1st Time Mom Overzealous: How to Remove and Return Nest

[TF3]

:lol: :lol:
So I said I would let our Holland Lop do her best with her lone kit (first litter, lost two, one survivor).
She has made a great nest...
Except she is still making it... and she has hollowed out the nest so completely that all the stuff is around the edges and center is bare~ which is where she sits, on TOP of the little one!

It was a little chilled and smushed tonight, but since it has lots of fur and a full tummy, I rearranged the nest and brought it inside.

So when do I deliver it back to mama again?
Do I just leave it until the baby appears to have a full tummy again?

 

[the reluctant farmer]

When I pullnest boxes, I put them out early in the a.m ,(around 7 am for me--after kids got on the school bus) do chores for about 10-5 min so mom has privacy to nurse,then take them back into the house. Suppertime, I do the same thing: take the kits out around 6 ish, do chores, then back in house.

 

[Zass]

:yeahthat: Whenever is convenient really.

It was a good idea to pull the box.

Some does nurse twice, some nurse just once. So long as the baby's tummy is full, don't worry too much if it eats only once.

I've actually raised litters by taking them out once around 2 pm. :lol:

 

[TF3]

Great! Thanks!
We'll just keep an eye on the bub and put it in with mom when I am out with the rabbits anyway, and see how they do.

 

[akane]

Netherlands in general are just as bad. I wasn't sure if you get the same behavior with hollands. My best ND doe plucks herself half bald each litter and spends days filling and fixing the nest even after the kits are born. I've found similar with the others. None of mine have sat in the box and caused problems through. They just make me have to wait between litters because they need to regrow their fur. Sometimes I have to remove nesting material in order to make the kits fit. Yours will probably improve with the next litter but I'd expect some overzealous nesting every litter.

 

[kacklingkelly]

First time posting here. Just returned home today from being out of town due to serious medical condition of family member. Went into the bunny barn and found a baby on the floor still alive. I was shocked. I had no idea any of my does was "bred". This was an unexpected surprise. Found another one in a cage with the momma. Fur pulled. Only two kits from first time mom. She was technically too young in my opinion to mate. 4 months old NZ Cali mix. I checked around for others but found none. Our care taker said the kits weren't there yesterday so they are brand spankin new. Our other does have had more kits than this. Is the lower number due to her and the buck being so young? Hoping they manage OK.

 

[akane]

Really young moms will have small litters. We had 8week old mini rex siblings breed and the doe produced one kit. It occasionally happens that they breed surprisingly young and have a half size or less litter than the average your rabbits usually produce. Sometimes it can be hard to get such young does to care for a litter so I just go ahead and foster them if I have another doe.