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My bunny has given birth, not sure if she is feeding kits

I

imported_spangly_dottery_potter

New Kit
My Lionhead rabbit who was a 'male' until Friday, gave birth yesterday to 5 kits, one was unfortunately dead.

This is her first and only litter and I'm not sure if she is feeding the babies.
3 are in the nest, one is wobbling around the cage trying to feed, but Mum keeps moving away from it, or sitting on it.

She has been cleaning it though.

How can we tell if she is feeding the babies?

Also, she keeps thumping her back legs quite a lot too, and I'm scared she is going to kick the babies.

I know I must let nature take it's course, but I guess it's the maternal instinct in me, to know that they are all OK.
 
Rub your hands in the bedding to hide your scent then put the loose one back in the nest. Rabbits can't carry their babies like cats/dogs. Sometimes the babies get dragged out the nest accidently when they're latched on and mum leaves.

Rabbits only feed their young once or twice a day (usually at night) so don't be surprised if she doesn't pay any attention to them. they don't snuggle either, they'd usually be left along while mum is out grazzing.

The babies should have plump tummies if they've been feeding.

Tam
 
Have you taken the father out yet? How long after the birth was he still with the mom? Please be aware that rabbits can mate again very quickly after giving birth, so if she was living with the father she might be pregnant again.

Best of luck with the babies!
 
sad day today, 2 of the babies died overnight and I died this afternoon :cry:

She only has one baby left now.

We are wondering if it is our fault that they have all died.
When we found out that He was a she, we seperated her from the father.
All we had to put her in was a dog cage. That was on Friday night. We were going to buy her an indoor hutch on Sunday, but unfortunately she had given birth that morning.
The vet told us it would probably be 2 weeks!

There wasn't much room in the cage, but I didn't want to move her, in case she rejected the babies.
She kept putting more and more nesting material on top of them, then kept sitting on them.
I'm sure at least 2 of them may have suffocated, although we are not sure if she was feeding them.

This afternoon, in an act of desperation, we bought the outdoor run indoors and put the whole of the dog cage inside the run with the door open , so that we didn't have to move the nest. She has stayed away from the nest now, but another one still died.

We keep blaming ourselves.
If this last one survives, I think I will have to keep it.
 
That is sad news. I have no experience of rabbit babies etc so hope someone can help with the last remaining baby x
 
I'm so sorry you lost your babies - I know how it feels and it's really hard. Unfortunately baby buns are so fragile that it's really a case of letting mum do her job and hoping for the best. As long as she has food, hay and water and like you have done - room to get away from the kits there's not a lot more you can do. Fingers crossed for the last little un.x
 
Sorry to hear that. I know that baby buns often die even with the most experienced owner taking care of them, so I'm sure its not your fault.
 
I can't think who it was, but there was someone on here not long ago who's bunny had babies and all died unexplained, and quite close together if I remember rightly. I think thr's not much you can do about it it's jst nature and not ur fault. Sounds like you did everything you could :)
 
Hi one of mine had a litter of 7 and only 3 survived, then she had a litter of 4 and only 3 survived again. It was almost as if she couldn't look after more than 3. If your mum is very young she may struggle with more than one. It really is best to just let her get on with it though. I didn't handle the babies until they were about 8 days old, until that point it was just a case of survival of the fittest. It is heartbreaking when they die though, strange because they are so new but it still hurts. Good luck xx (I hasten to add that that was 2 of only 3 litters I bred and it was years ago, I couldn't face not knowing what type of life they might end up having so I stopped pretty quick!)
 
Unfortunately somtimes baby rabbits do die, I was asked recently to look after 2 adult female rabbits who had both had babies within a day of each other. After loosing 3 of the 9 babies which were born I ended up having these, another one died when they were 9 weeks old.

Unfortuntely these babies were a lot smaller than the normal babies I have fostered previously.

Do not blame yourself, this does happen and can particuarly happen with inbred rabbits and also females who have babies at a very young age.
 
Sorry to hear your news. I recently had an accidental litter and the first I knew of it was when I saw 1 baby was dead in the run. The remaining baby died a few days later. My bun mated immediatly before I had taken dad out (he is now minus his bits!) and this time all 7 babies survived.

I felt so bad about the first litter and very guilty. However, the more I researched it I found lots of information (from breeders) who said that often the first litters do not survive. 1 breeder ( and I know you are not one!) had only 5 does successfully give birth the first time.

So don't feel too bad. Hope the last one survives.

Linda
 
Got everything crossed for the little bunny to keep on going. If it is not to be, then all our bridge bunnies and of course the wee brothers and sister will look after each other.

Sending postive vibes to the little kit and mum. You have tried your hardest so don't be hard on yourself

Fiona x
 
I'm So sorry about your babies. I had an accidental litter last year with 4 babies who died within the first 2 days, and 4 who lived. I was told by a good breeder that if they get the slightest bit cold that they easily die, so I put a space heater near (but not too close) to the nesting box. (radiant type, not fan type so as not to create a draft.) Maybe to help to ensure your one left lives you could put put extra heat nearby. even just a heating pad in the vicinity of the nest(but not in it). I also have been told that with first litters it is common for all of them to not live, so it is not your fault at all, in fact it sounds like just the opposite, that you are doing a superb job.
 
sadly the last little kit passed away last night :cry:

I was finally able to clean out the nest today and found the very first dead baby which had been buried deep under all the nesting material.
It was twice the size of all the other babies that died.

Wish I'd tried to hand rear them now, but sadly I didn't.

I have buried them all under my apple tree and have told the kids that when we have apples from the tree, we can think of the babies.

Marley (the Daddy rabbit) is getting castrated tomorrow - then do you think it will be OK to put them back in with each other after he has recovered from his op?
 
Sorry to hear all the kits have now passed away. :cry: Please don`t blame yourself, they are very fragile creatures and there was nothing more you could have done. Handrearing from such a young age is very rarely successful so to be honest leaving them with mum was probably their best chance.
Males can stay fertile for up to 6 wks post neutering so unless you get mum spayed aswell it`s best to leave it 6wks before you reintroduce them.

Best wishes to you.
Su.x
 
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