Zenzilla
Member
My two meat rabbit breeder does live together in a very large colony pen. Doe #1 kindled about 4 days ago in a tunnel, where she routinely visits to nurse, then buries the entrance.
We noticed doe #2 (who experienced false pregnancy last month) visiting the tunnel entrance, then patting it down. No issues with that, and the actual mother doe #1 would immediately approach the tunnel entrance to pat it down again herself.
Problem this morning: doe #2 dug up the entrance and entered the nest tunnel, becoming very aggravated and stressed when we entered the colony pen to coax her away from the tunnel. We think that she mistakenly believes that these are her kits, for she drives away the actual mother.
Is this normal colony behavior, or do we need to intervene?
We cannot find any similar scenarios to refer to when checking online.
Advice much appreciated.
We noticed doe #2 (who experienced false pregnancy last month) visiting the tunnel entrance, then patting it down. No issues with that, and the actual mother doe #1 would immediately approach the tunnel entrance to pat it down again herself.
Problem this morning: doe #2 dug up the entrance and entered the nest tunnel, becoming very aggravated and stressed when we entered the colony pen to coax her away from the tunnel. We think that she mistakenly believes that these are her kits, for she drives away the actual mother.
Is this normal colony behavior, or do we need to intervene?
We cannot find any similar scenarios to refer to when checking online.
Advice much appreciated.
