Immediate Help

My doe is 35 days pregnant. She is trying to expel the kits. One success so far. Very large and DOA. With everything I am reading it is Dystocia.
Does anyone have experience with this? What can I do for her?
There is no vet in our area that for rabbits. Please help with treatment ASAP! Thank you.

Is any part of the Kit sticking out? You could hold her in your lap (Like sitting like a human, not upright or upside down) and try to slowly pull/edge the kit out

RabbitsOfTheCreek said:

Is any part of the Kit sticking out? You could hold her in your lap (Like sitting like a human, not upright or upside down) and try to slowly pull/edge the kit out

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Currently, no. I laid her on her back on my lap and massaged her tummy. She just laid there. She pushed and some blood came out but no sign of another baby. She has not cleaned herself at all and is staying in her nesting box.

Buknee said:

My doe is 35 days pregnant. She is trying to expel the kits. One success so far. Very large and DOA. With everything I am reading it is Dystocia.
Does anyone have experience with this? What can I do for her?
There is no vet in our area that for rabbits. Please help with treatment ASAP! Thank you.

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We have had some does have trouble kindling over the years, mostly the min rex. There are two things that sometimes help:

One is raspberry leaves, which supposedly contain an oxytocin analog, which can help induce labor or strengthen uterine contractions, and/or control bleeding after kindling. Sometimes a doe will eat these even when she's not willing to eat anything else; they seem to know when they need them. Raspberry leaves aren't always handy so I dry some each year for use during other seasons.

The other thing that has helped is massage, but we don't turn them over. We leave the doe sitting as she would normally be during kindling, putting our hands under her and gently massaging in the direction we want the kits to move. You don't necessarily even have to take her out of her nest box, if you think she would feel most comfortable there. (Our rabbits get lots of handling, so we usually hold them in our laps.)

I've never used it, but some breeders I know use an injection of actual oxytocin to help with contractions. The usual oxytocin dose for a 7.5 lb. rabbit is 1.5 ISP units. A vet should be able to give you oxytocin, even if it isn't a rabbit-savvy vet. Here is a rabbit drug calculator where you/the vet can confirm the dose - Drug Dosage Calculator for Rabbits

As you know, time is of the essence since the doe can get exhausted. Make sure you keep her drinking, even if it means you have to give her lukewarm water with a syringe. If she's been at it more than a day, adding a little bit of Nutridrops to the water might not be a bad idea.

Good luck!

P.S. The good news is that with our big rabbits, when the doe finally passed the big one that was stuck and holding things up, she usually passed the others soon afterwards. They would be dead, of course, but the doe would make it. Hopefully that's what you'll find.

How is it going with your doe? I'm sorry- I didn't see this until tonight!

Here is a post I made about the time one of my does had trouble kindling. I talked to a vet about the situation and this is the stuff she said:

https://rabbittalk.com/threads/help-with-difficult-delivery.34725/post-338290
https://rabbittalk.com/threads/retained-kit.34555/post-336562

Thank you everyone. Unfortunately, I lost Bella tonight. I am not sure how long she was in labor. She has been hopping in her box off and on for several days. Since it was her first time and the bucks, I assumed it was a failed breeding. I did leave the next box in.
Yesterday Bella kept coming onto my lap and tucking her head into my arm. She had done that before. But yesterday she was lifting when she was on my lap. I put her in with the same buck and she lifted and was acting like a normal breeding.
When I got home tonight after being gone all day, not normal, I found a dead baby on the wire and she was in the nesting box exhausted. I brought her into the house and sat her on my lap and she faded fast. After she died, I cut her open and she had two more large, dead kits inside.
Although she was an easy keeper, she was a large rabbit. I think her weight was a contributing factor. She was a favorite of course. She would put her head on my lap every day to be petted.

Truly a sad and hard night. Bella is my profile picture. She will be missed!

My vet would not give oxytocin unless I took her in for x-rays to confirm that there were still kits needed to be expelled (this used to be my go-to vet's office back when they were a farm-style, work-with-the-farmers type of vets).

