kanelson92
In the Brooder
- Mar 10, 2017
- 6
- 1
- 17
Hi folks,
I started trying to breed meat rabbits a couple months ago. I have two does and a buck (the does are related, the buck is not).
The first go round was rough, Trixie didn't get pregnant and Alice did. Alice gave birth to 9 babies all on the cage floor. I had put a nesting box I had made in her cage on day 28. She loved it and starting building her nest in there on day 29. On day 31, she still gave birth on the floor. And then built a second smaller nest on the side of the nesting box and around the floor. Like she was trying to build a nest on top of the babies. Half were dead so I pulled them out, I put the other half that were still moving into the nest. Later that day they were dead too. After all the babies were gone I took the nesting box and all the nests out. The next morning she had pulled out tons of hair and started making another nest. I cleaned that up and let her settle down before re-breeding. This was her first pregnancy and everything I read says they almost always screw up the first one, so I didn't get too upset.
The second go-round, I bred both girls again. This time I am pretty sure it took with Trixie. She has gained weight and when palpated at 2 weeks I felt little "marbles." If all goes according to plan she should be giving birth tonight. Alice, on the other hand, gave birth last night to 11 babies. BUT SHE DID THE SAME THING AS LAST TIME! She had them all on the cage floor, they were all dead by the time I saw them. She had pulled all the nesting material out of the box (which I bought this time thinking maybe there was something wrong with the one I made), and she assembled a nest on the side of the nesting box. I didn't move it because I cannot see into it this time and am not sure if there are any living babies in there. Also, when I took the dead babies out one had no front legs.
Please help. Am I doing something wrong? Is this normal or is there something wrong with my rabbit?
I started trying to breed meat rabbits a couple months ago. I have two does and a buck (the does are related, the buck is not).
The first go round was rough, Trixie didn't get pregnant and Alice did. Alice gave birth to 9 babies all on the cage floor. I had put a nesting box I had made in her cage on day 28. She loved it and starting building her nest in there on day 29. On day 31, she still gave birth on the floor. And then built a second smaller nest on the side of the nesting box and around the floor. Like she was trying to build a nest on top of the babies. Half were dead so I pulled them out, I put the other half that were still moving into the nest. Later that day they were dead too. After all the babies were gone I took the nesting box and all the nests out. The next morning she had pulled out tons of hair and started making another nest. I cleaned that up and let her settle down before re-breeding. This was her first pregnancy and everything I read says they almost always screw up the first one, so I didn't get too upset.
The second go-round, I bred both girls again. This time I am pretty sure it took with Trixie. She has gained weight and when palpated at 2 weeks I felt little "marbles." If all goes according to plan she should be giving birth tonight. Alice, on the other hand, gave birth last night to 11 babies. BUT SHE DID THE SAME THING AS LAST TIME! She had them all on the cage floor, they were all dead by the time I saw them. She had pulled all the nesting material out of the box (which I bought this time thinking maybe there was something wrong with the one I made), and she assembled a nest on the side of the nesting box. I didn't move it because I cannot see into it this time and am not sure if there are any living babies in there. Also, when I took the dead babies out one had no front legs.
Please help. Am I doing something wrong? Is this normal or is there something wrong with my rabbit?