Doe keeps burrying kits

[Eisenworth]

Is this normal behavior?
The rabbits aren't mine, I'm helping my landlord watch them, mostly feeding and cleaning the cages.
The doe just had 5 kits, but 2 were found buried deep beneath the other 3, then the other three died today after she buried them under a nesting box that was place in her 'house'.

The landlord has allowed the male to be around her again, so I'm expecting her to be pregnant again very soon, and they are thinking of taking the kits inside next time. Any tips?

 

[Preitler]

Hiding the nest is a natural instinct, more or less still there in domesticated rabbits. But that sounds more like accidents due to a stressful environment, and a sub optimal setup. Definitly wouldn't blame the doe.

What a doe needs around and after giving birth is food, rest and privacy, the buck most likely impregnated her right again (they don't even wait for the doe to be done with delivering if given the chance) and might still be pestering her, stressing her and triggering instincts to protect the nest. They would need a lot of space for that to work with a low stress level, but i don't see why the buck is back in with her? Back to back breeding is pretty hard on a doe, and how do you feed her now - nursing does need quite a lot more food, when the buck is around you'll end up with a fat buck pretty soon, at least my buck would look like a furry balloon in no time.

Tips, well, I would give the doe some rest and let her do her thing.
Taking the nestbox out and just return it for feeding twice a day is an option under certain circumstances, but imho it doesn't adress the stress issue.

 

[Eisenworth]

Hiding the nest is a natural instinct, more or less still there in domesticated rabbits. But that sounds more like accidents due to a stressful environment, and a sub optimal setup. Definitly wouldn't blame the doe.

What a doe needs around and after giving birth is food, rest and privacy, the buck most likely impregnated her right again (they don't even wait for the doe to be done with delivering if given the chance) and might still be pestering her, stressing her and triggering instincts to protect the nest. They would need a lot of space for that to work with a low stress level, but i don't see why the buck is back in with her? Back to back breeding is pretty hard on a doe, and how do you feed her now - nursing does need quite a lot more food, when the buck is around you'll end up with a fat buck pretty soon, at least my buck would look like a furry balloon in no time.

Tips, well, I would give the doe some rest and let her do her thing.
Taking the nestbox out and just return it for feeding twice a day is an option under certain circumstances, but imho it doesn't adress the stress issue.

Sadly I don't have full control over the situation, the owner doesn't always follow advices I've found online. From what I was told, they plan to take the doe and next kits indoors and keep a closer watch this time around. My concern is the stress as you mentioned, there are two kids under 10 and one of them seems to enjoy pouring water on the buck. I'll have to mention it extra to watch it so she doesn't pour water on the doe while she's kept indoors.

This situation kinda sucks, because they might keep the doe inside a tiny cage for the duration, since they don't have an area for the rabbits indoors. For feeding, I've been topping off her pellets, leaving a lot of hay, and leafy greens as well as some pieces of apple and carrot now and then. It seems she's resting for most part now.