GAH! Really young rabbit is pregnant

[DianeS]

I'm just venting.

I have a 12 week old rabbit. At least, I was told she was 8 weeks old when I bought her and her littermates Dec 30. She was housed with them for one week after that, so until 9 weeks of age.

And today she starts making a nest and pulling fur! And she refused her dinner.

She had been housed with her littermates - so it's her brother who fathered her kits.

It's just a mess.

This means she's probably older than 12 weeks now, right? I didn't think they were fertile until 12 weeks. Certainly not fertile at 9 weeks, right?

I palpated her abdomen, which I am *not* an expert at doing, but it feels like a single full size kit. Or at least a large oblong lump of some kind, like I said I'm no expert! On one side of her abdomen, nothing on the other.

I know a lot of rabbits lose their first litters - especially when they have them young. Is there anything special I need to do if she loses this litter? Any special food for helping her dry up or anything?

I have had a rabbit give birth to a live litter before, so hopefully I can handle that OK, as unlikely as it is at her age. (Whatever her age really is!)

I moved her into an adult-sized cage and gave her a nestbox with all the straw and fur from her previous one. Hate moving her last minute like that but no choice.

Anyway, this is just a vent. Sympathy appreciated. I had no intention of letting her have a litter this early but now I have to deal with it. Poor thing.

I'll keep you posted...

 

[rabbitlady4433]

Keeping my fingers crossed that all goes well!

 

[dbunni]

Have you palpped her? At that age, she may be having a false pregnancy. Treat it as a normal. But it is not unusual for a young doe to "false" on her first or second cycle. Especially if she was introduced to a buck too early.

 

[cattlecait]

Hoping everything goes well! Accidents happen. One of our does last year somehow decided to kindle out of nowhere. She was born at our place and I never bred her! Nice litter of seven. Mysteries...

What breed is she? It might not make much of a difference, but a smaller breed will mature earlier and she'll probably handle it a little bit better. Good sign that she's at least making a nest though!

 

[DianeS]

No kit yet, but she's pulled some more fur. And actually placed it in the nest box! I'm impressed.

She's a mixed breed. A real "mutt". Probably weighs around 6 lbs. She's been gaining maybe a half pound and a quarter inch of height every week or so since I got her. I saw her mother, she's maybe 7-8 lbs.

I had purchased her and her littermates to be meat rabbits. I saved her out of the litter when I processed the rest because of her sweet personality.

Palpating results still feel like one full size kit on one side and nothing on the other.

 

[tortoise]

Hoping for the best for you. Last litter he the vet and I could only palp 1 kit, but she had 6.

 

[DianeS]

Hoping for the best for you. Last litter he the vet and I could only palp 1 kit, but she had 6.

:

 

[terri9630]

I got a 3month old doe from someone I know keeps excellent records. Some kids at the fair were goofing off and wanted to see rabbits fight and were putting the rabbits all together in one cage when they were caught. This is the only time this doe shared a cage with any other rabbit. 30 days later she had 7kits. I know she was bred at the fair because I didn't have a buck at the time and her previous owner kept a 3 inch gap between cages.

The doe was a 7lb rex cross.