Buknee said:

Thank you everyone. Unfortunately, I lost Bella tonight. I am not sure how long she was in labor. She has been hopping in her box off and on for several days. Since it was her first time and the bucks, I assumed it was a failed breeding. I did leave the next box in.
Yesterday Bella kept coming onto my lap and tucking her head into my arm. She had done that before. But yesterday she was lifting when she was on my lap. I put her in with the same buck and she lifted and was acting like a normal breeding.
When I got home tonight after being gone all day, not normal, I found a dead baby on the wire and she was in the nesting box exhausted. I brought her into the house and sat her on my lap and she faded fast. After she died, I cut her open and she had two more large, dead kits inside.
Although she was an easy keeper, she was a large rabbit. I think her weight was a contributing factor. She was a favorite of course. She would put her head on my lap every day to be petted.

Truly a sad and hard night. Bella is my profile picture. She will be missed!

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So sorry, Buknee!! Losing a loving animal is such a sad thing to experience...

MuddyFarms said:

So sorry, Buknee!! Losing a loving animal is such a sad thing to experience...

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Thanks. It's been a tough two days. Missy, Katelynn's Rex, kindled yesterday. She found one almost totally eaten, two really cold, one with a missing foot, and two warm and fine. We brought the nesting box inside, warmed them all including the footless one and shelved them. I told Katelynn that something must have spooked her. We were prepared for the worst. We both have a doe with kits less than a week old. Thought we would have to foster them out. She took them back out last night to see what Missy would do. She jumped right in the box and nursed them. K chose to leave them with her. This morning, they were all warm, fed and fine.
I didn't get a chance to check with K tonight, but I am assuming they are still fine.

Buknee said:

Thank you everyone. Unfortunately, I lost Bella tonight. I am not sure how long she was in labor. She has been hopping in her box off and on for several days. Since it was her first time and the bucks, I assumed it was a failed breeding. I did leave the next box in.
Yesterday Bella kept coming onto my lap and tucking her head into my arm. She had done that before. But yesterday she was lifting when she was on my lap. I put her in with the same buck and she lifted and was acting like a normal breeding.
When I got home tonight after being gone all day, not normal, I found a dead baby on the wire and she was in the nesting box exhausted. I brought her into the house and sat her on my lap and she faded fast. After she died, I cut her open and she had two more large, dead kits inside.
Although she was an easy keeper, she was a large rabbit. I think her weight was a contributing factor. She was a favorite of course. She would put her head on my lap every day to be petted.

Truly a sad and hard night. Bella is my profile picture. She will be missed!

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Sorry for your loss.

sorry you lost your Bella.

So sorry for your loss of Bella.

Thank you everyone. Bella was a tough loss. I keep looking at her cage waiting for her to jump on the door, anxious to be pet.

Interestingly, earlier that same day, I went to pick up a Flemish Giant buck. Well, I have learned to check sex before exchanging money. I made the mistake of holding her for a bit before checking. Instantly liked the rabbit and yes, it's a doe. Little did I know that she would be replacing my Queen Bella. I didn't need another doe. My new gal knows she has big shoes to fill. And she is doing it.
I will attempt to upload a video of her.

My new Flemish Giant doe.

Chinchilla Flemishes are pretty

MuddyFarms said:

My vet would not give oxytocin unless I took her in for x-rays to confirm that there were still kits needed to be expelled (this used to be my go-to vet's office back when they were a farm-style, work-with-the-farmers type of vets).

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I understand that completely. I miss my old farm vet. Pretty much done with all others. Just like doctors, laughable.

Buknee said:

Thanks. It's been a tough two days. Missy, Katelynn's Rex, kindled yesterday. She found one almost totally eaten, two really cold, one with a missing foot, and two warm and fine. We brought the nesting box inside, warmed them all including the footless one and shelved them. I told Katelynn that something must have spooked her. We were prepared for the worst. We both have a doe with kits less than a week old. Thought we would have to foster them out. She took them back out last night to see what Missy would do. She jumped right in the box and nursed them. K chose to leave them with her. This morning, they were all warm, fed and fine.
I didn't get a chance to check with K tonight, but I am assuming they are still fine.

