Will they be okay?

[Disney]

My doe Arika gave birth to her first litter in the colony yesterday but had to move her and the nest to a cage inside the garage because her (pregnant) mother kept disturbing the nest and chasing her away, she never been this hostile against her daughter so i decided to take them out for their own safety.The mom had actually claimed that nest for herself but her daughter birthed first before she noticed.

So Arika is now in the cage with the kits but she hasn't fed them yet and i'm starting to get a little worried.
In the colony, she was going back to the nest to check them and close the nest entrance with straw so i knew she was doing her job.

But now.. could she be confused what to do?
I tried to put her on the nest to show her the way but she's too cranky, gets panicky and makes (pregnant talk) noises.
I'm scared she is going to kick and hit a baby..
Also tried to shove a kit under her belly to let it drink but she hates that too.

The babies are getting a little wrinkly.. what now? Leave them be and give her some more time?

Taken from the colony nest

In the cage

Pics of yesterday evening

 

[Dood]

She is likely not happy about being pulled from the colony and as a first time mom I would worry she will abandon the litter.

I would put her and the kits back in the colony and pull out the mother to see if that helps.

 

[Mickey328]

Good idea Dood...remove the "bully" rather than the "victim"

 

[Disney]

There are 2 bullies..

Putting them back might confuse her even more, and the group is very stressful at the moment.
Both her mom and the second rank doe are chasing the other doe's away and don't let them inside the hutches for whatever reason.
Arika's mother who is also pregnant, has claimed the hutch where the litter was for herself and didn't let her daughter near.
She wasn't hostile against the litter but just against Arika.
The second rank doe does the same thing, they seem like bullies now.

So i would need to take both out and that's not an option i'm afraid.. it would disturb the group dynamics even further and re-introducing them would create another period of stress. Would mean that they would fight their rank back to what it was. And i don't have any place left to cage them.

I guess she'll have to figure it out by herself.
I might foster the kids over to her mom if she kindles tomorrow, but i don't want her to raise 2 complete litters by herself.

Never had this kind of situation before.. i hate it and this might throw me off from breeding for the future.

__________ Tue Mar 12, 2013 10:19 am __________

She has fed them! Thank god!

She found the placenta in the nest and ate it, it was hardened but i guess it tasted good.
A half hour later the nest looked messed, i checked them and saw round bellies
I think she forgot to eat the placenta yesterday and eating it made her mother instinct kick in.

 

[OneAcreFarm]

There are 2 bullies..

Putting them back might confuse her even more, and the group is very stressful at the moment.
Both her mom and the second rank doe are chasing the other doe's away and don't let them inside the hutches for whatever reason.
Arika's mother who is also pregnant, has claimed the hutch where the litter was for herself and didn't let her daughter near.
She wasn't hostile against the litter but just against Arika.
The second rank doe does the same thing, they seem like bullies now.

So i would need to take both out and that's not an option i'm afraid.. it would disturb the group dynamics even further and re-introducing them would create another period of stress. Would mean that they would fight their rank back to what it was. And i don't have any place left to cage them.

I guess she'll have to figure it out by herself.
I might foster the kids over to her mom if she kindles tomorrow, but i don't want her to raise 2 complete litters by herself.

Never had this kind of situation before.. i hate it and this might throw me off from breeding for the future.

__________ Tue Mar 12, 2013 10:19 am __________

She has fed them! Thank god!

She found the placenta in the nest and ate it, it was hardened but i guess it tasted good.
A half hour later the nest looked messed, i checked them and saw round bellies
I think she forgot to eat the placenta yesterday and eating it made her mother instinct kick in.

I think you did the right thing, Disney...

 

[MaggieJ]

Glad she's feeding them. The move may have confused her and she needed a bit of time to settle down... but it sounds as though they will be okay now.

Not all rabbits do well in a colony. How large is their pen? If things don't work out, is dividing it a possibility for the long term?

 

[Kyle@theWintertime]

Glad she's feeding them. The move may have confused her and she needed a bit of time to settle down... but it sounds as though they will be okay now.

Not all rabbits do well in a colony. How large is their pen? If things don't work out, is dividing it a possibility for the long term?

I second the idea of separation if there continues to be issues.

Glad she's back to feeding/caring for them though!!!

 

[Disney]

I don't know how big it is but i don't think it's crowded for 7 (now 6). I've had more than 10 in the group last year and they never had problems then. Everyone was friendly to one and another, they ate together and huddled in a corner to sleep together until end of january when the snow smelted and their hormones kicked in. I bred 2 doe's and that's when the biting, chasing started. I hope it goes over when the dominant female kindles and turns back to her old, sweet ways..

Here some pictures i made today.

The 3 that are sitting in the upper floor hutch, are the 2 high rank doe's and the neutered buck that i talked about.
They are always like this, if not sleeping then grooming, the other 2 doe's, chocolate and sable are not allowed to come near.
It has calmed down a little today since Arika has left the group and i don't know if i'm going to reintroduce her, i might sell her.

The low rank doe don't trust eachother anymore, they avoid eachother and especially when i put their food tray down.
They used to sit around it and eat together.. now they run off when another doe comes to eat.
Only the 2 high rank doe's and the neutered buck aren't bothered and ignore the low rank doe's and their drama's.

I can't divide it in 2, not by myself and my dad has an ilness..