how premature is too premature

[PinkFox]

after todays loss of a pregnant doe it got me to thinking...
in an emergency situation, how young is too young to be viable.

for example, i cant help but wonder, if id have found my doe as soon as she died would an emergency c-section possible saved the kits...they would have been due on the 18th.
if id managed to get them out sooner...would they have been viable 5 days before their initial due date?

Rabbits have such a short gestation period that i can only assume theres still alot of internal development going on in that last week.

by the time i found her it was too late, i did give them a good rub just in faint hope but obviously got no responce...i just wonder if id got there sooner would they have stood a chance of survival at 5 days early?

 

[Akpahsj]

I'm really sorry for your loss...
But I do not think you would have been able to save them. Baby rabbits usually do not survive if they are more than 3 days premature.
And do you have another doe that is producing milk, or would you have hand-fed them? Because I am pretty sure that baby bunnies don't usually survive when hand-fed from birth...That's what I heard, but I don't know if its accurate or not.