get stomped on.

Rabbit kits are very mobile; when they sense the doe is in the box, they crawl toward her. In the vast majority of cases, once the kits are there, the doe stands still and lets them nurse. After a few minutes, I put the doe back in her cage, and check the kits.

A first-time doe usually hasn't got a lot of milk until about day 3 post-partum, but she should have some. The kits' bellies won't be huge and round, but there should be a whitish blob visible through the skin.

During cold weather, I take any litters in the house, nest box and all, and take them out to the does morning and evening. If I have a doe that I'm having to teach about her job, I'll put the box in her cage, and give her a few minutes before I do the carrier thing. Most of the time, I have only had to use the carrier a couple of times before the doe learns to just jump in and feed them when I put the box in.

Good luck with your doe. She may yet prove to be a good mother, but I don't like the immobile, "looking like she's in shock" behavior - she may have something else going on.

 

[Tale of Tails Rabbitry]

Some people will flip a doe over in their lap and put the kits on her; I've not had a lot of luck with that. For me, that generally turned into a big fight between me and the doe, with the kits getting caught in between - in fact, one doe refused to have anything further to do with her litter when I tried that.

Been there, done that, don't do. Rabbits really do not like anything wiggling around on their bellies when they are upside down.

I have a similar setup, as @Bunnylady suggested, in my kindling suite, as we call it, where we can close the divider between the drop nesting box side and the rest of the cage so a doe would be confined with the kits. I have never had to use it that way yet, but we could. We mostly made it that way because we had one doe that got rather mean with me whenever I checked on her kits so I would close her off and open it back up when I was done.

I hope you find a solution.

 

[cassie]

You have gotten excellent advice. When I was raising rabbits my rule was this. If a doe had her babies on the wire, I bred her back at once. If she did it a second time, she was dinner. Mine.

 

[pintail_drake2004]

I bred her back 2 days after she kindled on the wire. I hope it was just a 1st time mom thing and she doesn't do it again.

 

[Bunnylady]

I bred her back 2 days after she kindled on the wire. I hope it was just a 1st time mom thing and she doesn't do it again.

If you think she's likely to repeat that, one thing you can do is stuff her whole cage with about 3" or so of hay. That way, wherever she kindles, the babies should be warm enough to survive until you can find them and put them where they should be. Most of my does get it right the next time, even if they have to be taught by me what to do.

 

[pintail_drake2004]

I talked to the breeder I bought the trio from, he said if I have a concern of her not kindling in the nest box again to place some empty water bottles in the cage to block the extra space so she HAS to kindle in the box. He has 250 rabbits, in his operation. With the warmer weather I may just put hay in the cage, but I would hate for them to fall through the side wire.