Pregnant Rabbit Question

[Sassy07]

I have an 8 month old Californian doe. We are on our third attempt at breeding and I am very confident she took this time. Today is day 28 and I came home from work to find a ridiculous amount of fur floating around the entire yard. So much so that I thought a predator has gotten a bunny. Fortunately not. She appears to have pulled a spot about 2x2 inches on her right side completely bald. I immediately placed her clean nest box in filled with hay and gathered as much fur as possible and also placed inside. I provided her with extra hay as well which she promptly began to munch on. I checked back about 3 hours later and there is so much poop in her Nestbox! She previously pooped and urinated in the box on our previous two attempts, but she never took. I have put it as far away from her normal potty corner as possible. Wondering if anyone else has experienced a truly pregnant doe that soils the Nestbox? Also is it normal for her to pull so much fur? My Rex doe has never done either of these things.

 

[sylviethecochin]

The fur-pulling is completely normal I've never had a doe that didn't do that. And two inches is a small area. I'd be prepared for more flying fur (though every rabbit is an individual, of course). I'd handle her as little as possible. Even very tame rabbits can be stressed by handling/smells when they're kindling. I like to give them a quiet, dark hutch for the duration of the pregnancy; open-air wire cages are not ideal. (They're prey animals. They're cautious.)

Do you have a wire floor, or a wooden hutch with a wire run? If the former, you might want to just cover the entire bottom of the pen with packed hay, paying special attention to the corners, so that the bunnies aren't set on wire. Pooping in the nesting box is generally a sign that she's not going to kindle in the nest box.

Good luck.

 

[Sassy07]

Ugh. Her floor is completely wire, but the back part of her hutch where she was packing fur in the corners is enclosed around the side. Perhaps I will put a floor in the back part and even a second Nestbox.

 

[Sassy07]

Better pic of hutch. The only part open other than the floor is the small part with feeder and water bottle. This has never seemed to bother any of my others.

 

[sylviethecochin]

Better pic of hutch. The only part open other than the floor is the small part with feeder and water bottle. This has never seemed to bother any of my others.

Well, presumably, your rabbits are used to it. And you do have actual sides, so that adds some security that isn't available in a wire box. But some does get... twitchy. We had one first-timer that laid her babies on the wire and trampled them because she was scared of the (NEW! SCARY!) nesting box. We had another that ate her babies after I went in to count them. And she was a tame doe. So generally, i like to provide quiet security, prepare for all problems, and then leave the rabbits alone.

Since your floor appears to be 1/2" hardware cloth, I'd pack that hay. A new kit falls on that, under Mum's feet, and he'll be seriously injured. I've seen kits squished into the floor and it's not pretty. I've also seen them go through the floor and onto the ground below. Again, not something you want.

(Sorry. We had a lot of rabbits when I was a kid, and we had them for about seven years before Dad got tired of 1.) butchering them and 2.) my crying every time he did it. I've accumulated a few horror stories. I promise that they're actually rare occurrences.)

 

[Sassy07]

I’ve had my share of mishaps from my rex’s, but never poop in the box so that was a new one for me. She is quite a bit larger than they are too. I’ll stew on it a bit tonight and see what I can come up with tomorrow. If I can get her to build an actual nest somewhere and not just scatter them I think we might be good. She is really ditzy normally so I have a feeling this might be a futile endeavor.

 

[sylviethecochin]

I’ve had my share of mishaps from my rex’s, but never poop in the box so that was a new one for me. She is quite a bit larger than they are too. I’ll stew on it a bit tonight and see what I can come up with tomorrow. If I can get her to build an actual nest somewhere and not just scatter them I think we might be good. She is really ditzy normally so I have a feeling this might be a futile endeavor.

Yeah. After Brownie the idiot-doe, I had a two-strikes, you're out policy. I don't ever want to see a scattered litter.

I've never had Rexes. They don't fluff their nests?

 

[Sassy07]

They’ve all fluffed and continue to even for a week or so after, but never had any bald spots like this. I’ve also never had them pre fluff. They pretty much fluff the day they kindle.

 

[sylviethecochin]

They’ve all fluffed and continue to even for a week or so after, but never had any bald spots like this. I’ve also never had them pre fluff. They pretty much fluff the day they kindle.

Hunh. Maybe it's a soft-fur thing—We had mainly American Chinchilla, Havana, and NZs, and they all tore bald spots. They also usually did it right before they kindled (within twelve hours.)

 

[cassie]

Just a comment, and this may not apply here at all. When I had rabbits, they had wire cages with wire floors. I gave them a nest box shortly before they were due to kindle. Never had one use the nest box for a toilet. Once in a while one, usually a new mother, would have the babies on the wire. When that happened, I bred her back immediately. If she did it a second time, she ended up on my dinner table in very short order. I had zero patience with does that were difficult to breed and/or were poor mothers. There are too many good rabbits out there and life is too short to put up with that nonsense. But that's me.