Brown-Eyed White Doe Lost Her Third Batch of Kits

RabbitsOfTheCreek said:

The body shape and ears remind me of Flemish



Breeding her so young is definitely a factor. You said she was born in February so she's about 8 months? And has already had three litters? I don't know if being bred too early would affect every litter after that though, maybe something happened to her on the inside
Have you noticed any similarities in all the Kits? I used to have a Doe that had pinched hips and couldn't kindle any Kits without them getting stuck.
It could also be the Buck causing problems (assuming you bred her with him each time, which I suggest trying a different proven Buck) or things like their living conditions like heat

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judymac said:

A brown eyed white means that the rabbit is an ermine (aka frostie, frosty). Ermines are generally chinchilla patterned rabbits with the fawn gene (called non-extension, coded ee). The chinchilla gene removes all yellowish tones from the hairshaft, leaving pearly white. Fawn (orange/red/cream) rabbits have yellow toned hair, and the chinchilla removes the yellow, so you end up with white rabbits, often with some dark hair tips on the face and ears.

So, your rabbit probably came from a breed(s) that normally have fawn/orange and chinchilla. Flemish Giants do indeed come in both Fawn and Light Gray, which I believe is a chinchilla color.

As to the breeding issue, I can't help much. Some rabbits just aren't good mothers, for whatever reason. Generally, large rabbits like the Flemish aren't bred until they are 8 months of age, smaller breeds we tend to breed at 6 months. The fact that she was not fully grown before being bred may have been an issue.

Is she separated from the buck at kindling time? Sometimes when housed together, the buck will smell the hormone change preceeding birth, and start to mount the doe again, which might have an unpleasant outcome. Also, does she make a nest in her nestbox (typically put in 28 days after breeding), or does she scatter the kits on the cold floor? For does that don't make proper nests, I find sometimes it helps to cover the floor with a layer of straw, so I have a chance to find the kits and make them a real nest before they die of cold.

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HeyHayHay said:

I have no idea because she never even had the kits live. The does are all kept in a small log cabin with an outside run, with plenty of room to move and hop around. None of the burrows the bunnies dig are big enough for Fredia and are always empty, so I know she didn't have them there. She always loses her kits days before or the day she is due.

I separated Fredia after breeding from the buck 2-4 days after I put her in his cage, and the only boys in the doe's pen are 4 two-month-old kits(for $15 each, they need a new home). I am going to try and breed her one more time in the spring before calling it quits.

Even if the male kits are trying to bother her, I don't believe they can. Fredia is quite literally three times their size.View attachment 43918
(It's not important but this is the proven buck)

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