One dead kit. What happened?

[Shayanna]

Sorry if this thread gets graphic. Misty, my flemish/rex/californian mix, was "due" on Wednesday. On friday she pulled her fur. Very slowly, but she was pulling. Saturday she was still pulling, and acting very restless and hungry. I thought for sure this meant something was going to go down. So we leave for about 2 hours and come back, this is around noon, and there is one dead kit in the middle of the cage. Obviously not cleaned off, its like she didn't even touch it. And she is just hanging out in her nest box and won't leave it. So way later, she comes out of her box, I check the box and there is nothing but a bunch of fur that she is STILL pulling. I take out the dead kit and it is deformed. The back of the skull had not fully formed. (No she didn't eat it, you could tell it was a deformity.) Monday morning, when I was feeding her her usual treats, there is still nothing new going on in her cage. So what is going on? We were told that she is an excellent mother, small litter count (between 5 and 7) but healthy, meaty babies. She eats a very well balanced diet, isn't overweight, and she had spent an hour and then the entire next night with the buck when we bred her. What is going on? Is she going to be having yet more still born babies? because she came out of the box later and was flexing like she was having contractions. By Monday night still nothing new, except a small spot of blood in her pee.
I am wondering if it was stress, considering we bred her the day after we got her and she is somewhat timid. I have never attempted to palpate her because of the way she tenses and turns away if I try. The most affection she will let me give her is a back scratching or a treat.
I guess my point is, is this likely to happen again? Because if so, I might just have to get a new doe, as I raise my rabbits for meat and can't really afford to have a non breeding doe. Any advice?

 

[secuono]

Is this your first doe, first breeding experience?
Stress could cause issues for sure, but a bad mix in parents can also cause issues with the kits themselves. Buck may have poor genes and the doe hidden genes that when combines, equals poor kits. Trying a different male may end up in better results. Or you can try the same buck and if it was just stress, things should end up better.

What day is she on since the breeding? Some does take up to 36 days to give birth.
Did you switch pellet brands when you got her? Is it hot where you are? That could also cause stress and bad results.

 

[ruthless]

Are you where the heat has been so extreme? We had about 4 weeks of 95-105 degree weather here and it killed many new litters and does too.

 

[secuono]

That heat spell really did kill a lot of rabbits!

 

[Shayanna]

I'm in Michigan, so the heat spell wasn't bad. This was our first breeding experience with this doe in particular, but not first ever. I know the buck is good because he just had a perfectly healthy litter with our other doe. I'm just banking on stress. Monday, which was day36, I pulled her out of the cage, felt the belly and didn't feel a thing, so decided to put her in with the buck. She was much more easy going about it this time, and even refused to come out. So she spent the night with him. So in about 31 days, give or take, we will find out the verdict. I will say though, that I think I have the wierdest buck ever. Their cages are just separated by a wire wall, and I have seen him sniff and lick the does through the wire, and occasionally lay up against it and them essentially, but when he is done with our does, when they breed, he actually CUDDLES with them. They lay down together in his "nest box" house and cuddle. Anybody else's bucks do this?

 

[Bunnylady]

He's not a young buck, is he?

IME, bucks just past the age of adolescence are hopping hormones, but once a buck gets a bit older, he settles down and becomes much more mannerly. Most of my most people-friendly rabbits have been bucks, they seem to naturally be more outgoing. I have often seen bucks snuggling with "the girl next door". I have some large cages in which I sometimes put together a "colony" of 2 - 4 does and an older buck. There has been some initial chasing, of course, but they pretty quickly settle down. It isn't unusual to see the buck snuggled up with a doe in a colony setting - much more likely than seeing two of the does being that cozy, for example.

 

[Shayanna]

He is about a year old. Not super people friendly. I just didn't know bucks could be so "mannerly" with the does. Kind of cute.

 

[cattlequeen]

How many litters has the doe had? How old is the doe?

 

[Shayanna]

I only know what I was told because I didn't get her from a real rabbitry, just another backyard breeder in exchange for one of our extra bucks.. That she is about 3 years old and a good mother, and even made a good seragate (sp? I know that was wrong) many times. Small litter size, but large babies.

 

[currycomb]

things just go wrong, for whatever reason. just rebreed and give her another chance. my bucks also seem to like having company for a week or so. no fussing, no fighting