Immediate help pls! Unknowingly bred doe attacking kits

[Knockout]

I had an 8 month old Holland Lop cross female who has been quite nasty from the get go. She needed to be spayed but as I was recently unemployed the funds in my household are very strained, so I decided to try and rehome her with a rabbit savvy person. I am not new to rabbits, I have owned them many, many years.

I found a man who promised a good home and checked out when I asked him all the questions regarding proper care, and told him she needs to be spayed to quell her attitude. He agreed, he also agreed to give her back to me if she ever had to be rehomed.

3 weeks later I saw an ad for her on a local site. I was outraged. I contacted him and told him we had a verbal agreement and that if he was not satisfied with her or could not provide what he promised she would come back to me.

After a lot of B.S. and him yanking my chain, he finally agreed to sell her back to me for essentially more than I sold her to him for.

However, she gave birth on February 24 2010. When I backtrack the timeline, he bred her to god knows what when he and I were in negotiations to get her back.

She had 5 kits. Now, she was a good mother. Through my years of experience I have had kits, but never such a viscious mother.

Everything was okay until today. I got home from errands to find her overturning the nest box and basically “digging” at the kits, making them fly all over the cage. I took them out, and she continued her rampage of trying to destroy the nest box and attack the cage, digging and throwing wood pellets everywhere.

The kits are only 9 days old. They will not start eating solids for another 5 days. I do not know what to do – if I should buy KMR and attempt to feed them myself, or force hold the mother down and let them nurse (through I read that if the mother is stressed she won’t release milk), or do I put them back in there with her, where she will likely continue to attack them?

Please help, these kits are strong and I do not want to lose them.

[KatnipCrzy]

I am not sure what advice to give- since this is a house rabbit site most members do not know much about breeding especially unique circumstances like you are describing.   Since the babies only typically feed twice a day- you can give her a chance to mellow out and see if she will accept them later.  Do the babies look like they have full bellies?  You could always call your vet and ask what they advise.

[Knockout]

She has been taking very very good care of them up until today. They are very healthy, full bellies and very active.

[MirBear]

awe poor babies!!!! poor mommy :S i sold my bunny kisses and they also bred her. i found this out after i got my new bunny and my mom refuses to let me take her back. she ate her babies, im not sure if they bred her again or not but… unfortionatly i cant do anything..

[RabbitPam]

Would the mother let you touch her while she nurses them later? Or could you put her near them but stand watch so you can get her away from them if she starts in on them again? I’m thinking she could be separated from them except during nursing, but I am not experienced with this so not sure this is the best advice. I do agree that a call to your vet could be very helpful in answering your questions.

[jerseygirl]

Argh! What a rotten situation to have happened! From what I’ve read, young, inexperienced Does can attack their young. I think separating her out for there own safety would be best….Nursing Does often only visit the nest to feed anyway. I can only give you this link to caring for orphaned kits. Sorry cannot be of more help. http://www.rabbit.org/care/orphan.html   This one>Babies+Motherhttp://www.rabbit.org/care/babies.html

[Beka27]

I would follow-up with your rabbit vet and see what he/she recommends in terms of feeding KMR or not. At 9 days old, they are better off than if this had happened right away. Is the mother being kept separately now and only having access to the babies at morning and night?

[Hedi]

I know this may sound dumb, but do you think rabbits get out of whack hormones like women do after giving birth? Maybe its like our post-partum? Even if she is a naturally unfriendly rabbit she still should have her motherly instincts kicking in.

Vet is your best option. On this site we just dont have people breeding so none of us really have any experience with babies. I hope you your vet can help you!

[Author]

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