Doe's First Litter-all died. questions????

[Black Tie Farms]

(all my rabbits live in my dinning room) My angora doe kindled last night (11:30pm) I tried to check on them before I went to bed but every time I tried to take a look she would jump back in the nest box. I could see them moving around and she pulled fur so I went to bed. At 4:30 this morning I got up to check on things and they were all (9 of them) uncovered, cold, and not cleaned off very well at all. 3 of them were slowly moving, I was able to get one more moving and breathing. So I had the moving 4 held against me, and My husband. One was obviously dead and the other four I tried using the water therapy method, It didn't work. Soon the surviving four started dieing off, I tried to put the few that were left back in with the doe hoping she would nurse them.......she wasn't interested...ugh......So I held her down, squeezed some milk and tried to get the one struggling kit to nurse, that wasn't easy! and that one died with in the hour............ does this happen often? Do I give her another chance? Should I have done something differently? I think I was spoiled with my very first litter with another doe.....she did everything perfect! needed no help in any area.....just perfect! sorry for my rambling, only had 4 hours of sleep....zzzzzzzzz

 

[woodleighcreek]

From what I have read, many first time does dont have successful litters. This happens all the time. There is nothing you can do. Rabbits are very instinctive animals and most times know just what to do. I would rebreed her. Most breeders do the "Three strikes your out" thing. If she dosnt have a successful litter with the next 2 tries, or does not make a good mom, I would find her a pet home.

 

[Black Tie Farms]

Thank You. It's just hard and I can't help but go through and see what I could have done differently, HUMAN nature I guess! I will re-breed her and go from there and I will let MOTHER nature do what it does!

 

[woodleighcreek]

It was so hard for me last time. I went out every half an hour. On day 35, I took her to the vet. Turns out she wasn't even pregnant.

This time, she actually was pregnant and she built a great nest and has 4 healthy kits. SO dont give up!

 

[HoldensLandingFarmGirl]

How old is your doe? Like someone else said, many does don't have first litters that survive, and IME, very young does tend to not instinctively know what to do with their kits. The first (surprise) litter of one of our last does - none of them survived. The doe had just reached sexual maturity and really, really young. I tried getting her to nurse the babies but in the end, I think she trampled them to death overnight. Her next litter, when she was older, all survived, and she nursed them with no problems.