My dwarf hotot had 4 babies yesterday -all 4 were stillborn and birthed on her hockboard not in her nesting box.
Anyone have any ideas as to why they ALL would be dead?
I\'ve had enough chickens, bunnies, kitties, etc for this not to be an overtramatic loss -but I WAS really looking forward to this litter.
Were the kits all term? If they were born early this would account for stillbirths. Now, question is, were they truly sillborn? Kits can be born alive, but if kindled on the wire (or a hockboard) they can perish fairly quickly as they lose body heat rapidly (even in summer). A good nest is very important. You can tell if a kit is stillborn or not, by placing the little corpse in a container of water. If the kit sinks, it was stillborn, as it never drew breath. If it floats, then it was alive at birth.
Was this a first litter doe? Dwarf Hotots are true dwarf rabbits and as a consequence, are more prone to difficult births. The head on dwarf rabbits is proportionately larger than in non-dwarf rabbits and this accounts for a higher mortality rate. Hopefully subsequent litters will be less traumatic, but unfortunately, there are no guarantees.
I am sorry for the loss of your litter. I know how disappointing that is.
Charlcie Gill
Zodiac Rabbitry
Astoria, OR
http://www.zodiacsatins.com
Today would have been day 30 -so she carried to day 29.
They were dead -no question. They were cold and mushy. The blood wasn\'t fresh it had dried to the paper.
I was trying to leave her alone because I knew it would be soon and may be difficult so I fed her in the morning and checked on her once later. Then late afternoon was when I found them.
Supposedly it wasn\'t her first litter. She had other litters according to what her previous owner said. (She\'s 2)
No, I know there is no guarentee - like I said I\'m not overly tramatized but I was looking forward to it.
Thank for the tips - what is a normal length of time before rebreeding- a month? I certainly don\'t want to push her but would like a litter from her.
If the doe is in good health, you can rebreed within a day or two. (Chances of conception are actually better sooner than later.) However, if the kits were \"mushy\" that sounds like they had been dead in utero a little while. A doe at 2 years is starting to push the outer limits of her productive period. I would probably try rebreeding her ASAP, but I would also seriously consider getting a younger doe (maybe a daughter). The older your doe gets, the less likely are chances she will have a successful outcome. The other issue is that along with lower fertility also often comes poor milk production. Older does are more likely to make insufficient milk for the kits they do have.
Wish I could be more positive...
Charlcie Gill
Zodiac Rabbitry
Astoria, OR
http://www.zodiacsatins.com
No, thats ok -I understand, but I thought at 2 she wouldn\'t be too old. I don\'t \'really\' know how many times she was bred prior - and the breeding I paid for didn\'t even work -so maybe its time for her to stop.
The fair is coming up -maybe I\'ll just keep her cleaned up and try her luck at the fair.
Thanx.
I often breed does up to the age of 4.it sounds too me like she had a difficult birth.sometimes i breed again too a different buck.if the doe is in good shape i rebreed the next day.unfortunately with the dwarf breeds some does never have live babies.bluebird
I did email the previous owner and am more curious now about her past breeding history. Although I bought them just for pets, I did want to get at least one litter!
I didn\'t think 2 was that unreasonable to have her breed either. She did have alittle dirrahea so I\'m taking her to the vet to see if something else isn\'t stewing in the pot.
Then I\'ll breed her once more -after she has the aok. Thanx.
I bred up to age 4 also- mostly does who had 12 legs and Best in shows- had to coddle them though- sometimes I only got one good kit from them but that\'s enough
raising rabbits isn\'t for the faint hearted- dead kits, half eaten kits, kits stuck to the hockboards - or having them break their neck when tatooing- that used to just devastate me- I think that happened two times in 11 years but still.... having to cull them- snuffles and cysts- the larger your herd gets the more difficult it becomes to maintain them- we used to be able to get Ace Hi Medicated Rabbit feed- had a lot less problem on that than after it was taken off the market
I even had a rabbit jump when I tatooed with an electric tatoo kit and I tatooed my thumb- that and my scars are my reminders of my herd!
Hey guys. My comment was that does at 2 years are \"starting to push the outer limits of their productive period.\" This is still true. Older does
can kindle a live litter, but the litter size (and often quality) do go steadily downhill. Rabbits, like any other mammal (including people) are born with the maximum number of eggs they will ever produce and as the female ages, those eggs that remain begin to deteriorate in quality, often resulting in fewer or weaker kits.
I still would not recommend starting out with a doe of 2 years old (if you
really want to get some babies). I often give or sell to a 4-Her or young person wanting to start out a breeding project, an older doe, but the doe is always under 18 months and I breed her for them free. If someone wanted an older doe, she would go as pet quality only because the breeding future of that doe is so uncertain.
Lorelei, I think it would be a good idea to check with the breeder as you indicated, to check on the doe\'s breeding history. The more kits a doe has produced, the sooner her egg supply will be depleted. If the breeder will be candid, and actually show you kindling records, you could see the percentage of live kits, miscarriages, etc. this doe has produced over her lifetime. And, like Bluebird said, some Dwarf does NEVER are successful in delivering live kits. It sounded, though, from your description that the kits were dead before the due date. This would tell me that something was going on that created a poor uterine environment. This can be tied to the age of the doe or could be the result of some disease process.
Charlcie Gill
Zodiac Rabbitry
Astoria, OR
http://www.zodiacsatins.com
We bred one of our does, Hopper, for the first time in July. She gave birth to only one kit at 28 days. It was small, even for a Holland Lop, and didn\'t survive 24 hours. The day was over 95 degrees, but I don\'t think it was the heat. We had discussed re-breeding her, but I think we\'re just going to sell her as a pet. Our Midnight is just over 2 yrs now. Her last two litters only had one survivor each. We\'ve retired her from breeding and she\'s just my husband\'s little love now. Losing kits is hard, no matter. And I don\'t think you ever get use to it.