Newborns die within a few days

[B George]

I have two sister White New Zealand 2.5 years old. Both produced 5-7 healthy babies until this spring. Last 2 litters have been hard on the one. She bled significantly both times. The first spring litter appeared to starve to death. She had another litter 2 days ago. 7 with 2 born dead. One was dead tonight. This morning they were all healthy and bouncy. I inspected this baby and it appeared to have died from diarrhea. Her sister has no issues. She had 5 healthy babies all living. She never has very many but they are always large at 8 weeks. Could this be the rabbit? Environment? Dirty cage? They really have a nice clean environment to live in.
Bad luck? I do not know. I only feed them pellets. At birth for a few days I give them kale, mustard or turnip greens. What could be her issue? I am very fond of her or I would just replace her. They are not pets but I would like to correct the situation if I knew where to start. Thank you

 

[SA Farm]

At 2.5 years old, they will both be winding down, production-wise. Most does are spent by 3 years so it's time to raise up or buy replacements for them Perhaps you'll have a couple girls in the healthy litter of 5? (You can always keep mama as a pet if you have room for her )

 

[squidpop]

A lot of people say that one of the biggest factors that causes fertility problems is fat around the does uterine horns and ovaries, and an all pellet diet is pretty rich and could lead to fat. I think if you want a rabbit to stay healthier and fertile for a longer time it probably should have a higher fiber diet, like 75%-80% hay, 10%-20% pellets, and 10%-20% greens. I've also read of a breeder that says she cuts her rabbits diet back to mostly hay for 2-3 weeks before she breeds them to reduce fat around uterine horns- this person believed that this got her does into breeding shape. So, you might try a lower calorie diet with mostly hay and see if that make a difference.

P.S. I saw these pictures on the internet yesterday of a spay operation and you can totally see tons of fat around the uterus... It made me think, yeah fat could be a problem... http://www.pinebankvet.co.uk/cases/04-scruffy/index.htm