Rabbit/bunnies born dead

Question
Dr. Roush,
My daugher's 8 month old mini rex was bred with her father.  She started nesting and we cleaned her cage (put in new cedar chips - o.k?) and moved her to a quieter area.  She gave birth around midnight to 3 babies (all about 4 1/2 inches long) all seemed still born.  There was never any movement or noise from the babies that we saw/heard.  She seemed busy cleaning and licking them...Even though she put her fur in the nesting box she had two of them on the cage floor and one in the little box.  We left them there until morning and then removed and buried the babies.  Our bunny seems fine, eating and active.
Any idea what went wrong?  We're very sad and very unsure we want to try this again.
Thank you for your time.  

Answer
Jana, I think that first, you need not feel that you did anything that could have caused this. (I am sure your daughter is disturbed, but I have some suggestions.) I am betting this is the does first litter. In first litters, it is not uncommon to have the longer, dead, but full term babies to be born and look like you described. Your 'first time' doe has a very tight pelvic area, and the babies were just too large to be born alive. When you have only three born, they get the same prenatal nutrients from the mother that five or six ( anormal sized Minirex litter)would get, so they each will be bigger at birth. An experienced doe with a larger (more open from prior labors) pelvic area could have handled this. These babies were just too big, I am guessing, to pass through the birth canal. (If this had been a woman with her first baby, think about an episiotomy to enlarge the birth canal and how common that they are.)

Soooo, here are the things I suggest you do. Initially, breeding to her father is just fine and will cause no problems. Breed her back to him, and right away (yes, like today!) It won't hurt her at all, and will get her back into the rhythm of gestation. (Nutritionally, lactation takes MUCH more out of a female than gestation does, so don't worry. She has probably already started to dry up her mammary glands from the first pregnancy.)  Don't be 'generous' and feed her anything extra. At MOST, 4 ounces a day..and don't let her 'free feed'. A small cat food tin or tuna can holds about 4 ounces of rabbit food. I prefer to use feed that has about 16% protein, as it keeps the weight down. You'll find feeds from 15% to 18%. Don't buy anything special, but this is a suggestion. When you breed her, once she is bred, try to rebreed her 12 hours later. (And take her to his cage, not the other way around. It is HIS territory and he'll be more comfortable.) She will probably breed again this second time around also, and this will increase your litter size such that the new babies will each be a little smaller than the ones you just lost. (No, has nothing to do with sperm count, but rather the motility and activation time of the sperm viability.) Also, sounds like she is a good mother, cleaning them and trying to resusitate them even though they were dead. When you put a nest box in at 28 days, do not use the cedar chips. As a hardwood, they are not good for baby rabbits, and they (as with most aromatic woods) can have toxins at low levels. Get some very inexpensive pine chips and you'll be better off.  That is about it. I believe that the unfortunate event that you had occur is very common. I have over 50 litters a year in my rabbitry (have 64 holes with Minirex in them) and first litter females do what you described about half the time. Next litters are generally fine. (If I can't get a doe to keep a litter after three tries, I usually remove her from my herd.)  I really hope this helps, and tell your daughter that this is a natural occurence, and that I believe she will be a proud 'Bunny Aunt' in about 5 weeks if you all follow my suggestions.   Let me know how this works out!  Regards, Steve