Help! So confused. Delivery day 23?

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Breanna113

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Warning** possible trigger info
So I bred 4 does a few weeks back. Fist breeding I've done. The does are due the 14th. I went out to find a head in one of my does pens. I know they will sometimes eat their babies, but the delivering a week early...? And there was only one head, no sign of anymore. The head also appeared a bit... Deformed. She is a black nz. Her first time being bred. Was no nesting box in the pen, since it's only day 23. I went ahead and put boxes in all the does pens after this and one started building a nest. I'm so confused! Help!
 
That happened to my Mini Lop doe's last litter. She had 7 kits, 8 days early. I have no idea why, and for some reason the kits all looked full term. But I wrote down the day I bred her, February 28, 2014 and she had them on March 23, 2014. She was due 3/31/2014. But my Liv raised the kit that survived up until I sold him. He just turned 1
 
I assume they all died due to being born on the wire and she consumed them, but again , there was only one head, so I'm not sure how many babies were born. The head looked full term, and actually had a bit of hair on it...? I also have the exact date, and this was 8 days early as well.
 
You did the right thing by putting in nest boxes just on the chance they will be early. Who knows you may still end up with a few kits from that doe. We have had a couple does build their nest 2-3 weeks before they deliver when they have access to a nest box. One doe will pull some fur a day early and then after delivery will stuff it full of fur. Keep close records on your does incase one makes a habit of delivering early, you can have the nest box in there a couple days prior. Hope it all works out well in the end for you. Best wishes :)
 
Thank you so much for your help! I wouldn't have thought about noting habits! The guy we got them from said since it looked deformed, she could have aborted a single baby, is this true? Also, the head was about the size of a quarter, wouldn't that be about the size a full term baby?
 
Kits can come in different sizes to be honest some are very small (peanuts) others if small litter can be fairly large. We had a Flemish doe that only had 2 and they come out full furred and looked couple 3 days old, All I could say was ouch. I checked her box 3 times a day so I know they had just been born. lol
 
That would definitely throw me for a loop on day 23! :(

My first thought would be that perhaps you hadn't recorded the date of breeding, and so maybe were calculating based on the wrong date. But you seem pretty sure about it.

That was very wise, to go ahead and pass out nest boxes! :)
 
Yes, I'm 100% certain of the date. We had many unsuccessful months of trying to use our buck and he never would mount the does. The man I bought the rabbits from has a breeding program of over 100, and we took them all to him. I calculated the date that day and had written it down. Thinking I may have miscalculated by a week, I went back and checked the day I texted him that we were on our way, and that was March 14.
I also know they haven't had ANY. Other contact with bucks, not even side by side in pens. My buck is 50' from my does lol he's on one side of my chicken coop and the does are on the other lol
My fear was a) she wasn't finished or b) if she delivered early, the others could too. They may use them for litter boxes for now, and I may have to clean them daily, but it's better than kits on the wire being eaten!
 
Any chance the male bred her before you took them back to the original person you bought them from? You said you tried several times to breed them, maybe that one got breed before the others.
 
No, she hadn't be attempted, as she was overweight and extremely aggressive, and I was working on those thing with her.
Another question, I woke up to find my bunny who was best building last night had pulled hair, a TON of hair, for her nest. Again, it's only day 24 now, what do I need to expect from her?
 
Wouldn't that be a problem this early? I can see them wiggling in her belly, so I'm certain its a true pregnancy. A friend said early pulling is a sign of false pregnancy sometimes. i guess I'll just wait and see what happens :)
 
Some does pull their fur early, others wait until just before they kindle (and occasionally after they kindle... of course that's undesirable as the kits can get cold)
 
First time does can be all over the place with their first kindling. Keeping notes is a great idea. I have a notebook where I write down all my info- breeding dates, nest box in date, kindling date, # of kits, weights weekly, any notes on problems or behavioral issues. It allows me to remember who did what and when, and makes it much easier to make decisions on culling and making other changes.

I would leave the nest boxes in until day 40 or so. Any does that don't kindle can be rebred. I would also gather up any unused fur and hold onto it for next time.

*fingers crossed for healthy kits*
 
I usually have does scrambling to pull fur as they start to kindle, and one unfortunately who won't pull any fur so I have to make sure to add some from my stash on kindling day, but I did have a mini doe that I just got pull fur WAY in advance. I had thought she was bred, but bought her that way, so I and the pet store didn't know when she might have gotten bred. She started eating her fur two weeks in advanced, and started building a nest a week before she kindled. The wait drove me insane, but she's been one of the best mothers I've had, so I suppose it's worth it.

I do second taking notes on your doe's nesting behaviors though. I'd have lost a few litters if I didn't know how particular does liked to act, and be able to mitigate some of their poor parenting skills. (Like the doe that won't pull fur. Best doe as far as milk production though, so I keep her around despite her flaw)
 
Kind of update: still no babies, which I'm kinda glad, but the wait is killing me! Haha no new nests either, but the mama with the nest has built more- Tuesday, pulled a bunch of fur, used tiny bit of hay. Wednesday, no changes, Thursday, used poop to built more on nest *facepalm* (wooden bottom in nesting area, she likes to poop in the opposite corner of the nest, and decided to push it all up around the nest), Friday, more fur pulling and shaping. Today she's quite lazy. She has never been and easy catch, but is typically calm after you do catch her. The last two weeks, she's been so moody, fighting hard not to be touched, running as soon as I approach the pen, fighting when caught, etc. today she layed there and just let me rub her. Definitely unusual! She's never done that!
 

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