unexpected pregnancy termination

I hade a pair of female purebred champagne does that have had multiple littere each with no problems.

these same does got pregnant in late October (I breed them at the same time) and one died about a week before kindle date and the other delivered premature/underdeveloped kits around the same time.
in late December, I rebred the surviving doe but she again ended the pregnancy about a week early with underdeveloped kits.

I am sure there are various reasons why but the does are/were healthy and active, hearty appetite, etc.

has anyone else experienced this recently? I have been feeding tsc 'producers pride' which has been associated to the Purina issue with chickens. I'm not going down any rabbit holes (pun intended) but something is messing with my ladies.

I am re-breeding her and two of her daughters in a couple weeks, all on different feed, hoping for plump kits in April.

any other thoughts on causes for multiple early pregnancy terminations?

did you open up the one that died?
It's so hard to say if you can't take a look inside.
Hopefully the change in feed does the trick for you.

rapidrabbit said:

I hade a pair of female purebred champagne does that have had multiple littere each with no problems.

these same does got pregnant in late October (I breed them at the same time) and one died about a week before kindle date and the other delivered premature/underdeveloped kits around the same time.
in late December, I rebred the surviving doe but she again ended the pregnancy about a week early with underdeveloped kits.

I am sure there are various reasons why but the does are/were healthy and active, hearty appetite, etc.

has anyone else experienced this recently? I have been feeding tsc 'producers pride' which has been associated to the Purina issue with chickens. I'm not going down any rabbit holes (pun intended) but something is messing with my ladies.

I am re-breeding her and two of her daughters in a couple weeks, all on different feed, hoping for plump kits in April.

any other thoughts on causes for multiple early pregnancy terminations?

Click to expand...

Death during pregnancy or kindling and early spontaneous abortion, especially in more mature does, makes me immediately think of problems I've had when does were overweight. Meat breeds are selected for easy weight gain, and after about 18 months of age, most of them, especially the does have a real tendency to get fat.

Like @ladysown mentioned, opening them up can tell you a lot. Of course you don't want to open up your living doe, but feel around her shoulders to see if she's at all flabby there - that's often a good spot to detect fat. She should be nice and smooth and tight across the shoulders; if she is fat, put her on a diet before breeding her. If you normally free-feed her, limit her pellets to the amount she eats in 24 hours. If you normally give her a measured ration, back it off by about 10% and see how she does. (When I have rabbits on a diet, I always give them as much hay as they want, to keep them from being too miserable with hunger pangs.) Giving her some extra space or a way to get more exercise would be a good idea too.

I limit-feed pellets to my rabbits once they're full grown. That translates to just under a cup for most of my Satins. I am especially vigilant about does in their second year or older, as in the past I've lost does and/or their litters to fat.

If the problem is that your older does were overweight, your first-timers probably won't have the same troubles. If they do, I'd look into vitamin deficiencies (esp. Vit E).

Just switching feeds may have helped her reduce her weight, since rabbits can experience weight loss and a drop in condition while they adjust to the new feed.

rapidrabbit said:

I hade a pair of female purebred champagne does that have had multiple littere each with no problems.

these same does got pregnant in late October (I breed them at the same time) and one died about a week before kindle date and the other delivered premature/underdeveloped kits around the same time.
in late December, I rebred the surviving doe but she again ended the pregnancy about a week early with underdeveloped kits.

I am sure there are various reasons why but the does are/were healthy and active, hearty appetite, etc.

has anyone else experienced this recently? I have been feeding tsc 'producers pride' which has been associated to the Purina issue with chickens. I'm not going down any rabbit holes (pun intended) but something is messing with my ladies.

I am re-breeding her and two of her daughters in a couple weeks, all on different feed, hoping for plump kits in April.

any other thoughts on causes for multiple early pregnancy terminations?

Click to expand...

How didnit turn out? Did they kindle yet?