Rabbits Dying in Nest Box (immediate issue)

[Therian]

I think this one is my fault but I cleaned the nest box (litter is 7 days) and there was very little hair that wasn't soiled so I doubled down on the hay in the box to compensate. This is a first time mom so she didn't pull any more hair and I need a common material I could put in to aid the kits.

I have a layer of shavings and a thick layer of hay but I need something that mimics the fur some. I was thinking maybe some cotton might work?

 

[3mina]

Dryer lint and cotton balls both work well

 

[Miss M]

Dryer lint and cotton balls both work well

Yep, I have dryer lint in with a litter now. If you use cotton balls, it helps to tease them a bit to open them up and poof them. <br /><br />__________ Sun Oct 28, 2012 4:56 pm __________<br /><br />You can even use shredded newspaper or old rags.

 

[Therian]

Would cotton matting from a pillow perhaps work? Sadly I emptied my lint on garbage day and no cotton balls in the house atm, course I will go buy some but I do have old pillows for a pinch. for the moment I put in some old rags that were warmed up via dryer.

 

[garden lady]

Somebody told me to clip all the hair away from Snickers' eye, can't these mother rabbits just be clipped or fur cut to get enough for the babies? It seems that fur is important. I would snatch them bald if I had babies cold or take them away. :x After reading all the stories of mother's eating or not feeding babies, I was ready to steal Lulu's kits from her, but she pulled a ton of fur and took care of them, so I left them with her. I was combing Zoup with my hands and felt that fur in my hand and it was so warm that I want to make fur gloves from the groomed hair. lol Anyway, I read that kits with fur covering them could live to something like minus 18 degrees, but without fur, maybe only live around 32. Not sure if true though. Magic fur.

 

[Miss M]

Would cotton matting from a pillow perhaps work? Sadly I emptied my lint on garbage day and no cotton balls in the house atm, course I will go buy some but I do have old pillows for a pinch. for the moment I put in some old rags that were warmed up via dryer.

I imagine it would, if it's clean. The rags will work too.

Can you pull some fur from the belly and sides of the doe? It should come rather easily.

 

[Secuono]

I use dryer lint, have a big box that I toss the lint into. You can also pull a rabbit's molting coat and save the fur.
Cotton balls should also work fine.

 

[MaggieJ]

In a pinch, feathers from a pillow will give excellent protection from the cold. I butchered a mean gander in 2006 and his downy feathers are still giving protection to infant rabbits.

 

[ladysown]

seven days old, they shouldn't be dying that quickly from lack of fur...would make me wonder if something more was going on.

But yeah, feather, fur from another doe/nest, lint, cotton that's been teased out, all sorts of things work to help keep kits warm. Even bringing them into a warm house should keep them just fine at seven days old.

 

[Therian]

seven days old, they shouldn't be dying that quickly from lack of fur...would make me wonder if something more was going on.

But yeah, feather, fur from another doe/nest, lint, cotton that's been teased out, all sorts of things work to help keep kits warm. Even bringing them into a warm house should keep them just fine at seven days old.

It went from like 40F nights to 23F last night, its the only thing I can guess. Also these are first time moms so they might not be doing good at keeping them warm. I did notice two that were dead were wet (perhaps mom got spooked and urinated on them to mask scent?) then I had two more that were cold in the back of the box (covered in hay with a wood bottom and shavings), then my 3rd death was from my Cali, one kit got out and froze. The Cali death is partly the girlfriends fault, I check at 12am and 8am and she is suppose to check at 4am before work and she forgot today.

Good news though they're all warming up so the material works great. I will probably buy some more as its cheap at craft shops and keep it for times like these. Thanks for the quick responses as always I appreciate the knowledge and help.

Would cotton matting from a pillow perhaps work? Sadly I emptied my lint on garbage day and no cotton balls in the house atm, course I will go buy some but I do have old pillows for a pinch. for the moment I put in some old rags that were warmed up via dryer.

I imagine it would, if it's clean. The rags will work too.

Can you pull some fur from the belly and sides of the doe? It should come rather easily.

