What makes a good first time mom?

Let me start by saying good and bad mothering habits seem to be very hit or miss. My thing is, my very first doe, the foundation to my love for rabbits, was an excellent first time mom (She was 8 weeks when I got her, no litters prior to me) she had I think 9-10, and we lost a few here and there for various reasons... But, I kept a REW doe from her *Butterball (The doe who was a buck until a week before she kindled)*, Butterball didn't have a nestbox for her first litter, she pulled out fur and made a fur nest and kindled 4 of the 5 in her hair nest, one was on the ground but we warmed it up and all was well. So I kept one of the does from Butterball's first litter as well *Harlem*, she's a little chin doe with a big personality, she's such a sweetie, also a great first time mom, she built her nest about a week early and every time I'd destroy it to teach her she'd look at me like I was nuts and rebuild it. You guys may remember me talking about my singleton a while back *Totoro* Well she's a VERY proud momma of 11!!!! They were all very teeny tiny, but she's doing wonderful! She's a first timer as well, none dead, all in the box, nice nest, great momma, when I check the kits, she peeks over the side of the box to see what I'm up too. I will say I split her litter in half by putting 4 in with Butterball's two, everyone is doing great and growing nicely, I'll get pics soon ...

Now for the other side of my post.. I don't know how Turtle did with her first litter as it wasn't with me neither was her second, but I did keep Lylac, and the two bucks (Coffee, Muta) from her second litter, Lylac was awful first time mom, dug out most of nest box material and scattered them all over the box, second litter was a big surprise as I had wrote down her breeding as a week later >.< first kit was on wire but still alive when found so we grabbed it and brought her in, I had to massage milk from mom's boob into the first kits mouth so it wouldn't die (it was shriveled and hardly moving at this point, warm but slowly dying) She then had another two kits in the pet carrier I gave her in the bathtub, after we got the kits cleaned and gave her a nestbox she pulled some hair and has raised three beautiful little girls *need to sex them again*, the chocolate and blue doe I kept from Turtle were also awful first time moms, chocolate doe had FOUR!!! nest box's to choose from, kindled on the wire #nof'sgivenhere. But second go around and blue doe was an absolutely wonderful mother, she's very protective over her kits to.

So here's my question, is good mothering skills a trait that is passed down? because I would think that if it were then blue and chocolate as well as Lylac would have been good or at least better mom's because they were from a more experienced mother.

It can be passed down, but it isn't a simple trait. Rabbits from good mothers are more likely to be good mothers than ones from bad mothers, but you still get bad mothers out of good mothers, and good mothers out of bad mothers

Interesting, so even though I've got three good doe's that all stem from one main, it's still a 50/50... How interesting. I was hoping to breed for the good mothering trait, but that would take a LONG time to get a more pure line from mutts. I guess I'll just keep mutts for meat and pure's for occasional purebred litters

I would say the odds are more than 50% to get a good mom from a good mom. I find that most rabbits are good mothers.

Mothering skills are inherited from the buck as well. So, if your buck and doe both come from a line of good mothers, you're more likely to get good mothers. If you doe comes from a line of good mothers, but your buck your buck comes from a line of poor ones, your chances of getting good mothers are reduced. It's not a simple method of inheritance however, many variables.

A good mom: births, cleans, pulls fur and feeds the kits...

I have been really luck with my does....
I have only had one bad mom, Spots... she would have them, clean them, pull fur for them and leave them....
I was told she was a bad mom when I got her, got a couple of litters from her and (you may have noticed the past tense) ate her...

I kept a daughter from her last litter, Platinum .... she is a great mom!
all my other rabbits have been great moms....

The only litter I've lost since Spots... was due to the cold...
The doe had them, cleaned them and pulled the fur, but by the time the whole procedure was done, they were too cold and died... she got half of another's litter to raise and she was happy with that... (she was so stressed that morning and mad when I took the nest box... but I gave it back with live kits for her to nurse, so I think she forgave me)

Rabbits are most definitely some interesting creatures. The current head buck of my litter came from a great mom, I'm not to sure what his first 2-3 weeks of life were like because he was living with his siblings and both parents in too small of a cage, on some nasty bedding. But after I got him he was a spoiled rotten little sweetie.