still born babies

Question
Hi! My Doe had 14 babies today and they were all dead. We don't know if they were still born or if something happened after they were born. This is her first litter, is this normal or did we do something wrong? She looks very sad, I know I am. What should we do now? We want to breed her again, how long should we wait?
Thanks,
Angie

Answer
Wow 14 babies is a lot depending on the breed. Giant breeds and the larger of the large breeds have an average of 10-12.  First litters have a high chance of death. You guys didn't do anything wrong. It is just statistics. 3 in 4 does will lose thier first litters. With her producing this big of a litter the first time, the likely she will be a good producer, but have a slightly higher mortality rate. Say in a litter of 12, likely 3 or 4 will not make it due to the lack of milk to feed so many. Of course you may be lucky and all live. She will seem sad for a few days, but will be back to her normal self soon. You can rebreed her agian. It is easier on the doe to breed her 5 days after the loss of the litter than it is to make her wait a few months. I would definatly rebreed her. My does are on a 3 times and your out kinda thing. I will breed them each 3 times. If they continually loose litters and/or don't produce, providing it is not from a natural cause like babeis getting cold or falling out of the nest, I breed to a differnt buck. Which is really 4 tries. If this breeding doesn't work. I sell them, usually to pet homes, or to a breeder who is willing to give them another chance. I do not have the money to keep feeding 25-30 does that aren't producing and never will. This is where it comes down to tough culling of the rabbit herd, which is important for any serious breeder.
Samantha