3 or 4 year old rabbit kindling issues. Please help! X

[Madforbuns]

Right, first some background info.

My buck went missing on the 15th October and we found him in one of my does hutches.

Ok, so today is day 32 for my 3/4 year old bun (she was adopted from a clueless family so her age is unknown) and after showing no signs of any pregnancy, even after palpating, no weight gain etc, I was leaving for a 24hour shift at 11.30am and I thought she looked a little uncomfortable. I went up to the hutch and she is having contractions! My partner is at home but not rabbit savvy and I'm not home until 12.30 tomorrow! I'm so worried about her as this will be her first litter and she's so old. I had seriously hoped she hadn't taken or that the deed hadn't been done due to her age. She has built a pretty good nest already but looked like she was going to give birth out of the best so I have moved her to a cage indoors as its cold here now. If she is fine and has them out of the nest, should they be ok indoors if my partner doesn't notice? If she'd done this yesterday I was home all day! Or even tomorrow! I'm so worried about her. I've already said to move any babies back into the nest without touching them as she's not that familiar with his scent and to keep the kids out of that room to give her peace and quiet. I'm scared she'll struggle and I'm not there with her sad. It's now nearly 8pm here and apparently still no babies, she is just sitting quietly. Is one stuck or is she just waiting for tonight? I'm worried this will kill her due to her age. x

 

[Zass]

First, what breed of rabbit is she? Some breeds have higher risk than others. Dwarf breeds have the most problems.
If she's a large or medium sized breed, her risk of having stuck kits is fairly low.

She might be waiting for a time when no one is with her on purpose. Rabbits typically dislike kindling when people are watching or checking up on them too frequently.

 

[Dood]

:yeahthat: what do you think you can do for a stuck kit anyway?

Haemorrhaging would require an immediate C-section to remove the bleeding organ.

If she goes into hypo-calcemia or pre-eclampsia an IV injection of calcium can help but is often too little too late for rabbits

Anything else usually resolves itself and "hovering" over the doe just makes things worse :shrug:

 

[Madforbuns]

She is a small (possibly dwarf from the looks of her ears) mix breed. Almost certainly has some Dutch in her though. Here's a photo of her taken a couple of months ago x <br /><br /> -- Sun Nov 16, 2014 8:33 pm -- <br /><br /> Ok, well hovering isn't going to be an issue tonight as both my partner and I are working so she's home alone right now so I hope she doesn't have any difficulties the problem is, my lionhead buck is also a little bigger than her which I know can also cause issues so keeping everything crossed!

 

[Zass]

I hope everything goes smoothly, and you come home to a nice nest full of babies.

:clover: :good-luck: :clover:

 

[akane]

Rabbits readily breed for most of their potentially 10 year lifespan. There is only slightly more risk breeding at a few years old than the usual 1 year or less. Dwarf rabbits do tend to have stuck kits more often but cross breed dwarf and even most supposedly purebred pet store dwarf usually don't have the true small size and narrow body so problems are much less likely. It's best to just leave them alone. I might check every 4-6hours real quick and provided there isn't a ton of blood or kits everywhere I leave them alone. Kits can be moved by hand. Rabbits do not abandon nests from smell. They may abandon a nest or kits due to the interruption though. Even that is uncommon but if the kits aren't going to freeze where they lay then leave them until she is done and move them in to the nestbox afterward. After she is done you will have to take them out and check them every day. There's a fed and unfed kit picture thread.

 

[Madforbuns]

She is a lot narrower than my other doe who was sold as a lionhead but clearly isnt. I would say that one is closer to a medium breed size. She's also the bun I intended to breed not the 'dwarf'. She was bred on the 27th Oct but not sure if that took. We shall see. She's nearly 7 months now. For now though I'm worried about my middle aged lady x thanks for the advice guys. I can't wait to get home tomorrow and see how she is x <br /><br /> -- Mon Nov 17, 2014 2:59 pm -- <br /><br /> Well she kindled. Not good though. From the looks of the remains, it was just one. Only its head left so hard to tell if it was too large or not. It has a cone shaped head but no bulging eyes. Is this still a peanut? Or some sort of runt? Or did it die just cos it was too large for her? X

 

[katiebear]

Keep the nest box in...she may not be done yet. If the kit was too large she may have had to pull it out. wait at least a day or two.
Then rebread her you should get a larger litter with smaller (normal size) kitts.If you want her bread that is...give her some tums and lavender to help clear her out.