Week old rabbit dies any ideas?

[herb_basket]

Quick backstory: One of my EAs had a litter of 12 last week. 2 were stillborn and looked like they died early in the pregnacy. One was out of the nest and froze, so I had 9 of various sized and developed babies left. I've never had this happen before and the only thing I can say is the father was a FA from the auction so who knows his story. I didn't plan on breeding him either, but he had other plans
Now I'm down to 4 kits. Most of the underdeveloped ones died within 24 hrs and they just gasped for air (their lungs weren't fully developed?) Today one of the smaller kits died. This one looked healthy and was nursing fine. Also this one and one other has these white spots on their skin. The one that died has them on its underside and the one that is still alive has them on its face and paws.
Any ideas on what the white spots are? None of the others have them on their underside and I've never had them in the past. Do you think this kit the just died today died from being underdeveloped or something along those lines? They were born on 30 days, but they looked like they shouldn't have come out then. Thanks in advance.

2 white spots on underside.

one of the kits that died within 24hrs

 

[DutchBunny03]

Within the first week, many kits die for seemingly no reason. I don't know what the spots are, they may be some sort of tumor. Check both parents for deformities, and don't breed the same pair again.

 

[herb_basket]

I guess I've had good luck as the past 6 litters out of 37 kits only 1 died in the first week.
I didn't see anything wrong with the mother. The father has 1 testi (which is why I didn't want to breed him in the first place). With 1 testi I'm surprised that she had 12 kits.

This is the other kit with the white spots. It has a large one on its neck and several on its paws and face

 

[Pastor Dave]

Not sure abt the white spots, but you've done well with those odds and your very good success rate. The infant mortality rate is as high as 25%

 

[Pastor Dave]

Welcome to BYH by the way!
Lots of good folks and info/experiences to share on here.

 

[herb_basket]

Yes, there are a lot of knowledgeable folk here. I don't usually post because there's already answers to my questions.
I usually lose a few kits at 3 or 4 weeks when they open their eyes and get in trouble, but not this many and not like this.

 

[mysunwolf]

About the white spots: there was a discussion similar to this on another forum. From other reading around the web, it sounds like there's a possibility of staph or pasteurella.

 

[RathdrumGal]

I don't know rabbits, but I am a retired human nurse. The spots look like an infection to me -- herpes or other virus immediately came to mind when I saw the white blisters. Infection could also cause the preterm labor. I do not know why the babies were born at different stages of development.

I would isolate the mother and watch your other livestock until you can get advice from your vet.

 

[Tale of Tails Rabbitry]

I don't know rabbits, but I am a retired human nurse. The spots look like an infection to me -- herpes or other virus immediately came to mind when I saw the white blisters. Infection could also cause the preterm labor. I do not know why the babies were born at different stages of development.

@RathdrumGal I think these were just pictures at different stages of growth. Rabbit kits are born blind and without fur. They begin growing fur after birth and open their eyes in about ten to twelve days. However, it is common for some kits to be smaller than others and some there are some common reasons that some kits would not be as developed as others at birth as in breeding a second time days later than the first.

@herb_basket I have not seen this personally but I would tend to think it is some kind of infection, whether viral or bacterial, rather than insect bites as they are not red around the bump. I use a dropper full of food grade hydrogen peroxide at 3% in a gallon of purified water to give to all my pets to drink, even drink it myself. With something like this I would increase that dosage by 2x to 5x to all my rabbits until you see no signs of it at all. Colloidal silver would be another way to go. Both help the body fight against bacteria and viruses.

However, I would not take the chance in exposing my other rabbits to this even if it clears up and they live as they could be carriers. If it was one kit in a kindle, I would think cysts. If one every now in then in a few kindles, I would be on the fence, but by the third one, I would probably say enough. If more than one in a kindle, I would be thinking "problem that I do not want" and time to examine all the rabbits that had contact with the doe, cull, and disinfect.

 

[Bunnylady]

Perhaps nobody has noticed that this thread is over a year old, and the OP hasn't been seen in a year? But who knows, maybe activity on this long-inactive thread might get us an update.

30 days' gestation isn't "preterm labor" in a rabbit, especially for a large litter (while 31 days is more typical, even 28 days is within the range of "normal"). English Angoras average about 6 pounds; 12 babies is a HUGE litter for a rabbit that size.

Rabbits have a number of strange tricks in their reproductive repertoire, including absorbing fetuses, delaying implantation and even carrying two separate pregnancies with different due dates.

In large litters, it isn't unusual to see babies that are different sizes, especially in older does. There is only so much room inside a doe's reproductive tract, and when embryos implant close together, their placentas wind up competing for space. Sometimes one just loses the competition; it isn't unusual to find dead fetuses that appear to be at considerably less than full gestational age in litters of healthy, normal kits. Two or more that are close together may just stunt each others' growth; these would be small, but should appear fully developed. It is possible that the live kits that appeared to be premature could simply have implanted a few days after the accidental breeding took place (whether the buck only had access to the doe once, or there were multiple accidents).

The links provided by mysunwolf mention infection by certain bacteria as a probable cause for this, including Staphylococcus aureus. Surely you have heard of "toxic shock syndrome," right? TSS is usually caused by Staph aureus; it's a bacterium that is pretty common, and is often carried by people, even perfectly healthy ones. This rabbit could have picked it up in any of a number of ways; she might even have been infected by her owner. Normally, rabbits' immune systems are pretty good at keeping the bacteria they live with in check; I'm wondering if some stress might have reduced her immune function, allowing these bacteria to flourish.