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Rabbit babbies killed by other rabbits

I own 9 rabbits, 4 girls and 5 boys. they only one has been desexed and that is my original male rabbit, the other 4 boys and the other 3 girls were the offspring. The problem is, two of the rabbits got pregnant and gave birth yesterday, one had around 6 and the other had around 7. Born in 2 different hutches that are open, (all of them run freelly around my backyard). In the morning i found that the 7 were all killed by another rabbit, not sure which one but they all looked mauled, bitten in a lot of places. The other 6 in the other hutch were alive but had been bitten in a lot of places.

I took the other 6 and they are in my room right now. The male rabbits have always been territorial, could they have killed the babies? Also, the girls have also started to bite each other! They do not have rabbies as the parents did not have them. Could I re-introduce the babbies into my backyard to the rabbits without them being killed?
 
All of ur rabbits are extremely hormonal. Its imperative you get them ALL desexed to prevent further pregnancies and stop the fighting.
 
If you keep un-neutered Bucks and Does together this scenario will happen time and time again.

You need to:

1 Remove the dead Rabbits/Kits

2 Seperate ALL the Bucks. Entire Bucks WILL fight to the death inflicting horrific injuries on each other including riping off testicles.

3 Try to determine which Doe is the mother of the live kits. If the live kits have severe bite wounds euthanasia by a Veterinary Surgeon may be the only option.

4 The Does may well continue to fight so as with the Bucks you will need to seperate them.

5 Get all the Does to a Vet to see if any are pregnant. If so discuss options, including termination if Vet considers this to be in the best interests of the Doe(s)

6 Get ALL the Bucks castrated

7 Get ALL Does spayed

8 Once all Rabbits are de-sexed allow 4-6 weeks for hormones to settle and then bond them into pairs or larger groups
 
I think you will lose the babies regardless of what you do even if you take them to a vet- but it is negligent if you don't as the babies will be suffering and in pain. This will continue to happen until you get your rabbits neutered. The adult rabbits will start fighting, causing injuries too- again these may prove fatal, they will certainly be dangerous and painful to the rabbit!
 
The male rabbits are to be neutered next month! (hoping i get some money) The females I have not had problems with placing together in the same cage until yesterday, (could be because of the killing of the babies). But could i re-bond the females? they have had babies before and the other mothers would not kill the babies but even nurse them and provide milk. This is actually the first time that any of the girls are fighting. :cry:
 
Until you can get the male rabbits neutered, please keep them completely separate from each other and from the females. If they have all been running loose together there is an extremely high chance that some of your females are pregnant at the moment - including the two which have just given birth. By allowing them to run free together, the females will get into a constant cycle of pregnancy even while nursing and this would be absolutely exhausting for them.

I would also suggest keeping all the rabbits separate for now and let them out one at a time for exercise until you are absolutely certain that there are no more babies on the way and until the boys at least are neutered (please also be aware that male rabbits can still be fertile for a few weeks after they are neutered so please don't let them run back together again straight away).

It sounds as if your rabbits have got to the age where they are hormonal and territorial and it is likely to simply end in a series of increasingly serious fights. I would not try and rebond the girls now, it sounds as if they are too hormonal and I think you're likely to get fights even among the girls and if there are further births you are likely to have the same thing happen :(

I think you will have a very tricky job on your hands to get them all back living happily together so would suggest that you invest in some more accommodation for now at least, and hopefully you can try and bond some of them back together in the future - but this will need to be done very carefully. I would suggest coming back here for some advice on how to do this once the rabbits are neutered and you are sure there are no more babies on the way.

You mention rabies - what country are you in? Do you have many vets who are confident to neuter and spay rabbits?
 
Hi. I am so glad you are intending to take the advice given here.

I knew nothing about rabbits until I joined this forum. But reading so many sad stories on here, I now know that keeping unneutered male and females togther so often results in endless unwanted pregnancies and dead kittens. Keeping 5 uneutered males together will end in fighting and possibly fatal injuries.
 
I'm guessing that before all of them used to get along, but one became more dominant and killed the kits, and is causing trouble among the others. The best thing would be to neuter the girls, as I see you're planning on doing. I hope the kits are ok, and the rabbits can be bonded again.
 
If you keep un-neutered Bucks and Does together this scenario will happen time and time again.

You need to:

1 Remove the dead Rabbits/Kits

2 Seperate ALL the Bucks. Entire Bucks WILL fight to the death inflicting horrific injuries on each other including riping off testicles.

3 Try to determine which Doe is the mother of the live kits. If the live kits have severe bite wounds euthanasia by a Veterinary Surgeon may be the only option.

4 The Does may well continue to fight so as with the Bucks you will need to seperate them.

5 Get all the Does to a Vet to see if any are pregnant. If so discuss options, including termination if Vet considers this to be in the best interests of the Doe(s)

6 Get ALL the Bucks castrated

7 Get ALL Does spayed

8 Once all Rabbits are de-sexed allow 4-6 weeks for hormones to settle and then bond them into pairs or larger groups

This. Otherwise these poor bunnies have no decent life :(
 
If you keep un-neutered Bucks and Does together this scenario will happen time and time again.

You need to:

1 Remove the dead Rabbits/Kits

2 Seperate ALL the Bucks. Entire Bucks WILL fight to the death inflicting horrific injuries on each other including riping off testicles.

3 Try to determine which Doe is the mother of the live kits. If the live kits have severe bite wounds euthanasia by a Veterinary Surgeon may be the only option.

4 The Does may well continue to fight so as with the Bucks you will need to seperate them.

5 Get all the Does to a Vet to see if any are pregnant. If so discuss options, including termination if Vet considers this to be in the best interests of the Doe(s)

6 Get ALL the Bucks castrated

7 Get ALL Does spayed

8 Once all Rabbits are de-sexed allow 4-6 weeks for hormones to settle and then bond them into pairs or larger groups

:shock: Crikey what a mess!!!!

I second the above :wave:
 
:shock: Crikey what a mess!!!!

I second the above :wave:
I absolutely third it!

Really hope you manage to get this sorted without further carnage to buns & heart ache to you.
Could you try getting the desexing done at an animal rescue/charity? It would be less costly than a private vet.
Or possibly rehoming some of your buns so that you are able to manage better financially speaking?
 
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