She was pregnant!

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No, you don't weight them now, that's not a priority. First, let the doe do her thing, when she' done check the nest, remove and replace soiled, wet bedding, make sure the kits (? kit?) is well covered with fur. Then give the doe lots of food and privacy.

Is there just the one kit? Where are the rabbits, inside, outside, how cold is it? A singleton might struggle to stay warm (essential), you would need to something about that if it's outside or in the cold.

Congrats, btw :)
 
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Preitler said:
No, you don't weight them now, that's not a priority. First, let the doe do her thing, when she' done check the nest, remove and replace soiled, wet bedding, make sure the kits (? kit?) is well covered with fur. Then give the doe lots of food and privacy.

Is there just the one kit? Where are the rabbits, inside, outside, how cold is it? A singleton might struggle to stay warm (essential), you would need to something about that if it's outside or in the cold.

Congrats, btw :)
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Last night was really cold but my husband says we are gearing up for "second summer" lol.

They are outside. She has a box she made a nest in. Not a nesting box, more like a hideaway box.

So far just one. How long do I wait? We were at church from 7-1 so not sure when she had it. Or if it was before church. I fed her and had noticed she pulled more fur.
 
Only one kit will have a hard chance at surviving. I would rebreed her at two weeks for a chance of a larger litter. (or immediately if the kit passes). Small litter could be the result of lots of things. Three as the most likely reasons.
- an older rabbit
- a fat rabbit
- poor fertility on behalf of the buck or the doe

If you don't know the age or details of the rabbits it will be a bit of a guessing game, so don't cull them too quickly until hopefully you can get some answers.
 
AShelBunny said:
Last night was really cold but my husband says we are gearing up for "second summer" lol.

They are outside. She has a box she made a nest in. Not a nesting box, more like a hideaway box.

So far just one. How long do I wait? We were at church from 7-1 so not sure when she had it. Or if it was before church. I fed her and had noticed she pulled more fur.
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I've had does give birth over a period of 24-48 hours, so there is no guarantee at all that your doe is done yet. My suggestion - drawn from learning the hard way - is to bring the one bunny inside your house, but leave the box for the doe so you don't have the heartbreak of coming out to find dead bunnies all over the wire the next day. Also, whether or not she has more bunnies, she'll probably keep pulling fur and building the nest for another day or two or three.

Take some of the bedding and fur from the nest box to create a temporary nest in another box (cardboard, whatever) for the single kit. Keep the kit in the temporary box inside overnight, with a heating pad to provide warmth unless your house is really, really warm. Put the heating pad on LOW!!! since you can overheat the kits too, as they have very little ability to regulate their temperature at all the first few days.

Put the kit back in the real nest box back in the cage the next morning, and let the doe feed it. Once you see she's fed it, pull it and bring it back inside if there are no other kits. After 24 hours I'd feel more confident no more are coming, but, again, since I've been burned before, I'd err on the side of caution and leave the empty nest box with the doe for a total of 48 hours. After that you can just bring the whole box in and out morning and evening for her to feed the kit (called shelving), since as @ladysown pointed out, a single kit won't be able to keep itself warm enough for the first week or even two.

AShelBunny said:
Do you think the pair is too old? Would you dispatch if they can't produce a decent litter?
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Agree with @ladysown and counsel not too quick a decision about culling until you have a better idea of what they can do.
 
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It's a half strike. Accidentally previously bred by former owner who did not mention it? For all you know some neighbor kids put them together when no one was looking, or something. This does not sound like good management.

Focus on feeding them the right amount for them to be the correct weights and try again. they may surprise you.
 

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