Really early babies

[annie]

My New Zealand doe had 6 babies either last night or in the early morning, it was her 25th day after being bred. I am sure about when she was bred and that she couldn't have been bred before. The babies seem fine, they are active and not especially small (I saw another litter of newborns today and mine are only a little smaller, not much difference). Everyone says put in the nest box on the 27th or 28th day, I was going to do that but good thing I noticed her carrying hay around. How common is it for baby bunnies to be so early but be fine, or are they going to turn out to be stunted or have something wrong with them later?

 

[Miss M]

Whoa! I've never heard of them being born alive that early, much less alive and okay!

Glad you saw her playing house, and went ahead and put the nest box in there... I may reevaluate my practice of merely sticking some hay in for them to play with until day 29!

I can't tell you how to expect them to do. I would just check on them frequently, several times a day if you can, to remove any that haven't made it, to make sure they are warm, and to make sure they are being fed.

Please keep us posted! :clover:

 

[MamaSheepdog]

Annie, I don't have any experience with early litters either, but wanted to wish you luck with the litter. :clover:

Please keep us posted on their progress.

 

[Sinnfox]

I had a litter born early recently...they ere roughly 6 or 7 days early. I lost the whole litter sadly, but it as clear from the look of them that they weren't fully developed. The mother went into labor due to getting startled by our new neighbors motorcycles ...strange loud new noise :/ but with your litter if they look normal and the mom picked that time to have them odds are they are fine...if they are still well in a day or so I wouldn't worry about them

 

[AnnClaire]

Hi Anna, I lost a doe to heat stroke this week and she aborted her litter that she was 5 days (at least) from her due date.

2 of the kits were DOA and looked "half baked" but full size ... the one runt that survived only looked "a bit underdone" and has done very well. Today is day 5 from the trauma, and I only had a litter of 2 week old to put it in with and it has done a great job of getting in there and fighting for it's fair share. Luckily, the doe it is with is a real heavy milker!

The companion doe I bred at the same time as the one I lost is due today or tomorrow, so I will foster this littlest one into her litter when she kindles.

Like MissM says, check on them to make sure the doe's milk comes in and that they are all getting fed. I would also check to see if any have deformities and cull them so the rest can get the maximum milk.

 

[Ivory]

Was she with a buck at any time prior to her "breeding date"?

Maybe she was bred earlier than you thought, especially if the kits are all fully formed.

I had a rabbit who kindled only 18 days after her previous litter was born as I had left her in with the buck up until a few days before she was due. she got pregnant while she was already pregnant, I didn't think it was possible until I saw it with my own eyes.

If these 25 day gestation kits don't look premature, they're not.

 

[skysthelimit]

Two days early is the earliest I've had one go, and it was a large litter.

 

[annie]

Hmmm, I got my doe from a lady who is on here, she says she was not with a buck or next to him or anything, her buck is in a cage by himself no where near anyone else. Then I bred her to one of my bucks the day after I got her, the litter certainly looks like a New Zealand crossed with a Champagne, 4 white ones and 2 black ones. And the babies are still doing fine, and after seeing another litter of newborn rabbits yesterday, they aren't even really small, they look pretty normal. What a mystery!<br /><br />__________ Sun May 05, 2013 1:53 pm __________<br /><br />Wow rabbits can get pregnant when they are pregnant, that is amazing!

 

[MamaSheepdog]

I had a rabbit who kindled only 18 days after her previous litter was born as I had left her in with the buck up until a few days before she was due. she got pregnant while she was already pregnant, I didn't think it was possible until I saw it with my own eyes.

Wow rabbits can get pregnant when they are pregnant, that is amazing!

Not according to this article:

http://www.fao.org/docrep/t1690E/t1690e05.htm

In most mammals the progesterone secreted during gestation inhibits oestrus and the pregnant female refuses to mate, but a pregnant doe may accept mating throughout the gestation period. Indeed, in the second half of pregnancy this is the most common behaviour (Figure 10).

A breeder cannot therefore use the sexual behaviour of does as an indication of pregnancy. Mating occurring during gestation has no dire consequences for the embryos. Unlike the phenomenon observed in the female hare, superfoetation (two simultaneous pregnancies at two different stages of development) never occurs in rabbits.

 

[dayna]

She was not with a buck. My does are kept in a separate area of the property than my bucks. So I have no idea how this happened but she had early babies.<br /><br />__________ Sun May 05, 2013 2:01 pm __________<br /><br />Hmmm I was just thinking it's possible if she broke out of her cage, climbed out, then hopped 100 feet and found a ladder and climbed 4 feet up into the bucks cage, then back down and put herself away before I noticed! lol

Naughty bun!

 

[AmysMacdog]

:lol: :lol:

 

[Ivory]

Thanks for that link mamsheepdog. Its just what I've been looking for.

 

[annie]

Oh good so if you breed a doe that might be already pregnant, just in case she isn't, that will not cause the fetuses to abort or something if she is.