Mother removed dead kit from nest box?

[sassafras]

Hi everyone. I have a mini-lop who just gave birth to 8 kits five days ago. This is her first litter of kits (she is 6 months old).

A couple days ago I noticed one of the kits was much smaller than the other kits and it seemed to be getting smaller by the next day and it appeared famished. I figured it must not be getting enough milk and the other stronger kits must be getting her nipples during nursing time.

I figured the best thing to do would be to let nature take its course "survival of the fittest" and keep a close eye on this particular kit.

Well this morning when I went into the barn I found this kit dead and laying in the mother's water dish. The water dish is a decent amount of space away from the nest and there is no way the newborn would have been able to climb out of the nest box. So, the mom must have removed the kit from the nest. I am assuming the kit died during the night and she took it out of the nest box, but WHY would she put the kit in her water dish??? She has a fairly large sized living area, so it is not like there were not plenty of other places she would have put the kit.

I just thought this was strange. Any thoughts, ideas? This is my first time having a litter of kits, so this is all new to me.

Thanks for your opinions/advice

 

[OakRidgeRabbits]

Unlike dogs or cats, rabbits are unable to move their kits. When you find one outside the nest, it's because they got there on their own. You would be surprised how agile they are, but sometimes it happens when a kit latches on for nursing and the doe jumps out of the box. Sometimes they get pulled out and land on the wire, then scramble around trying to find their way back. The baby likely climbed into the water dish (maybe thinking it was the box) and drowned before finding its way out.

That's a huge fear of mine, and one of many reasons I use water bottles for all my rabbits, including nursing moms. I'm sure it wouldn't happen often, but it's always a risk. I have occasionally had a doe I bought from someone else who wasn't switched over to a bottle...their kits seemed magnetically attracted to the water dish, even after they opened their eyes and could move around on their own. I lucked out with no problems, but was always afraid an unsuspecting baby would inhale water!

It happens, so don't blame yourself for the accident. But it may be best to use a water dish that you can attached high up on the wall of the cage or something, at least until the babies are more intentionally mobile. It's not uncommon for kits to pop out of the nest box one way or another.

 

[majorv]

Agree, we've had plenty of litters and we've never had a Mom pick up a kit and move it. Either the kit was able to latch on to nurse and didn't let go when Mom got out of the box or the kit got out by themselves looking for food.

I totally agree that you would be amazed how far a kit can go. We had a Brit who decided to stop nursing her kits after 1 1/2 weeks. We didn't realize it right away...not until after we found that one kit had actually gotten out of the nestbox, climbed up 6" of baby saver wire, got through the cage wire above, fell onto the carpeted floor and ended up dying about 5 feet away. We found it between boxes under a table.

We use water bowls and have never found a kit dead in one. As long as newborns are getting fed they have no reason to get out...except for the very few who've stayed latched onto Mom. We've never found them in the water bowl though.

 

[OakRidgeRabbits]

The water bowl thing is just a personal preference. I know a lot of people use them with no problems! My rabbits are kind of accident prone though. I think it's an inherent trait in Hollands. lol

 

[majorv]

Julie, I'd love to use water bottles but our weather is so warm here that they wouldn't get enough water thru a bottle so we use large bowls. Some cages have both a bottle and a bowl but I will only give a bottle to those who will use it.

 

[OakRidgeRabbits]

Ohh, yeah, I just noticed you are in Texas. We visited Dallas a few summers ago and it was HOT! In PA, we have pretty mild summers. Usually there is one week, maybe two, in the middle of the summer that do reach high 90's or low 100's. But usually, we hover around 85 or so.

 

[Imbrium]

I swear by bowls for pets, but I can definitely see why they could be a hazard for breeding does. if a water bottle isn't an option because of the weather, then I recommend using a crock that latches to the side of the cage until the kits are big enough that a bowl wouldn't be a hazard (since kits old enough that they're actually supposed to be wandering out of the nestbox probably wouldn't be big enough to reach into a crock yet). you can buy them in a lot of different sizes at pretty much any feed store or pet store.