You finally get live babies, and then they die. It’s so frustrating. Baby Rabbits Freezing to Death One of the early causes of death is chilling. It’s not unusual for a first or even second time doe to have her kits on the wire or in the front of her nest box out in the … Read more
Tricks to Get a Doe to Conceive With repeated lack of conception, first evaluate whether your buck may be permanently or seasonally sterile. Bucks can become sterile from heat in Judy or August and that sterility may last until October or November. Older bucks may become permanently sterile from aging. But if the buck is … Read more
Problems When Your Rabbits Don’t Want to Breed Bunnies in the wild may “breed like rabbits,” but it is not always the case in the rabbitry. Placing a buck and a doe in the same location does not guarantee mating (unless it is accidental and you don’t want a breeding to take place, of course). … Read more
When Should You Take Bunny Babies Away From Their Mom? If cage space allows, I remove the doe from the litter at seven weeks. I like to keep them together and in their original cage for another week before moving them. I think that allows them to deal with one stress at a time. At … Read more
Rebreeding Does After Kindling If I am on an aggressive breeding plan with a doe, I may rebreed her when the kits are five weeks old. She must be at a good weight and in good condition. She may have a smaller chance of catching if she’s still nursing, but I can always rebreed again … Read more
Kits Moving Out of the Nest I remove the nest box at three weeks of age in cold weather and two weeks of age in hot weather. To help with the transition, I may place a large handful of hay in the cage for the bunnies to snuggle into. I’ve often given them an empty … Read more
A Clean Nestbox to Prevent Infection [Editor’s Note: When baby rabbits are in the nest box, they can suffer from infections in their eyes and genitals. For this reason it’s very important to keep a clean, dry box for them to sleep in. If the bedding in the nest becomes wet or soiled, you should … Read more
Moving Kits from One Doe’s Litter to Another’s Nest When I have small litters, I often combine them so that a fewer number of does are occupied with nursing. The does that are freed up can then get back into show condition (a relatively small percentage of does can do that) or, more likely, can … Read more
Caring For Baby Bunny Kits During Their First Week Of Life After waiting a whole 31 days, your doe pulls fur and kindles. You have babies! It is so exciting and you can’t wait to see how many there are, but you dare not touch the babies because the mom will reject her kits. Wrong! … Read more