Rabbits...help....again...

[amynbrent]

Ok, so I survived the first suprise babies. Mom and babies are fine. Since we now know we dont have four girls I took who I think is the boy out. The two other girls I couldnt tell if they were preg or not becuase everything about them seemed the same from when I got them 2 months ago.

I was watching for signs of nesting every day since last Sunday (when the others were born) I didnt find nests, hair...anything in the hutch until this morning. I figured I would get things settled in my house before I went to work moving one out of the hutch. Maybe 2 hours past and I went to prepare everything. I went to grab one to take out and I saw a baby, then I moved things around and saw many more babies, then I found a nest in the corner, many more babies.....15 total, all dead. I thought that the two had to deliver on the same day or last night. I cleaned everything out and just went out to check them about an hour ago. There is a new next of fur from my gray rabbit. My questions are...

Can one rabbit have 15 babies? I heard 8-10 but 15? They are not huge rabbits, I dont know the breed, they are just ordinary rabbits.

Is this nesting behavior just a mothering instinct even tough the babies are gone?

I took her out and I did feel her and the other rabbit, she is fat and I swear I felt bumps. The other rabbit is thin, had nipples and her belly is mushy. I put her into a seperate cage so I guess we will see. When I put her in she started pushing shavings in a nesting box I put in there and there are more clumps of fur.

Thanks for the help!

 

[Bunnylady]

I believe the rabbit with the biggest litter listed in Guiness' Book of World Records had 21. Some were fostered out onto other does, and all survived.

The largest litter that one of my rabbits has ever had was 13, but not all survived. Mom was a Harlequin, weighed in a little over showable size at 10 lbs, so not huge herself.

Which is my way of getting around to saying yes, it is possible that one rabbit might have had all those kits - though not terribly likely. Fur pulling can continue well after the kits arrive; I have had does pull fur every time the temperature got cool at night for over a week after kindling. Does will pull fur from anything that doesn't run away fast enough to avoid it (even a buck), so you can't tell whose nest it is by the fur in it.

Is your one doe still pregnant? It's possible, so keep an eye on her. And by the way, I'm sorry about the litter you lost. I know you weren't intending to breed rabbits, but little dead bunnies are a heartbreaking sight, aren't they?

 

[amynbrent]

Thank you so much. It was horrible to see and to have to deal with this with my kids watching too. No we never intented to breed but the thought of it happening after the first ones seemed fun. We live in the country so finding homes wont be an issue. We already have people who want some. These are our first rabbits and I probably should have done more research on having them but being they were all suppose to be one sex and they were pets I didnt think it was something we couldnt handle. Right now they are all in their own space. The three are not liking it at all. The mom with the little ones is just fine. I sort of hope the one is still preg but I sort of dont. When the warm weather hits I am going to have a completly different set up so I dont have to get rid of my boy and everyone will be happy.