Lost litters

Question
QUESTION: I have been showing and breeding mini rexes for the past two years.  The last 5 times that I have bred my rabbits, all of the kits are dead.  Last year I didn't have any problems at all.  The only thing that my mom found that has happened is that my dad started buying cheaper rabbit food (my mom was mad) and didn't tell anyone.  We usually use Purina Show and he started buying some from a local grain place.  I found the last litter dead this morning.  I haven't bred anymore and my mom wants me to wait a week until we get them completely back on the feed that they are used to.  Can you help me understand why my litters are dying?  We are using different does and bucks.
Thank you.

ANSWER: Dear Charles,

Without a necropsy on the babies who died, there is no way to know for certain exactly what was the cause of death.  It could have been any of dozens of things.  Because they all died at the same time, I would wonder about the following:

1.  Were they exposed to pesticide or other toxin?
2.  Were they exposed to extreme temperatures (cold or hot)?
3.  Are they the product of parents who are closely related?
4.  Was the doe who bore them stressed enough to overgroom
   them to death (were there any marks on the babies)?

Did you notice *any* symptoms of trouble before the babies died?  How old were they?  What was their housing situation?

If they were not eating solid food, then I would not suspect the feed to be the problem.  But if they were, then I would have to wonder if the babies fell victim to the recently exposed disaster with pet food containing melamine due to the addition of ingredients from unscrupulous manufacturers in China.

If you still have the babies, I would recommend that you take them to a good rabbit vet:

www.rabbit.org/vets

for necropsy, including histopathology and possibly even toxicology.  The latter two things won't be inexpensive, but they might be necessary to get to the bottom of the sad mystery.

I hope you will also read this:

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

I hope this helps you get some answers.

Take care,
Dana


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

QUESTION: They were only a few hours old or at least a night old if they were even born alive.  These 5 litters were bred over from February to April.  The does were from different litters and so were the bucks.  I got all but one from different rabbitries, but I have had them since last summer.  They are in their own room in our barn and there aren't any chemicals at all.  Our farmer just tilled the fields yesterday and hasn't used anything on them yet.  I didn't know if maybe by the mothers getting their foods changed suddenly would cause all of these litters to die.  In two of the litters I found only 1 kit.  The others had four and five.  We don't have any ideas.  What is a necropsy?  They are all buried now, so I guess I will try again.  Thank you very much.

Answer
Dear Charles,

This is indeed mysterious.  And I would recommend that you have a necropsy done on a dead baby, if you ever should have this happen again.  A necropsy is a post-mortem examination done by a vet to determine the cause of death.  In this case, it should probably include toxicology and/or histopathology on major organs to see if there is some obvious problem that can be addressed.

But before you continue, please do read:

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

Dana