Merry just gave birth again, is this normal?

[sweet_buns]

So last night i felt i had to take Merry out and hold her down to allow one of the babies who didn't look to be getting any milk to suckle for a while. After 5mins i put put the bub and mum back in the hutch, covered it with the sheet and let them be. I came back to make sure they were all huddled together and that Merry was ok when i saw a fat little white thing outside the nesting area, as far out as it could go without being in the litter tray. I panic'd cause it was there on its own with no warmth so i took it out, made a hot water bottle wrapped it in a towel a couple of times and made a snug little place it could sit while it warmed up. It seemed to work so i put it back in with the others, or so at least that's what i thought i was doing.

But this morning when i woke to check on them and found that the one i had tried to help didn't survive, i pulled the others out to see if they'd eaten and there should have been 5 left, but there were 6... the one i thought had found a way to wriggle out, hadn't been in the nest at all, Merry had given birth again. They are all bigger than i thought new born rabbits would be, i assume it's because she had them about 2 months after her romp with Gimli? I'm very worried now that she may have more inside her, is there a way i can stimulate her to make her get them all out? I think the stress of holding her down was the reason she gave birth to that one, not sure, just seems like that would have been the reason.

EDIT: I forgot to mention that she had given birth to the one that was out of the nest almost 2 days after she'd given birth to the others.

 

[woahlookitsme]

You can give tums or oxytocin to stimulate contractions. Also letting her run around helps

I don't know how much though

 

[sweet_buns]

Ok i might let her run around. I just took her out to try and feed a couple of the babies and some blood came out of her vagina, is it possible that the placenta hasn't come out yet? Or that there's another baby inside? Is it a sign of anything? Should i take her to the vet at this point?

 

[woahlookitsme]

Are you sure there were only 6 the first time or could you have miscounted? If the babies look all the same they will be fine. I have miscounted before and it's very easy to do so. Now I run my hand around all the corners of the nestbox and then go for the middle. Also if she had one one day late then it should be fine.

Also there is no way this doe could have carried a litter for two months. If that is true their eyes should already be open. I have absolutely never heard of it. It is very likely dates were mixed up or that your buck mated with her and you had no way. Or at least someone mated with her.

Im not sure about taking her to the vet or about the blood. We never check down there after birth or at least our does wouldn't appreciate it very much.

 

[sweet_buns]

I guess it's a possibility but i took all the babies out of the nest and moved the whole nest into a different hutch with the mum on her own. I didn't see or feel anything else in there when i was transfering the nest, though it's possible that there still could have been one in there. But it might explain why there was 1 baby far away from the nest on its own. I can't see how it would of gotten out of the nest because there's a little barrier to stop the from wriggling out.

I did think that myself, that if they had been in there so long, surely their eyes would have been opened when they were born. I most likely am thinking more time has passed since the incident than actually has, but it really feels like it has been much more than a month ago now. And he couldn't have mated with her a 2nd time because that means he would have mated with her and then put himself back into his enclosure lol. He hasn't been able to escape since the first time so if the babies would have been born with their eyes open if she did carry them for that long, then it must not have been as long ago as i remember.

 

[Sabine]

It may be a good idea to leave mum and babies be for a bit and settle into a routine. She sounds as if she knows what she is doing. Being shifted around can be quite unsettling.