Doe killing young kits

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mommaofmany

mommaofmany

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A friend of mine had an accident litter and seperated mom and dad ( siblings that she thought were too young to breed) as soon as she found the babies. However, 35 days later she now has a second litter. My friend found one dead and mangled kit this morning, and just saw mom attack another one now. I guess she has been moving mom back and forth between the older litter and the younger litter.

Could this be because mom sees the older ones as more viable and the youngers as a threat ( stealing "their" milk) ? Is she getting confused because she keeps getting moved? Any help?
 
Wean the older kits ASAP. Or I should say...have her separate them and never put them together again!

They are old enough to survive without mothers milk, It is perfectly natural for her reject the older kits at this age.
 
Yea, I told her to wean them asap, she is worried that mom is eating the youngest due to a mineral deficiancy or something. I said she is probably killing them because she is nursing two litters.
 
mommaofmany":2wzqy7xu said:
Yea, I told her to wean them asap, she is worried that mom is eating the youngest due to a mineral deficiancy or something. I said she is probably killing them because she is nursing two litters.
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Or perhaps because she's totally confused upset and threatened by everything that has happened.
 
The doe is messed up from being moved around with multiple litters of kits. She may not care for the new litter now. She needs left in one cage and the nestbox of kits may have to be removed for 12-24hrs until her milk is built up so she feels like feeding. Even then it might not work but the risk of injury to the kits can be lessened by only putting the box in once or twice a day when she has milk to feed them.
 
I'm just curious - what breed of rabbits are they, and how old when the doe would have been bred the first time? And how many in each litter?

Sorry, I know this wasn't the point, but I'm curious (as I'm sure other lurker's are :D ) because there are always so many questions about when you can breed, and what to expect number-wise with first litters.
 
Comet007":3096ami3 said:
and what to expect number-wise with first litters.
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Not to take away from the thread, but I think litter size has a lot more to do with lines and individual production ability than if it's a does first litter. I've seen plenty of does throw 10+ kits their first time!
 
Yes, I understand that - I was just curious what breed these were and age at breeding, etc. It's not definitive to all buns of that type, but the more stats out there to look at for various breeds, the better people can see the possibilities.
 

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