looks like my Easter litter won't make it...

[maluma]

My doe had 3 babies Easter morning. It was her first litter, and she didn't pull any hair or anything. I put some hay in their nest box and figured they will be warm enough this time of the year (I'm in Texas). Today, in the early morning I checked, and 2 were dead. The third one was feeling kinda cold. I warmed the remaining baby under a heat lamp, and it soon started wiggling around quite a bit, but it did look like it needed to eat. With 2 babies already dead, and the doe also being inexperienced, I decided to try and force feed the baby. The doe wasn't very cooperative, and even though the baby kept wiggling around and seemed to look for the nipple, it wasn't quite latching on, even when I pointed its nose right against it.
I left the heat lamp in the hutch for now, but I think I'll have to take it out before I leave the house in a few hours. It warms up really fast in the morning, so I'm afraid to overheat them, since I won't be home to remove the lamp.
I don't have too much hope for that baby. It was only my second litter - the first litter from another doe was eaten by their Mom; so I'm kinda wondering why I'm having so little luck with rabbits. So I'm just trying to learn from this for the future. At what temperature should you add a heat lamp over night? Any tricks about force feeding a baby if it's needed? Any other suggestions or mistakes I might have made?

 

[curlysue]

I dont think its bad luck just normal stuff sometimes a doe gets it right the first time sometimes she doest.I use a 100 watt bulb in my heat lamp soo i dont overheat the babies.40 or below i add a heat lamp.

 

[ladysown]

ALWAYS make sure baby has sufficient fur over them. Other than that....sometimes it's just a learning curve.

You can do a few different things when momma doesn't pull enough fur... pluck it from her, use fur you've saved from momma's who go a bit overboard, clean stuff you've kept back from previous litters, use cotton balls that you've teased, dryer lint (preferrably unscented stuff), etc.

 

[sammysue63]

Don't feel too bad sometimes things just happen. Out of our first 6 breedings we had 4 does miss, 1 had one born dead, and the only one that had a litter had 2 babies, thankfully both survived. Things have turned around for us so I'm sure it will get better for you too.

 

[fuzzy9]

I'm so sorry things are going so rough right now. Keep at it, we lost our first litter too, and have lots of young doe, so I'm sure we'll go through growing pains also. We've had 2 healthy litters now, and it's so rewarding, and fun. Don't give up hope, ok.

 

[maluma]

Thanks everyone for the tips, I'm glad to see it's not all that unusual that it takes a while to be successful. When I started trying to breed rabbits, I never imagined it could be so hard. I had a doe who ate her litter, then nothing for months because I was waiting for a buck to mature who it turned out simply wasn't interested in breeding. Now I have a buck who breeds, but inexperienced does... My last baby was dead when I got back home. The doe is being re-bred as I write lol. Eventually I will succeed

 

[MaggieJ]

Hang in there. Once you get a set of rabbits doing well, the whole thing becomes much easier... and more fun.

 

[KatzNetherlands]

One of the tips I have learned from here(mind you I have yet to have my first litter) is to breed at least two does at the same time in case you need to foster... Sorry you lost your babies but maybe she will know this time what to do?