Doe would not feed kits

[Blue Ridge Billy]

I had a doe that had four kits. She has let them all die because she would not feed them. I don't plan on breeding her again. My neighbor says that next time she may be ok since this was her first litter but I don't want to go through this again. Anyone here with some advice?

 

[MaggieJ]

It's up to you, of course, but many times a first time momma rabbit is simply too confused by the whole thing to take care of her kits. This is especially likely if she is very young and immature. The mothering instinct usually kicks in if you give the doe another chance. Many people give their does three chances to get it right.

 

[akane]

Did she even produce milk? That's the only time I've had does fail to feed kits. No milk, no trigger to even get in the nest box. Lots of things could set off such a problem. We lost several litters during summer because not a single doe produced milk when it was over 100F every day. We've also had a few who barely produced enough milk their first litter but have raised several others just fine.

 

[SMR]

Like already said, a lot of first time mom's simply don't know what they're doing. Some times the line itself never have good moms or I've seen certain breeds be more horrible mothers then others or have more issues. They have to be getting adequate food/water/shelter and not being over stressed too. If there was a recent sudden change, that could be it. I've had a few first time goes horribly nervious with unknown people (or animals) even near the space and end up loosing babies that way.

If you plan on doing any more breeding at all though, one thing need to come to terms with is not every kit will make it for one reason or another. Its not every single kid or every other litter, BUT it does happen more then with other animals I know. Even under idea conditions, kits can die unexpectedly.

 

[Blue Ridge Billy]

Thanks for all the imput. I feed and water my animals really well and have them in good shaded barn where no preditors can get to them. I really hated to lose any of the kits. I had two other liters and both did not lose a single kit. They were all first time moms. I could have slipped them into another doe but they were too many days apart. I appreciate all the information.

 

[hoodat]

Did she even produce milk? That's the only time I've had does fail to feed kits. No milk, no trigger to even get in the nest box. Lots of things could set off such a problem. We lost several litters during summer because not a single doe produced milk when it was over 100F every day. We've also had a few who barely produced enough milk their first litter but have raised several others just fine.

That's a good point. If a doe is producing milk she will be amost forced to feed the kits to relieve the pressure.