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Goodness! Were they all in the nest box or scattered on the floor? Not knowing the housing Missy is in, I'm guessing you are probably right. That or she had one kit stuck and was able to pull it out in time to still kindle the others live. It sounds like she has an intact mothering instinct, though!

MuddyFarms said:

Goodness! Were they all in the nest box or scattered on the floor? Not knowing the housing Missy is in, I'm guessing you are probably right. That or she had one kit stuck and was able to pull it out in time to still kindle the others live. It sounds like she has an intact mothering instinct, though!

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They were in the nest box, but separated.

I have most of my mommas in homemade hutches and they are all in an enclosed area. Plus, they are inside a fenced area that nothing large can get into. The dog is not allowed in their area either.
Missy's situation is pretty complete opposite. Thankfully, they just moved all of the metal cages into a nice pallet barn. But....a little too late for Missy's litter. On the really cold night, they all died. Missy was taking care of them. There were 4 other litters, that I know of from other breeders, that were lost that night.
Really sad, especially for poor Missy.

Buknee said:

Thank you everyone. Unfortunately, I lost Bella tonight. I am not sure how long she was in labor. She has been hopping in her box off and on for several days. Since it was her first time and the bucks, I assumed it was a failed breeding. I did leave the next box in.
Yesterday Bella kept coming onto my lap and tucking her head into my arm. She had done that before. But yesterday she was lifting when she was on my lap. I put her in with the same buck and she lifted and was acting like a normal breeding.
When I got home tonight after being gone all day, not normal, I found a dead baby on the wire and she was in the nesting box exhausted. I brought her into the house and sat her on my lap and she faded fast. After she died, I cut her open and she had two more large, dead kits inside.
Although she was an easy keeper, she was a large rabbit. I think her weight was a contributing factor. She was a favorite of course. She would put her head on my lap every day to be petted.

Truly a sad and hard night. Bella is my profile picture. She will be missed!

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She was a beautiful rabbit. I am sorry for your loss. I went through a bad delivery 8 weeks ago with one of my NZ/Cali mixes. Same as yours, she is a large rabbit, which is why I kept her. Her first litter was a typical 4 kit litter, so I had no reason to suspect a problem with the second litter. But my goodness! She was a couple of days late, also, and then one morning as I walked in, she began dropping kits in the nest, on the wire, back and forth. It was as if she was waiting for me before she was going to let them go. I was catching each kit as it came out, dead, dead, dead, In the end, 6 were born dead and 3 were born live. One of the survivors has hip dysplasia, which I had never had in my rabbitry before, the other two appear normal. All three just turned 8 weeks. The gal with the bad hips will be culled at 12 weeks. She's doing remarkably well, given her circumstances, and is a real sweetie, but I will process her at 12 weeks so long as she is continuing to thrive between now and then (I raise for meat).

The particular buck I had bred mom (they share same sire) to was also bred to 2 other does. I have already processed one of those litters and 50% of the litter had bladder sludge (buck and doe were litter mates)... a hereditary condition and something else I have never seen in my herd. The second litter (buck and doe are mother and son) is due for processing next week and is 8 kits and all 8 kits are exhibiting the slowest growth rate I have ever seen in my rabbitry. In the end, I have culled the buck because he never achieved senior weight and I have concluded he was carrying some genetic issues that caused the genetic abnormalities in the first 2 litters I have mentioned, and I am suspecting in this last litter because he was the common factor in all 3 litters...so a pretty safe bet.

Again, I am sorry for the loss of your sweet Bella.

MuddyFarms said:

That or she had one kit stuck and was able to pull it out in time to still kindle the others live.

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Usually when one gets stuck, the ones behind it in the line are born dead. It sounds like the stuck one was born last. It's not unusual for a stuck dead one to be born outside the nest, as the doe can be trying to expel it for some hours.