sad, baby bunnies died ... first time mom?

[ghostwolf]

Good luck. Hope everything goes well this time.

 

[salvatore]

Well, after much anticipation, our female rabbit gave birth this morning some time to five babies. So we went to check this morning and sure enough there were five babies but they were scattered all over the cage .One of the babies looked like it was smashed by her stepping on it. The other four weren't smashed at all but they were all over by themselves and she hadn't fed them or kept them warm. It looked like she had cleaned them up and eaten the placentas properly though. And they were all nicely formed, pretty good sized babies. all five passing away. Mom was 2 week shy being 6 months old

Since she was a first time mom , we are guessing that she was just too young to know what to do appropriately. Anyone ever have this happen? Will she get better with the next litter or do we need to take precautions .where we can keep watch before she gives birth again? thank you for ur help ...please respond !

 

[Bunnylady]

I had a couple of "oops!" litters born last week to 5 1/2 month old does (I thought there were only bucks in that cage - I really should have checked again sooner!) One doe made a total mess of things and lost her litter, the other was absolutely letter-perfect and her babies are thriving. Some get better, some don't; IME, age seems not to be a factor in mothering ability, though experience can be.

@salvatore - I would rebreed this doe within the next couple of days, and make extra sure to write down the due date. I would give her hay, give her a nest box, etc, as per the usual schedule for an expecting doe, and watch her like a hawk! She may get it all right this time around, or not - it's really hard to say.

 

[salvatore]

I would like to know if u went through this experience ? .... thank you sal

 

[Bunnylady]

I would like to know if u went through this experience ? .... thank you sal

Dozens, if not hundreds of times - I have been breeding rabbits for about 30 years.

 

[salvatore]

ok thank you

 

[shee]

Lots of people will tell you that they keep kits outside all year long, and never have losses. I wish I could say the same, but I can't. I have lost entire litters with temperatures in the 50's, when as near as I can tell, the doe did everything right. So at this time of year, I take expectant does and their boxes and put them in my hall closet. Once the litters have been born, the does go back out to their cages, and the babies stay in my house at night (or all day, if I think it's cold enough) and go out to see their mom's in the morning.


Better luck next time!

Thanks for the heads up on that idea. I knew the doe only fed once or twice a day, but I didn't know you can actually take the young away from her for the night and/or day with the cold weather. We just had our first snow fall late Friday night to Saturday evening with temps dropping down to the teens at night and 20's during the day. While at work, our outside doe lost two of her six 2 week olds. One jumped out of the nest box and died between the metal nest box and cage wire and when four of the kits moved to the back of the box (where it has the top as well as the sides) the other one didn't. That one got a little wet and died at the front of the box. When I got home from work and saw that the doe and kits moved into the basement until the kits are a couple of weeks older and then at least the doe will move back outside. We don't want to keep her in too long and lose her winter coat.

 

[thumpersgirl]

I'm reading at this thread.. So rabbits are basically dumb.. They just don't or won't try to take care of their babies. Doe just birthed 4 babies. One she was going to snack in the others in hutch with the fur. Just checked one more dead in hutch. She sitting on top of it.. What's up.. This is second litter since I've had her... Same thing...

 

[cassie]

Maybe she just isn't cut out to be a mother. Some aren't. There is a hereditary factor in mothering ability. If that were my rabbit she would be on the menu, but that's me.

 

[MommaLovesBunny]

Well, after much anticipation, our female rabbit gave birth last night some time to four babies. She had been nest building for over a week but she kept trampling the nest after it was built and then she'd rebuild it. She refused to use to the nest box even when we put it in the place she had been building her nest so we just removed it entirely. So we went to check this morning and sure enough there were four babies but they were scattered all over the cage and the nest was trampled. One of the babies looked like it was smashed by her stepping on it. The other three weren't smashed at all but they were all over by themselves and she hadn't fed them or kept them warm. It looked like she had cleaned them up and eaten the placentas properly though. And they were all nicely formed, pretty good sized babies.

Since she was a first time mom and we don't really know how old she is, we are guessing that she was just too young to know what to do appropriately. Anyone ever have this happen? Will she get better with the next litter or do we need to take precautions and just move her inside where we can keep watch before she gives birth again?

I had the same situation with my 6 month baby momma was her first litter and she did so great built her nest for all her hair to warm them and was feeding them twice daily. Unfortunately she passed a week after giving birth due to an infection and her blood was weak like anemic but she was eating so much but not sufficient to keep it for her self. I’ll miss her so much and we lost 4 of her babies we still have 5 we been bottle feeding them but is so hard on them without their mom and the milk replacement will never be the same. So make sure next time your baby has another litter she’s gets unlimited hay greens fruits once or twice daily and fresh water. I’ll continue praying that I can get her babies to grow healthy and I’ll for sure keep all of them good luck and have a blessed day