First time mom, bad mom?

[taraann81]

I had an accidental liiter.
Background info...

My flemish doe(9 months) was bred THROUGH wire by my mini lop buck(the ironic thing was she was only housed beside him for 2 days while we were placing an extra piece of wire between cages so there would be a 2 inch gap).

Anyways I went out one morning to find 14 kits...13 live and 1 dead(I didn't know this was even possible and had planned a pure litter with my gorgeous Fleemie buck).

Anyways, I warmed up the kits and made them a nest(pulled fur from mom).

They are now 10 days old and we are down to 8.

Every day when I bring her into to feed her litter(she will only feed them once a day, the first week I was bringing her in morning and evening but she'd only feed them in the morning)

As soon as she gets in the cage she hops in the nest box and STOMPS. The poor kits start screaming and I actually believe this is how we lost the other 5( as after each feeding I check bellies and they have always been full)

Is there anyway I can prevent her from continuing this? Should I chalk this up to first time mom or bad mom and pull her from our breeding program?

Thanks

 

[Bunnylady]

I do it the other way 'round - I take the litter out to momma. In my 20+ years of messing about with rabbits, I have only known a few that were cool about being picked up and carried around. Most of them get a bit wound up about it, I suspect that is why your doe is stomping.

I had been wondering how things were going with this litter, and I'm sorry to hear about the losses. A big doe can kill kits just by stepping on the little guys, the mere thought of a Flemish stomping on them makes me cringe!

Remember, this girl is a first-time mom, first timers are often dingbats. Many of my girls have not been thrilled about me stealing their kits every night, and a few have stomped a time or two when I returned the nestbox in the morning. They usually get over it. If I think a doe is likely to do it, I may put the babies into something else, and return the nestbox (still warm, but sans kits) to the mother. She jumps in, and after she gets over being silly, I slip the babies in with her still in the box. The does that really drive me bonkers are the ones that won't stay out of the nestbox! I usually leave litters with their mothers any time I think the weather is warm enough, but I have had a few litters that I had to remove from their mothers' cages for their own safety. These does (first timers, of course!) kept jumping back into the nestbox to check on their newborns, and of course were trampling the kits in the process.

At 10 days old, your kits will be opening their eyes in the next day or two. I usually start leaving kits with mom about then (depending on the weather). The doe will probably settle down when the kits are always there, before long, she'll have to start telling them "leave me alone, it's not that time!"

 

[taraann81]

Thanks! I'll try bringing the kits to her instead. Yes there eyes are opened and they are so cute!

 

[esagiddens]

We had an accidental liter this past winter, yeah I'm a first timer, so when I did my first planned breeding I brought Lily in. Unfortunately both the brooder and her section of the hutch are too small for her to keep them with her. Needless to say, I take her the buns in the morning and then put them in their own section beside her for the rest of the day. They all stayed inside till it actually got warm enough for them to got out. They are all usually really happy to be reunited in the mornings but she is ready for them to be gone as soon as she's done feeding them

 

[lklisk]

I did not know that you needed to take the kits away from their mom? This is the first that I have heard of this. lklisk ????

 

[taraann81]

You don't have to take the kits away from their moms. Most people don't. I do. If your interested google "the chu method of nestbox management"

 

[The Egg Bandit]

What the ...? I have never, ever taken the kits away from their mom. Is this some kind of newfangled plan? I have raised several breeds of rabbits quite successfully for years, and the does keep the kids totally (I mean TOTALLY) untouched for three to four days. Then I check the nest box for fatalities. If none, they get left to mom again until they start hopping out. If I smell something funny, or see flies, I check the box again. Why on earth would someone take the kits away from mom? Does feed their kits VERY early in the morning. Who wants to get up at 4:00 am? Again I must ask - what is up with this? Mother DOES know best. Let her do her job. Problem solved.

 

[taraann81]

Thanks for the great info egg bandit! I am glad you've done your research and read this thread and know the background information. You are obviously a very intelligent person that does not jump to sudden conclusion before...say...googling some of the information(like perhaps the "Chu" method) listed in this thread.

Thanks again for your very insightful and researched reply. Its really appreciated! I'm glad I can come to this forum and be answered by knowledgeable people who take time to answer people's questions in a friendly informative manner! I bet your kids(if your a parent) feel confident in asking you questions and getting help in a non judgmental way!

 

[The Egg Bandit]

"Chu method" - how about the "rabbit method". Sheesh. Some people just have to mess with Mother Nature. And then they want to complain when it doesn't work out so well.

 

[taraann81]

So you think forcing rabbits to live in wire cages suspended in the air and forcing a doe to be confined in a small cage with her nest is natural and the way mother nature intended?

If we look at the way rabbits raise their kits in the wild, you'd see a doe visiting her nest 1 maybe twice a day. Besides that she stays well away from her nest.

I also see you edited your prior post for politeness. Thanks.

I believe everybody has their own way of doing things and nobody should force another or belittle another for their choices.

However to assume your method is the natural way( even though it is not any more natural than the chu method and possibly even further removed) just because its the way it has traditionally been done, just seems unthought out.


Think about how a rabbit would birth/kindle raise her kits in the wild....

Is my way truly any further removed from it than yours?

Natural does not = the way we humans have traditionally done it.

But that it seems, is what you are toting as "the rabbit method" and the way mother nature intended it.

Also I have yet to find a rotting fly covered carcass in any of my nests hence reducing the chance of fly strike.