Nest box fur

[P.O. in MO]

I have a doe that was due last night. This is the second time she has been bred and the first time nothing happened. I just went out to feed and there is hair(not a tremendous amount) all over the floor of the cage, she was in the nest box looking out. I went ahead and fed and she came out to eat so I checked the box and there was just a small amount of hair in the box in the back corner, I went ahead and picked up the hair on the cage floor and put it in the box. I had turned the heat on last night since it was cold and she was due and it is 40 in there now and will hold that all night. I have read to save fur in case the mother doesn't pull enough to keep the kits warm. I brush them a few strokes every day just to improve there attitude towards me touching them and have put the fur I have cleaned out of the brush in a container for this occasion. I just don't know if the fur was supposed to be rabbit specific. If I go out later or in the morning and she has kindled and hasn't buried them sufficiently in fur can I use this fur from all my rabbits to cover them up or will the smell of the other rabbits make her abandon her litter? This may be irrelevant as I have had pregnant does just have a little fur in the nest box the day before kindling and come out in the morning to find a huge pile that was moving a little from the kits but wanted to ask in case I need to know later. I am going to keep an eye on her this evening and go out real early in the morning to see if all is ok.

 

[Beachbunny]

I have a doe that was due last night. This is the second time she has been bred and the first time nothing happened. I just went out to feed and there is hair(not a tremendous amount) all over the floor of the cage, she was in the nest box looking out. I went ahead and fed and she came out to eat so I checked the box and there was just a small amount of hair in the box in the back corner, I went ahead and picked up the hair on the cage floor and put it in the box. I had turned the heat on last night since it was cold and she was due and it is 40 in there now and will hold that all night. I have read to save fur in case the mother doesn't pull enough to keep the kits warm. I brush them a few strokes every day just to improve there attitude towards me touching them and have put the fur I have cleaned out of the brush in a container for this occasion. I just don't know if the fur was supposed to be rabbit specific. If I go out later or in the morning and she has kindled and hasn't buried them sufficiently in fur can I use this fur from all my rabbits to cover them up or will the smell of the other rabbits make her abandon her litter? This may be irrelevant as I have had pregnant does just have a little fur in the nest box the day before kindling and come out in the morning to find a huge pile that was moving a little from the kits but wanted to ask in case I need to know later. I am going to keep an eye on her this evening and go out real early in the morning to see if all is ok.

 

[Beachbunny]

You can use the fur from other rabbits in the nest if you need to, I have done this in the past with no problems. If you think the doe might be picky about it u can always put a few drops of vanilla in the bag of fur a few days before you place it in the nest. I have used dryer lint in the past to line a nest when I had no saved fur and it worked well. Most does that I have dealt with have been easy going and will tolerate anything in the nest box.. Good luck !!

 

[animalmom]

I agree with Beachbunny. I save fur from all my rabbits, does and bucks, during the year and store it all in the same bag. When it is real cold and I don't think there is enough fur in the nest box then I'll add a layer of the saved fur. Does don't seem to mind and the kits wiggle all the new fur in with the old fur anyway.

 

[Hens and Roos]

I have often wondered about using fur collected from the rabbits and if it would cause problems with does in the nest box.

Our does to this point have done a great job of pulling fur to cover the kits. We did have 1 doe-first timer- who didn't prep the nest box before hand and didn't cover the kits at first- we added some dryer lint and the next morning she had blown coat and covered them with her fur.

 

[P.O. in MO]

Thank you all for the replies. Since I wasn't sure last night I went out and hung a 250 watt heat lamp right above the cage over the nest box. I didn't turn it on and checked on her late and then again real early. No kits. This is the second time I have bred this doe and the first time it didn't take. In both breedings the buck completed the task twice morning and evening. As of 5 pm today it is 33 days since she was bred. She was carrying hay around in her mouth the week after she was bred but she did that last time too. I have a feeling this is a false alarm. Will does pull hair and put it in the nest box and not really be pregnant? I guess I will know tomorrow. I have read that the gestation range is 28 to 34 days so tomorrow at this time it will have been 34 days. I'll leave the box in another day or two and if nothing happens will have to decide if I want to try again. She is a pretty aggressive doe, toward me and the buck I breed her to. As I said in another thread I think I have let my does get a little fat so this may be my fault. A hard lesson as my freezer will be out of rabbits soon and I only have 3 growing out now due to a small litter. Thanks again, if she does kindle I have plenty of fur to supplement if necessary.

 

[jhough42]

What was the verdict? Darn those fat does...they make life miserable. It would be very unusual for her to be pulling fur and yet not kindle, but not unheard of I suppose. Especially for a broody doe.

 

[P.O. in MO]

She kindled but I lost all 4. I pulled the nest box at the end of day 35. Yesterday at 6PM was 37 full days from the evening breeding of that does. So she was part way thru the 38th day. And I know I didn't get my days written down wrong because I remember breeding her the day after Christmas. When I fed this morning there were 2 very large kits on the cage floor. At first I thought they were deformed with organs on the outside but when I got them on my table and looked closely there were two very tiny kits in the litter, like about an inch long. One of the large ones belly was opened up but the doe might have done that. I don't know if the 2 large ones would have survived with the nest box or whether they were alive when they were born. The doe had some blood on her hindquarters, more than I have seen before but I examined her and nothing was left hanging out of the birth canal. I should have left the box in a little longer, it wasn't hurting anything and she hadn't soiled it, will know better next time. I may let her rest a week or so and give her one more try. She is over a year old now and have thought about culling her but what's 5 more weeks feed. I have 3 kits about 2 weeks old and should probably start thinking about saving the best doe of that litter (if there is one) for a replacement if things don't work out. I was going to butcher those kits in 10 weeks or so but I feel bad for pulling the nest box on her too early.

 

[jhough42]

How strange...there must've been something wrong because they should never go past 34 days. I wouldn't feel bad, especially if the kits were malformed (overly large/overly small).

If there was blood on her hind quarters, coupled with the late delivery, my guess is one was stuck in the birth canal. You're lucky she was able to pass it instead of going septic. Usually I would say breed right back after a lost litter but in that scenario I think you are right to wait a week. Let her reproductive system heal.

What breed do you have? 3-4 kits in a litter seems to indicate a smaller breed? If you are raising a large breed and getting litter sizes that small it might be time to look at some other potential issues.

 

[Hens and Roos]

She kindled but I lost all 4. I pulled the nest box at the end of day 35. Yesterday at 6PM was 37 full days from the evening breeding of that does. So she was part way thru the 38th day. And I know I didn't get my days written down wrong because I remember breeding her the day after Christmas. When I fed this morning there were 2 very large kits on the cage floor. At first I thought they were deformed with organs on the outside but when I got them on my table and looked closely there were two very tiny kits in the litter, like about an inch long. One of the large ones belly was opened up but the doe might have done that. I don't know if the 2 large ones would have survived with the nest box or whether they were alive when they were born. The doe had some blood on her hindquarters, more than I have seen before but I examined her and nothing was left hanging out of the birth canal. I should have left the box in a little longer, it wasn't hurting anything and she hadn't soiled it, will know better next time. I may let her rest a week or so and give her one more try. She is over a year old now and have thought about culling her but what's 5 more weeks feed. I have 3 kits about 2 weeks old and should probably start thinking about saving the best doe of that litter (if there is one) for a replacement if things don't work out. I was going to butcher those kits in 10 weeks or so but I feel bad for pulling the nest box on her too early.

Sorry for your loss of the litter it's never easy when this happens.