random question

I have heard that a mummy rabbit could eat her kits, is this literal? If so what impact would this have on her health, surely it would be such an alien thing for a bunny to eat. Is there any particular age that the kits would be in danger or could it happen at any point also what would cause this to happen?
These questions are purely from my curiosity, I never have and never will breed rabbits.
Happy Easter xx

I think this happens with a lot of animals, rabbits included although not all dead kits will be eaten. I think it's natures way of not wasting the nutrients or energy the mum expended making the kits in the first place

Most animals also eat their placenta ect after birth too :mrgreen: I know rabbits do this and I think it is pretty gross but again it's just natures way of not being wasteful!!!

I'm not sure what either would do to a buns guts, I would think that they would be at high risk from the stress of the birth, and of losing any babies too

Oh do they just eat the dead ones? Apologies for the morbid nature of this post, I don't know why but I started wondering about it and realised I knew nothing so I thought I would ask as it's the only way you learn xx

I think it's only dead ones or if they have to abandon the nest, say they were too small/weak to care from them or if they were overly stressed or disturbed during or just after birth

There was an abandoned litter at the rescue I work at last year, they were not eaten but most defiantly abandoned and very close to death when found, we managed to keep 2 alive for a couple of weeks but sadly they didn't make it

I think some of it comes from instinct as in the wild they eat the young so that predators don't smell them and be lead to the nest

Would the mother be ok after, if she ate them? Also would she eat all of them? So just clarifying a mother wouldn't eat alive healthy kits? Sorry again for wondering about such a grim subject xx

She may if she felt they posed some sort of risk to the safety of the burrow, say a human handled the kits nd they no longer smelt right. You have to remember they are a pray species and have instincts designed to help them survive.

Thanks for your replies, I just realised that I know quite a lot about rabbits but nothing about their babies xx