# Need Help/Advice



## that's*satyrical (Apr 9, 2012)

We bred our Am Chin doe & assumed she wasn't pregnant since we put a nest box in with her & no babies on her due date. We even waited an extra 10 days because not knowing what we were doing we rebred her 10 days later. So we bred her again about a week ago. Today there was blood in the bottom of her cage & on her nether parts. I found what is probably a fetus? The size of a half dollar or so under the cage. It was not looking like a bunny yet kind of curled around like a caterpillar gray & white & bloody. Not sure what happened here? Unless they were actual kits & she ate them or something? The fetuses should have been either bigger or smaller than that (like probably not even visible) or completely formed (and late) based on when she was bred. I also saw a post about white urine & urinary tract infection? Her cage hangs on the side of the house & her urine is staining the siding with white streaks. Not sure if the actual urine is white or not. Should we treat her for a UTI & assume thats why she miscarried or just chalk it up to bad luck & try again? Thanks.


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## that's*satyrical (Apr 9, 2012)

Holy crap scratch that just found one dead & one live cleaned off full term bunnies on the ground. What do I do for the live one? Help!!?? Its cold & squirming


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## terri9630 (Apr 9, 2012)

Put it in a nest and put it in with momma and leave them. She may care for it.


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## currycomb (Apr 9, 2012)

warm it up(put it in your bra, has worked for others)then hold momma rabbit on her back and let the little fella drink his fill. take him in the house and keep him warm if the momma won't take care of him. or give him to another doe that has just given birth. you can force feed that way, 2X a day for 3 weeks or until he starts eating good on his own. (i would go with adopting him to another doe) oh and the cold dead one, warm him too. they are not dead until they are warm and dead)


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## that's*satyrical (Apr 9, 2012)

The dead one I am pretty sure is dead. Rigor had started to set in. The fall from the cage probably killed it the cages are like 4-5 ft off the ground. This one must have hit the soft part of the hay pile then rolled down. It is pretty strong. I tried to put it in with momma & she looked like she was going to eat it then I distracted her & she stepped on it. So I took it back out & put it under the chick warmer & gave it a few drops of warm goats milk. She didn't pull fur or anything first I guess the mothering instinct isn't there for this one. We have another one that may have kits but I'm guessing not for another while unless we misjudged her timing as well.  So if I have to raise this kit myself how much goats milk do I need to feed it & how often? If my husband didnt put the cages so high & I wasn't here without him right now I might try to put the kit on the momma but she is territorial right now & growled at me when I took the kit back out. Would it be too late to try it 3 hours from now when he gets home?


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## that's*satyrical (Apr 9, 2012)

But at the same time I am confused they were both cleaned off so she must have done that right?


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## currycomb (Apr 9, 2012)

go ahead and try when hubby gets home. take the doe out, put her on a solid table, turn her on her back and check to see if she has milk(just squeeze a nipple, some milk should come out.) put the baby on her belly, but hold on to him. if she starts kicking, she could injure him. just let him feed until full. i would think he needs the colostrum as all mamals do. she may not ever accept the baby in the cage, but they only feed once or twice a day, for a couple of minutes. if you can make time to feed him on mom, then take inside, wash bottom with warm wash cloth to stimulat bowel movements (not sure if rabbits do it, but cats do) and keep him warm, he just might make it. good luck


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## that's*satyrical (Apr 9, 2012)

I gave her a flake of hay & she is now building a nest & pulling fur. Maybe she is not done & I can sneak this little one back in.


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## crazyturkeydesigns (Apr 10, 2012)

Yup, a cold stiff kit doesn't equal a dead kit. I was also told (and learned the hard way) that a kit isn't dead and until it's warm and dead. Back when I first started raising rabbits I bought a rabbit from someone who neglected to tell me she was bred, so she had her 6 kits on the wire. Of course when I got to them they were all stiff and cold so I wrote them off. My mother, however, grabbed them all and wrapped them in washcloths and dunked them just below their jawline in really warm water and ended up saving 5 of the 6. 
There could be a number of reasons for the late birth. Sometimes the sperm just sort of sits around in there waiting for the eggs and can throw off the date by a few days (doesn't happen often) and sometimes they can just take a little longer, especially if it's a first timer. 
Hope the little baby is doing well! Keep us updated


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## that's*satyrical (Apr 10, 2012)

Well we put the baby back in with mom after holding mom & letting the baby nurse off her. I have not seen it since. Dont know if it is buried in the hay somewhere hidden or if she ate it. Time will tell I guess. She is still acting territorial.


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## that's*satyrical (Apr 10, 2012)

Great news!!! Just spotted the wee one. It is still alive & even looks a little fuzzier than yesterday.


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## yankee'n'moxie (Apr 10, 2012)

Congrats!


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## PinkFox (Apr 10, 2012)

sometimes the nesting instinct doesnt kick in untill a couple kits have been born, so it makes sense that she didnt start bulding the nest untill afterwards if this is her first litter...
in my esxperience a mother will reject a COLD kit, survival instinct a cold kit will sap heat from the others in the nest so they will insitictivly remove it from the nest, but onces shes realy started nesting assuming the kit is nice and warm shell generlaly accept it back unless theres something wrong with it.
thats just my esxperience though and may not work in all cases, in this one it seems that once the hormones kicked in she was happier (territorial and protective is quite normal lol)
got my fingers crossed, and hey who knows there may be a couple more burries in the bedding


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## that's*satyrical (Apr 10, 2012)

Since she only has one baby is it ok to re-breed her right away?


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## crazyturkeydesigns (Apr 11, 2012)

that's*satyrical said:
			
		

> Since she only has one baby is it ok to re-breed her right away?


I wouldn't, because she still has to take care of that one baby, but that's just my opinion. Perhaps if you need another litter out of her like yesterday and you have a doe with another litter you can foster it to? IMO it would just cause a lot of extra stress on her with babies in her while taking care of one. 

Glad the little one is doing well!


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## terri9630 (Apr 11, 2012)

If a kit is cold it will burrow way down into the nest to get warm.


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