I could have but she was already massively stressed about me taking her kits out. She watched me take out two dead kits and then two "on the brink" kits and she was pretty restless for about two hours. She also HATES my other does so I couldn't use their fur in the fear she would kill the kits :/<br /><br />__________ Mon Oct 29, 2012 9:12 am __________<br /><br />Well Icebox was dead today but everyone else was doing just fine, mom dragged the dead one out as well I think, with luck she is learning some parenting lessons. I kind of knew he had a 20/80 chance but its amazing how often they can survive even cold as ice.

Thanks again everyone for the help

 

[tm_bunnyloft]

It is likely to have been latched on to nurse and she drug it out with her when leaving the nest. Sorry you are losing so many kits.

 

[OneAcreFarm]

It went from like 40F nights to 23F last night, its the only thing I can guess. Also these are first time moms so they might not be doing good at keeping them warm. I did notice two that were dead were wet (perhaps mom got spooked and urinated on them to mask scent?) then I had two more that were cold in the back of the box (covered in hay with a wood bottom and shavings), then my 3rd death was from my Cali, one kit got out and froze. The Cali death is partly the girlfriends fault, I check at 12am and 8am and she is suppose to check at 4am before work and she forgot today.

Therian, what you are experiencing is fairly normal and no ones fault...kits get dragged out when nursing and they chill and die. Does don't typically pick their kits up and move them around, although I have heard of the odd exception. Kits also will pee on each other, get chilled and die. Rabbits are not the hardiest of animals and so they make up for the losses by having lots of litters, close together, in the wild.

I could have but she was already massively stressed about me taking her kits out. She watched me take out two dead kits and then two "on the brink" kits and she was pretty restless for about two hours. She also HATES my other does so I couldn't use their fur in the fear she would kill the kits :/ Well Icebox was dead today but everyone else was doing just fine, mom dragged the dead one out as well I think, with luck she is learning some parenting lessons. I kind of knew he had a 20/80 chance but its amazing how often they can survive even cold as ice.

I honestly think you may be "humanizing" your does a bit too much...it is not hard to do this, since we get really attached to them ... They don't "parent" their kits so much as just feed them and then leave them alone. If it gets that cold where you are and you are worried about them, just bring the boxes in overnight and put them back out in the morning. I put my nest boxes in the bathtub... As far as using donor fur goes, adult does DON'T normally get along, so it is NOT that your doe HATES the others...that is how they are, it is normal for them to want to fight. Mine will fight if I put them together, but I keep a bag of extra fur (a mix of fur from ALL my rabbits, bucks included) handy at all times and not ONCE has that fur EVER caused a doe to harm her kits. Make sure that the pillow stuffing you use is not man-made stuff, like acrylic. That can cause a lot of issues if they eat it, and it can also get wrapped around their limbs and cut off the circulation, since it is made with long fibers like hair.

 

[Miss M]

OneAcreFarm is absolutely right... Don't blame your girlfriend, as it's pretty likely that it would have happened anyway.

If you are worried about the scent of the other does on the fur, then put a drop of real vanilla extract on the doe's nose. By the time she can smell anything besides vanilla, everything in the box will smell like her. But it really should not be a problem using the fur anyway.

One way you can help the doe not be so anxious about you messing around in the nestbox is to remove it completely, and take it somewhere else to look through it, count kits, check tummies, clean wet material out, etc. When you take it out, give the doe a raisin. When you return it, give her a few more raisins. Soon, she'll realize that having her nestbox removed means good things.

 

[Therian]

OneAcreFarm is absolutely right... Don't blame your girlfriend, as it's pretty likely that it would have happened anyway.

I more so mentioned it as to explain how we believe it died and there was no negative feelings or thoughts behind it towards her or myself, this is just how we think it died considering how cold he was when I checked at 8am. Poor choice of words but nothing more then that

It is likely to have been latched on to nurse and she drug it out with her when leaving the nest. Sorry you are losing so many kits.

Appreciated, sadly so far this is my worst experience on the kits :/ I failed quite a bit early on but this is really my first big batch of kits so it's a bit tiring to see them dead daily.

I honestly think you may be "humanizing" your does a bit too much...it is not hard to do this, since we get really attached to them ... They don't "parent" their kits so much as just feed them and then leave them alone.

