mother rabbit aggression

Question
we have a 2 yr old netherland dwarf who had 3 babies about 5-6 wks ago.  Lastnight my husband heard a squeal & found one of the babies laying on its side breathing fast.  He picked it up & it died shortly afterwards.  The other 2 babies were in the hutch & mom was on the other side of the cage.  We did hear a noise (didn't know what part of the house it came from)while watching a movie earlier in the evening upstairs.  Do you think the mother rabbit hurt, ?kicked the baby across the cage??  There were no obvious injuries or blood on the baby.  She was healthy like the other 2.   Of note, we did have the rabbits out & played with them more than usual during the day since it was a weekend.  ?could we have made the mother edgy & perhaps she got irritated if the baby kept trying to nurse?  We have noted at times that she doesn't seem to want to nurse them when they come up under her.  We are assuming the babies are old enough to survive in a separate cage with timothy hay, pellets crushed up & water.  thanks for any insight!!  We wanted to keep one of the babies, when do you think it would be safe to keep them in the same cage again?  

Answer
Hi Dena

It is very possible that for some reason that baby made the mother angry.  I am very sorry for your loss.  If the mother is being aggressive it could be from the presence of other animals, other rabbits, dogs, cats or even mice.  They usually don't have aggression towards their babies but occasionally if one grabs on to nurse and the mother doesn't want it to she will kick it away.  

Technically you shouldn't remove the babies until they are 8 weeks old but if they are eating pellets and hay and drinking on their own I would take them away from the mother but keep the babies together.  It is better to give them a fighting chance than to have the mother kill them.  Just be aware that weaning at less than 8 weeks can cause GI problems.  It is just a risk you will have to take.  Honestly I have weaned babies at 6 weeks but I hate to do it.  If my doe is tired and crowded and the babies are all eating on their own I will take them away 2 at a time.  Obviously since you only have 2 you can just take them both at the same time.  

Whatever you do don't sell or give away the baby until it is 8 weeks old.  Staying with its sibling until it is 8 weeks old will help reduce stress and help its sensitive digestive system.

As for bonding the mother and baby, well if she is being aggressive it may not be possible.  Unless you plan on breeding her again you may want to have her spayed.  Generally you can bond doe's to neutered bucks with more success than doe to doe.  It is really recommended that you have both of them fixed though.  I wouldn't risk putting her back with another doe if she is aggressive unless she is fixed.

Once the babies get old enough you can try some of these bonding tips.  

http://www.rabbit.org/chapters/san-diego/behavior/bonding-tips.html

http://www.rabbit.org/chapters/san-diego/behavior/expect.html

http://www.rabbitnetwork.org/articles/bond.shtml

http://islandgems.net/bonding-tips.html

http://www.houserabbit.co.uk/rwf/articles/BondingRabbits.htm

I hope some of the articles help.  Again I am truly sorry about the loss of your baby.

Pam