Doe attacking 9 day old kits

Question
Hello,
I have a 10 month old doe who was "secretly" bred after I had rehomed her with someone who promised a forever home. He put her up for sale after 3 weeks and after much fighting I got her back, but he bred her (about the time I was fighting to get her back). She had 5 kits on Feb 24 2010.
I came home from errands today to find her overturning the nest box, and "digging" out the babies, basically attacking them. She has never done this since they were born, but she was a VERY nasty rabbit before when I owned her.
I took the kits out, but they are only 9 days old today! I do not know what to do - feed KMR, forcefeed while holding the mother, or put them back in there at risk?
Please help me.
Thank you.
Annika

Answer
Dear Annika,

If mama is being aggressive towards the babies, you may need to raise them yourself.  Please see:

www.bio.miami.edu/hare/orphan.html

But get mama to the vet for evaluation.  It's possible that a shot of oxytocin might not only stimulate more milk production, but also elicit bonding between mother and babies, and you might want to ask the vet about that.  (Oxytocin is the LOVE hormone...)  You can find a rabbit vet here:

www.rabbit.org/vets

though they appear to be few and far between in Canada.  :(

Most importantly, you should have mama spayed.  This will certainly help curb her aggression, and prevent not only more litters, but uterine cancer (a very high risk in unspayed females).  Please read:

www.rabbit.org/health/spay.html

For tips on how to deal with her aggression, please see:

http://www.rabbit.org/faq/sections/aggression.html

I hope this helps, and that mama and babies will be fine.

Dana