Stillborn Kits

[Rex79]

Thanks @Ridgetop & @Niele da Kine,

I don't think it was a bad presentation as I watched her give birth to four kits within about 20 mins and she did fine except they were stillborn. I don't understand why she waited two days to give birth to her fifth kit which I'm sure was stillborn as she ate half of it - The first four kits were born two days early and the fifth was born on her due day, could that fifth kit have been presenting badly?

She was pooping less due to eating only a few greens and twigs, no diarrhoea. The plastic is part of the flooring which we have removed. I don't think she ate that much of it though as I swept most of it out of her cage.

She has put on a little weight since giving birth and if she continues to do so I'll rebreed her in a couple of weeks.

 

[messybun]

A quick update...

I should have said that my doe was 2 days early. Her due day was today and this morning I found a half eaten kit in her cage which she must have given birth to during the night.

Do you think that 5 kits for a very small 7 month old Rex was just too much? I wonder if she was just too immature?

She is happily eating her extra hay and BOSS this afternoon and is enjoying her usual head rub!

Give her a little bit of ground beef if she wants it. Rabbits are usually vegetarians, but I heard from an old breeder that some moms will eat their kits if they don’t get their ground beef. Worth a shot. And does she have worms? I’d give her as many immune boosters as you’ve got, probiotics, electrolytes, as much hay and pellets as she wants. Blackberry might help, but it can be a risk for bleeding out. What is her gum color? Temp?

 

[Ridgetop]

Not sure why she would have dead kits BUT . . . .

I did have a doe kindle her first litter early with 5 dead kits. I removed the dead kits and eventually took out the nest box after her due date passed 3 days later. The day after I removed the box on the original due date she kindled another 4 kits on the wire! They were born alive but since they were born on the wire with no box, they did not survive even though I tried to resuscitate them as soon as I found them.

I rebred her immediately and her next litter was fine.

Here is what could have happened in both cases. Rabbits (and many other species) have twin uterine horns. They conceive and carry fetuses in each horn. It is possible that the fetuses in one horn died due to some reason and were expelled early. Then the surviving fetuses in the second horn were born alive on the actual due date. This would have accounted for my doe delivering half her litter 3 days early. Then after I removed the nest box thinking she had lost her litter, she gave birth on the actual due date. Had I left the nest box in her cage she would have had a healthy litter of 4 kits in the nest box to care for.

It is possible that this is what occurred in your case too. The dead kits were from one horn and were delivered early because they were dead. The healthy surviving litter in the other horn was born on the due date. Unfortunately because there was only one kit it did not survive.

This is often the case when a litter only contains one or two kits, or that is all that survives in a larger litter for whatever reason. The doe cannot keep the single kit warm alone. Dpes do not cuddle with their babies like cats and dogs. That is the reason that I always breed 2 does at the same time. With 2 does kindling the same time, I can either add the single surviving kit to the larger litter or can foster a couple kits from a large litter to the mama with only one or two kits. Mother rabbits will accept fostered kits in their nest box easily.

You have to mark the fostered kits. I use a singe tattoo needle and put a black ink dot in the ear(s) of the fostered kit(s). It lasts until time to tattoo the ears permanently.

 

[messybun]

Thanks @Ridgetop & @Niele da Kine,

I don't think it was a bad presentation as I watched her give birth to four kits within about 20 mins and she did fine except they were stillborn. I don't understand why she waited two days to give birth to her fifth kit which I'm sure was stillborn as she ate half of it - The first four kits were born two days early and the fifth was born on her due day, could that fifth kit have been presenting badly?

She was pooping less due to eating only a few greens and twigs, no diarrhoea. The plastic is part of the flooring which we have removed. I don't think she ate that much of it though as I swept most of it out of her cage.

She has put on a little weight since giving birth and if she continues to do so I'll rebreed her in a couple of weeks.

Rabbits have two sides, sometimes they can get bred twice and cause problems. We’re the kits large?

 

[Rex79]

@Ridgetop, I think you might be right. I didn't know that rabbits had two side!

I had also taken the nest box out and my other doe who was due on the same day didn't deliver any kits at all, so I wouldn't have had a foster mother. Is it possible to hand rear a single kit?

@messybun Ground beef!! I'm a little apprehensive about that. The kits were a normal size for a rex.

 

[messybun]

@Ridgetop, I think you might be right. I didn't know that rabbits had two side!

I had also taken the nest box out and my other doe who was due on the same day didn't deliver any kits at all, so I wouldn't have had a foster mother. Is it possible to hand rear a single kit?

@messybun Ground beef!! I'm a little apprehensive about that. The kits were a normal size for a rex.

I’ve never tried it, just heard from a breeder. It is difficult, but you can hand raise a single. I’ve done it before a few times. The trick is getting some of mom’s cecopellets at least every other day to get the proper bacteria in the gut. I’ve also had better luck with goat milk than anything else, but that’s totally up to you. Oh, and don’t feed like the mom does, once or twice a day, feed every few hours, or whenever the baby will eat and always piddle.