:( The past weeks have not been kind!

[Chicken Frenzie]

The 11th, (April) my purebred brown minirex and my purebred American chinchilla had kits. There were 6 little black hairless cuties, and I was really excited and my mom was too. We were really excited and were thankful they were all healthy, since it was her first litter. Well, the 17th came and my checkered giant ( my baby) and the American chinchilla had kits. All healthy too. Well, everything was fine and dandy, and then two days later, my mom and I ran out to the rabbit hutch and my checkerd giant (Charlette) was dead. I started crying while I went to school. Charlette most likely died because (I think) it is uncommon for a rabbit to have 11 kits ( especially first litter) and it just drained her.

Now, my mom took me out of school that day since she didn't want to to start crying in school and she talked to the councilor and everything,, and we had to figure out what to do with charlettes 11 kits. We brought them all inside, and we started calling people. Luckily, we found a lady who could foster them for us, since 17 babies is to much for the Rex to handle feeding, and we didn't want her to die. So we have the 11 babies in a box, and jokingly i found a really pink one and named it Pinky. my mom and I go outside to tell my dad the good news. I ran back inside, and I found screaming babies on the floor. It's been a long time, and I still can't get that horrific sound it of my head. Well, our two dogs had bitten the babies, and they wee all bloody. So I start screaming, and run to my parents then run into their bedroom like a baby and start screaming/crying since those babies were all I had left of Charlette, and Pinky was my favorite...

Well, my mom tells me it's okay to come out and she is cleaning up, and she is about to throw away some pajamas we had in the box for the kits to nestle with, and something squirmed. There were 5 kits unhurt! So we hurriedly bring the minirex(brownie) inside to feed them. My dad then buried the six murdered babies in the ground next to their mama. After they drank, we drove over to the foster house, and the lady took them.

I don't know when, but sometime two of the kits died because they were just dead internally from not eating the night the mama died. So we have 3 out of 11 left, and I'm really thankful! Tomorrow I'm going over to those people's house so I can see them! and Pinky is okay ))))

And the six from brownie are doing very well.

Sorry for all the spelling errors, I'm on my ipad

 

[Bunnylady]

Well, I have often said that anyone who believes in the expression, "breeds like rabbits" has never tried it. Sounds like you got thrown in at the deep end, and I'm sorry.

I'm sorry you lost your doe, too, but I'm afraid I disagree with your diagnosis on the cause of her death. 11 babies is not an unusual number for a large breed rabbit; the litter size by itself should not have created that much of a strain on her system. There is a condition, referred to as 'fatty liver syndrome' or "young doe disease" that kills many does. It is basically a metabolic problem; the rabbit's system has trouble converting stored energy into available energy. It is most often seen in overweight does, first-time mothers in particular (which is why it is called 'young doe disease'). It happens to does with more "normal sized" litters, too. With any doe that dies within a few days of her due date, that is my first suspicion.

I've had incidents where my own dogs killed some of my rabbits, and it's just sickening. You can't really be mad at the dog - it's just doing what dogs do - but the carnage you described must have been horrible for you. Such a sad thing to happen to all those kits, too. But so glad that your favorite survived!

Rabbit breeding got off to a rough start for you. Hope things continue to get better!

 

[Chicken Frenzie]

Thanks for all the explanations! And thanks, yeah my mon wanted me and my bro to expirience life and such, so probably no more breeding until later!