Brown-Eyed White Doe Lost Her Third Batch of Kits

[HeyHayHay]

I have a brown-eyed white doe (I think she is an NZW, but she is getting so large that I think she may be mixed with a Giant. I got her from Rural King so I don't really know.)


This is Fredia, she has lost her kits 3 different times, with 3 different bucks, all days before she was supposed to give birth, or the day of. She was born around February of this year and was originally thought to be a male. When we got Fredia, because we thought she was a male she was put in with a buck who was the same breed as her and was about a month 1/2 older than her.

I think that the reason she is miscarrying is that the buck Fredia was with may have messed her up by getting at her too young, since she was in with him since she was about 2-3 months old.

If anyone knows or thinks they know why she is miscarrying or what breed she might be, please tell me. Fredia has one more chance to start having live kits, or even just have them in general before she is either eaten or sold.

If this is our fault or might be our fault because we put her in with a buck too young, just tell me bluntly that it was my fault.

 

[RabbitsOfTheCreek]

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

 

[judymac]

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.