Found doe dead in nesting box

[lobanz]

One of our New Zealand White does was found dead in her nesting box yesterday. She has had 1 successful litter before, 7 total, 5 living. She was first bread about 7 months old. Litter was weaned at about 6 weeks. She was bred again to the same Californian buck at about 8 weeks. She didn't seems very receptive to the buck, but he did the falling over thing and he must have been successful. At 28 days, I put the nesting box in her cage and she pulled lots of hair and made a nest. Nesting material was clean pine straw (of which she ate some). The kids found her dead in the nesting box yesterday morning. No kits were delivered. Slight bloody discharge but not much.

I have no idea what happened. I don't think it was disease. The other does right next to her are fine. Another is due to kindle in a few days. The first time, we used wheat straw as bedding material. Would the pine straw cause something like this?

 

[BoxerMom]

I'm so sorry to hear this! I am too new to rabbits to offer any sound advice, but I know someone more knowledgeable will pop in and have something to offer.

 

[MaggieJ]

I'm very sorry that you lost your doe, but I really could not hazard a guess as to the cause of death without more information. Your location - simply USA - doesn't help... could you add the state? What has your weather been like? Could it be a heat related death? Pregnancy and kindling do put a stress on does when there is excessive heat and humidity. I'm not familiar with pine straw. Do you mean pine needles or a pine wood product or something else?

 

[cmabb]

I'm sorry you lost one of your does.

 

[Frosted Rabbits]

Pine srtaw is the long dried pine needles. I am not sure how toxic the dried needles may be-- pine is the natural source of some very volatile prducts and dang if I can;t remember the name of the most common one-- oh-- turpentine! But at term, witha bloody discharge-- I would think dystocia and/or heat issues.

 

[PulpFaction]

I lost one exactly like this last week. All of my does have been going way over their due dates and I think kits are getting stuck, mostly I've had very large dead kits, or even entire litters where a large kit got stuck too long and held up delivery of the rest, but this particular doe struggled and couldn't deliver any of them. I couldn't bring myself to necropsy.

I'm not sure what could be causing these delayed deliveries and poor conception rates across the board at my rabbitry and others. Out of six does (mine and two others) recently due, we have one successful litter to show for it, one dead litter, one dead doe, and three apparent misses and we haven't even been battling heat like some places. Dismal.

 

[arachyd]

I wonder if the lack of physical activity rabbits exhibit in the heat causes them to be less ready to deliver a litter at kindling time.

 

[KandEKnopp]

I just had 1 yesterday too. First time mom. But more blood than what I think as normal, her bottom was odd looking. ..... Only had 1 kit but it was dead too. ((. The worst part is, it wasn't my rabbit. It was my daughters friends'.
It has been very hot, and humid here, in Central Michigan.

 

[Frosted Rabbits]

I wonder if the lack of physical activity rabbits exhibit in the heat causes them to be less ready to deliver a litter at kindling time.

This may very well be true. delivery requires a strong set of muscles, and the swelling of the uterus makes it difficult to keep the muscles toned up. The uterus wall itself is a muscle-- and will contract and stretch as the mother moves about. I would also be surprised if high heat levels did NOT interfere with the production of adrenaline, oxytocin. and progesterone-- all needed for good muscle function during delivery.There is also another hormone that permits effacement and spreading of the hip bones----