baby mouse issues

Question
I have a mouse that gave birth to 16 babies on july 13th only 11 survived until july 20th when she apparently ate 2 more as she is only mouse in the cage. anyways i have a few questions about 3 of the babies. 2 of the babies are rather smaller than the others almost look as if they are malnurished and need to know if that is a cause for concern? if so what should i do. it is now july 24th as i am writing this, although they appear small they still seem to be ok however their feet look bigger than their body=( now the third one i mentioned only has 3 legs and no tail and he looks fine otherwise. are any of these cause for concern??  any help is appreciated.

Answer
Dear Amber,

It sounds like this litter didn't work out so well.  I would definitely not breed this female and possibly not the male again.  Most likely the babies died on their own.  When a mouse dies, it's instinct for the other mice to eat the body so it doesn't foul the nest.  Or sometimes the mother eats the unhealthy ones to leave more milk for the others.  But obviously mommy or daddy mouse has bad genetics.  

You can leave the situation the way it is, or you can try to help out the little ones by feeding them a little kitten milk replacement (KMR) with an eyedropper a few times a day.  These little runts will never be as big as their siblings but they may be perfectly healthy.  

Best of luck.  I like mice like the one with 3 legs.  Handicapped mice seem sweet to me.  Maybe it's because I give them extra attention and they get more tame.

squeaks,

Natasha