ARGH!!

[guinnessguy]

I went out this morning to check and feed the rabbits. One of my does (NZW), who was due on Tuesday, greeted me at the cage door. Weird. That's never happened before. I look beyond her to find the horror! The piece of wood I had given her to sit/stand on is all bloodied. No kits, just outlines and splotches of where kits would've hit the plank. I checked the nest, and nothing.

SHE ATE THEM!!!

She is a first time mom, so it's forgivable. But frustrating. Today was day 29.

I have another NZW due on next Sunday. Hopefully it will go better. She is also a first-timer, and sister to the first NZW. So far, the only successful breeder in my meat-mutt heard is my Lionhead. I should be able to breed her back in 3-4 weeks.

GG

 

[Shara]

lol. How terrible the only one isn't even a meat rabbit. Thats been me so far. The only babies I have gotten I got out of Spooky, who is a naturally boney 5-6 pounder. I have NICE meat rabbits, but have not managed kits out of any but her.

First time NZ litter soming up in a month!

Hope you get better luck soon. Any chance they were dOA?

 

[moonkitten]

Day 29 is still a bit early. It's possible she haemorraged a bit and still has kits inside. I'd leave her the nestbox and keep checking until day 35 just to be sure.

 

[guinnessguy]

The nest boxes are permanent attachments to the cages/hutches. I was going to wait until Friday, day 35, to put her back in with the buck. I didn't think of hemorraging... I'll read up on that.

 

[ladysown]

sometime rabbits bleed early.

sometimes odd things happen.

If she ate them, you usually find something left behind. they rarely get everything.

 

[MaggieJ]

Even if she did eat them, it is not a horrible thing for her to do. Most times when this happens, the kits are dead and it is just good housekeeping for her to clean up the nest. The protein boost and the placental tissues she consumes helps her to regain her vigor. It is a natural process. A doe that kills and eats her kits is mercifully rare.

I agree that it may be hemorrhaging and that she may still kindle. Day 29 is rather early. Keep a good eye on her.

 

[rabbitgeek]

Do you happen to have vitamin/electrolyte powder for poultry? I would say to mix a 1/2 teaspoon of that powder with two quarts of water and put that in a crock or bowl for her to drink from.

Some pregnant rabbits can get a low electrolyte level in their blood and the powder helps them to maintain the right balance. If you happen to have it you can give it to rabbits. The vitamins also help put a little pop in their hop.

One of the symptoms of low electrolytes is an early birthing. Run your hand over the back of the rabbit, if it feels bony, this could be a serious problem with low electrolyte levels. The rabbits body could be stealing electrolytes from her own muscles. Go out and buy some vitamin/electrolyte powder from the feed store. Mix it up with water and give it to the rabbit.

I don't want to scare you, but I do want to make you aware of the possibility. After losing a doe to this condition, I always mixed up electrolyte water for the pregnant does.

Have a good day!

 

[avdpas77]

Sometimes, they will abort a single kit a day or two early. This is more likely if you have bred them twice a day or two apart. I would go with moonkitten and make sure you have the nestbox available for a few more days. Since she is a first-timer, I would also take the resting board out for that time to help her chose the nesting box. There may be other problems as rabbitgeek says, or maybe first time doe problems, but things may turn out OK yet.

 

[guinnessguy]

Update:
No kits yet. Doe no longer acting strangly friendly.
My calculations were wrong. Today is day 30. We'll see what happens tonight/tomorrow.

 

[CritterCatcher]

Update:
No kits yet. Doe no longer acting strangly friendly.
My calculations were wrong. Today is day 30. We'll see what happens tonight/tomorrow.

Any thing this morning?????
hoping for the best for you.
CC

 

[avdpas77]

Update:
No kits yet. Doe no longer acting strangly friendly.
My calculations were wrong. Today is day 30. We'll see what happens tonight/tomorrow.

Give her till this weekend.

 

[guinnessguy]

Nothing so far. Going to wait until Friday/Saturday to re-breed her.

__________ Thu Dec 09, 2010 8:24 pm __________

Still nothing...<br /><br />__________ Sun Dec 12, 2010 6:13 pm __________<br /><br />Well, It's pretty safe to say she wasn't having kits.
The other doe I expected to kindle on Saturday didn't kindle either.
These 2 first-time moms are really giving/causing me grief. The only successful litter I've had so far is out of my Lionhead.
Going to try and re-breed, every day, alternating between the 2 NZW for 10 days straight. I'm starting tomorrow, once this rain/sleet lets up.

 

[Shara]

Hoping it goes good for you. For a species famous for their repruductive capabilities, they sure are lousy reproducers, huh? lol.

 

[guinnessguy]

^^^ I'll say! Wow! I never expected it to be this difficult.

 

[Shara]

Yeah, me neither. I've gotten all of two litters this first year. Its nutso. Maybe we need some bunny dust! lol.

 

[avdpas77]

Don't give up... it often takes a little while to get started since you are using other people's rabbits that are acclimated to a different place and different ways. Hang in there, once you get going (and it may end up taking some different rabbits) you will have more than you know what to do with. I have a doe that I just processed, that I had saved out of my own litters (her mom had 13 kits time before last and 10 kits last time) and I bred her on 4 consecutive months with 4 different bucks, and she never got pregnant. She was the best of 3 does I saved out of a 4-way meat cross. and by far the best of the three. She was a beautiful/perfect rabbit, with better confirmation than any NZW I had back when I used to show. I really hated to get rid of her, but 4 times is already one more than the "three strikes your out" rule. If she had been my only doe, I would have worried about the buck, her diet, and everything else. As it is, I have all 8 other does that are producing like champs, so I know that it wasn't something I was doing poorly. Beginners don't have that luxury.

 

[guinnessguy]

Well, If they don't take by Easter, I know I'll have good pickings for new does (LOL). I'm really hoping to get going soon. The only doe that is producing, is my lionhead (free). I paid $50 for the 2 NZW does and the Palomino buck, from a breeder that seemed to know what he was doing (he had bunnies everywhere). The only down side is that I don't have an age confirmation, so I have to go by his word on the fact that these does were 7-8 months when I got them.

Meat is meat, and I'm settling for smaller rabbits right now, with my lionhead. I'd hate to convert the whole herd to smaller animals.