Perhaps I am but I like to keep them content with their life and they're my responsibility which also falls under our stewardship role under God. So I will admit I get over invested in my rabbits at times but its in the yearning to learn how to be better. I will start saving fur and clean the old fur and air dry for future batches (lesson learned) lol.




With that said I had 3 more kits on the wire today :evil: :evil: :evil: two I got in time but the 3rd was ice cold but alive, at the moment I have them on two towels and on my water bed (80F), there a good way to warm him up naturally?

 

[garden lady]

Are they just born or the other litter? Sorry you are having so much trouble.

 

[OneAcreFarm]

there a good way to warm him up naturally?

Put them in your shirt, next to your skin. Or, run a couple towels in the dryer and when they are warm, open the door and make a "nest" out of a warm towel and put the kits in it, still in the dryer and close the door and leave them there for a bit. Make sure to stand there or put a sign or something so NO ONE turns the dryer ON!

 

[GBov]

I use my kids as kit warmers. They sit on the couch with the kit or kits under their shirts and on their bare bellies till the kits warm up.

Thanks for this thread, by the way, have learned many new things! The best is to save all the fur from all the buns so I can do a fur transplant. I did once use feathers but the doe went absolutly MENTAL, growling and lunging at teh nest and anything - like me - that moved. Between snapping teeth I snatched all the feathers I could and then closed it up and hoped like heck she would settle down before she killed the kits. She did but I havnt put anything into a nest since then but its been touch and go a few times with scanty nests so the fur thing will be a good back up to have.

 

[Therian]

Are they just born or the other litter? Sorry you are having so much trouble.

Same two does are the cause to all my problems lol, they did everything right at the start and I thought "huh must be true that cali does are great mothers" then this all hit me. For the record the water bed worked, after 5 hours they are all kicking and squealing...I marked the new icebox to see if he lives or not.

Sorry you are having so much trouble.

This entire process hasn't been easy but for each failure I get a bit better. Now I know how to *possibly* save kits that are on the brink of death, we will see if icebox survives the night, when I found him I had to pet his belly for 2-3 minutes for him to move his jaw slightly....honestly thought it was just a nerve twitch at first :| 2 hours near the fireplace and 3-4 hours covered in my water bed and he is kicking in protest

 

[Miss M]

Perhaps I am but I like to keep them content with their life and they're my responsibility which also falls under our stewardship role under God. So I will admit I get over invested in my rabbits at times but its in the yearning to learn how to be better.

I completely agree.

Same two does are the cause to all my problems lol, they did everything right at the start and I thought "huh must be true that cali does are great mothers" then this all hit me.

Are these first time mothers, by any chance? It's very common for them to have problems with their first couple of litters, before they finally get it all figured out.

This entire process hasn't been easy but for each failure I get a bit better. Now I know how to *possibly* save kits that are on the brink of death, we will see if icebox survives the night, when I found him I had to pet his belly for 2-3 minutes for him to move his jaw slightly....honestly thought it was just a nerve twitch at first :| 2 hours near the fireplace and 3-4 hours covered in my water bed and he is kicking in protest

Yes, rabbits come with a pretty steep learning curve. It's pretty rare that somebody starts up a rabbitry and has no major issues. Once you have been learning with them for a while, though, it pays off. Not that you won't ever have major issues again, but you know what you are doing and why.

The problems you are having now have been experienced by many members of this board. You will learn a lot from them. I have.

 

[Therian]

Are these first time mothers, by any chance? It's very common for them to have problems with their first couple of litters, before they finally get it all figured out.

Yep, they started out better then any of my NZW too, they only started giving me headaches around day 7 when it started to get really cold at night.

Yes, rabbits come with a pretty steep learning curve. It's pretty rare that somebody starts up a rabbitry and has no major issues. Once you have been learning with them for a while, though, it pays off. Not that you won't ever have major issues again, but you know what you are doing and why.

Yeah, I had posts on here I believe (or maybe it was homestead site) about having issues breeding lol, the phrase "humping like rabbits" was anything but true at the start.

The problems you are having now have been experienced by many members of this board. You will learn a lot from them. I have.

Indeed, thanks again for helping me out everyone its much appreciated.