I think my rabbit is pregnant, help!

Question
QUESTION: Hi,
About 2-3 week ago my idiot of a brother left my male dwarf, french lop out in the garden with my sisters female english, chocolate spot rabbit. You can imagin what has happend, my buck mounted the doe.
This was an accidental breeding process.
The female and male live in seperate hutches. We have 2 male rabbits and one female rabbit. The two male rabbits hutches are stacked on top of the females hutch. The males are also seperate as they both fight. All the rabbits are about 1 year and 1 month old.
The female has been making a nest in her hutch out of straw and hay. She's also been pulling fur out of her and placing it in the nest. The only problem is, her nest is infront of the metal mesh on her hutch so I'm scared she and her young; when born will get cold.
I've read in a book that she pulls fur from her nipple area, she nipples do seem rather bigger, is this her getting redy to feed her young when born?
Please could you give me some infomation on pregnant rabbits and preporation for the birth..etc?
I look forward to hearing from you.
Thank you

ANSWER: Hi Chantel

I am not really sure what a dwarf french lop is but if the female is significantly smaller than the male you need to have a vet on stand-by incase she needs an emergency c-section.  I am significantly concerned because a dwarf usually weighs under 4 pounds where a french lop is one of the biggest breeds there is at an average of 15 pounds.  If the female is an english spot which has an average weight of 6 pounds and the dad is a french lop the girl could be in big trouble.  Basically you are going to have to assess their size yourself because I am unclear exactly which breeds they are.


Basically all you need to do is give her a nest box for the kits to be born. You can use a commercial box that you can purchase at most farmer type stores or you can use one of those plastic storage tubs that are about the size of a shoe box.  Fill the box with a base of some wood chips (aspen or pine, not cedar) and then pack it with hay.  The doe will use the material along with her own fur to make the nest.  After she has the babies you need to check the nest box daily to make sure that they are alive. If any have died they need to be removed promptly or the whole litter and mom can get fly-strike.  At about 10 days old the babies eyes should open.  Keep an eye on them to make sure they are opening on their own.  If they are not opening you may have to open them for them.  If they are left close they can get an infection known as nest box eye.  Usually they do fine on their own but you need to check them daily as a precaution.

If you see your doe having any sort of stress she will need to be rushed to the vet.  If she is hunching in the corner, breathing heavily, you see any kits stuck in the birth canal or if she stops eating or drinking for more than 24 hours.  It can be very difficult to notice the signs because when the birth comes closer some does will lay around and not do much.  They will generally  not eat when they are in labor but if they go without feed or water for more than 24 hours this can be a sign of a difficult labor.  Please also be aware that if the kits are to big they may not survive.  If she is a true dwarf breed she may have babies that are called peanuts.  These are born smaller than the rest and they will not survive more than 2 or 3 days.  You will notice that they are sort of withering away to nothing.

It sounds as though your bunnies are your pets and that you are not using them for breeding to show or for commercial meat.  In this situation I would strongly recommend that you get the doe spayed.  Does can have up to an 80% chance of dying from reproductive cancers if they are not spayed and although I am not against breeding for the correct reasons I feel that it is important to have pets spayed.  I understand this was an accident and they do happen especially when young kids do not understand where babies come from yet.  You can also have your bucks neutered and then you wouldn't have to worry about more accidents.

This article about surprise litters is fantastic and I recommend that you read this also.

http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/surpriselitter.html


If you  have any more questions please feel to ask.  If you are unable to ask me I recommend Ms. Dana Krempels or Mr. Lee Meyer.  They are both fantastic sources for bunny information.  Just be sure to tell them that it was an accidental litter as they understand this happens but both are rescuers and do not believe that breeding should be done on purpose.



---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hi, ( I previously sent you a question on my accidental breeding)
My rabbit did have the babies after all!
We have just looked and there are 6 baby kits! They are all in the nest box alive but the mother doesn't seem to be in the nest box with her babies, she is sat in the other section of the hutch. I'm scared she's not feeding them!
Should I panic??
Thanks Chantel

Answer
Hi Chantel,

No you shouldn't panic.  This is normal. They will only feed them once or twice a day and usually when you are not around.  This is their natural instinct to stay away from the nest.  Since they are prey animals they don't want to draw predators to their nest where the defenseless babies could become an easy snack.

Just pick them up in the morning and look at their bellies.  If they are nice and round this means that she is feeding them.

Good luck

Pam