My newzealand red doe had a litter of 6 kits. And they are supposed to be 4 weeks old now. About a week ago, I found one kit dead outside the nest box. I figured it was the cold night. A day after I found another one dead, also outside the nest box. Also I thought it was the cold night. Yesterday, I found 3 dead outside the nest box. With 1 kit remaining, I decided to take him inside my house for the night and during the day, I will put him back with the doe. Everything was fine, he ate grass, drank some water, he even pooped and urinated. This morning, I woke up finding him almost dead, he was breathing, but not responsive. His head was tilted back and he kicked when I picked him up. Just before he died, he let out a little noise. His belly was not swollen, so it could not have been bloating. The box I placed him in was wrapped in a blanket, so I cannot see how it could be the cold. Can someone please tell me what was wrong with him? And how to prevent it from happening in the future?
HELP, kits are dying
- Thread starter Christi
- Start date
Help Support Rabbits Online Forum:
I am not a breeder, but can suggest you post your question in the "Rabbitry and Show Room" section. That is for breeders. It is also important to be much more specific in your thread title. "help" doesn't say anything that will draw people to read it. Something like "kits are dying, but don't know why" would get more responses.
Bunny gurl
Active Member
Hey I have bred and shown rabbits for 27+ years first thing for your knowledge and future reference no grass for such a young baby. Can you tell me was Mom still feeding them an had they started eating pellets and hay? Tell me anything else you can think of that may have been off or different also what was the diet that you fed Mom and or kits it almost sounds like they were faders but it does not normally happen on a whole litter
Oky, but this kit was the only one to whom I fed grass, and everyone died. Yes they started to nibble on pellets. The mom also ate pellets, and on occations hay and carrots. The mommy doe, is the offspring if my 1st newzealand rabbit. And when that rabbit had her 1st litter of 4, 3 died, 1 survived. When that one was about 6 weeks old, he also died in the same way as my current kit. I inspected the dead kit, but there was nothing off about his body. So I'm wondering if it is something in the bloodline perhaps?
Were there any apparent injuries to the babies? Were they still with mom and still nursing? If not, did you confirm they were both eating and drinking well on their own? Did they have any other odd symptoms in the days prior to their deaths(eg. lack of appetite, messy poop, pot belly, weight loss, etc)?
If there were no injuries, no other odd symptoms, and they were eating/drinking well, had you noticed anything odd in the early stages of the kits development? Did they seem to move awkwardly, tilt their head back, or did their heads seem abnormally large at all? Have you had any ongoing reproduction problems with your rabbits(eg. difficulty getting pregnant, stillbirths, etc)?
If there were no injuries, no other odd symptoms, and they were eating/drinking well, had you noticed anything odd in the early stages of the kits development? Did they seem to move awkwardly, tilt their head back, or did their heads seem abnormally large at all? Have you had any ongoing reproduction problems with your rabbits(eg. difficulty getting pregnant, stillbirths, etc)?
Well, that's not entirely true, all my kits eat grass and greens from the moment they leave the nest.
They can eat whatever the doe eats, grass is the most natural food they can get, it's what that spieces evolved on. IF this is what the doe lives on.
If not, and the doe lives on hay and pellets and you give the kits grass - that's quite likely a big problem. I wouldn't dare introducing new food to kits under 8 weeks, and even then very, very slowly.
With all the kits dieing - have you checked the doe for mastitis? The kits can be killed by an infection. There is also weaning enteritis you might want to read into, apart from what the others mentioned.
JimJam
Well-Known Member
I’ve had a friend who had the exact same thing happen to all her 7 kits at the same age and they died bunny at a time... you said how the last bun had his head tilted? This suggests that they had a virus which in that case, meant that all of them would die even if you tried to prevent it....sorry I know how much grief it is to see little ones go...
woahlookitsme
Well-Known Member
Are you using the same male and female breeding lines/rabbits for these buns? If so I would suggest getting a new buck and or doe especially since this happened to the first doe
Apart from that how old is the doe and is this her first litter? It sounds like she took good care of them if they made it to three weeks of age. The only way you would know for sure about what happened is if you necropsied the babies through a lab. I would highly suggest you do this if it happens again or just get new lines of rabbits though I know that might be hard with reds depending on where you live. Keep the passed animals on ice but don’t freeze them if you plan on getting a necropsy done.
It very well could be some kind of bacteria or virus but you probably couldn’t tell that looking at them grossly
Apart from that how old is the doe and is this her first litter? It sounds like she took good care of them if they made it to three weeks of age. The only way you would know for sure about what happened is if you necropsied the babies through a lab. I would highly suggest you do this if it happens again or just get new lines of rabbits though I know that might be hard with reds depending on where you live. Keep the passed animals on ice but don’t freeze them if you plan on getting a necropsy done.
It very well could be some kind of bacteria or virus but you probably couldn’t tell that looking at them grossly
