Two does, two litters, one nest box!

[Bubba B]

Hi,
Let me start by saying I’m new to having, owning and raising rabbits. I had recently taken in a male bunny from a friend who could not take care of it anymore. Built a pretty large hutch and acquired two doe’s. Those were younger than the male and originally I was told that the male had been neutered. I built a run for the rabbits to get some exercise in. To get to the point I noticed the mail was constantly trying to mount females I had read before that this is normal even for neutered buck. Well it turns out the he was not neutered. I have since then separated the male into a separate hutch.
I had noticed one of the bunnies building a nest around January 16 of this year. My guess is the first litter of kits were born between the 20th and the 23rd. I am pretty sure we know who the mother is of that litter. As of last night the 28 of January, when I was checking on the kits all was good. This morning I have noticed three more kits in the nesting box. Possibly from the other doe but I’m not sure. I have been reading about double pregnancies and such but both doe’s were around the male in the run. There is a good possibility each female has its own litter they are a week or maybe a little over a part in age. There is no aggression between the two doe’s. With the litters born this close together is it safe to keep them in the same nest or will the older kits hog up all the feeding time. The original litter was five kits and still have not opened their eyes. The new litter is three. Any advice would be appreciated

[Bam]

I’m sorry don’t know much about mums and kits, but the new kits are probably the litter of the other doe. You’ll have to check so all kits get fed. You do that by looking at their bellies, they should have nicely rounded bellies after feeding-time. A doe only feeds her kits once or twice per day, and the milk is very high in calories because it’s so very fat. So if you don’t see the does go to feed the babies, they could still be doing it when you’re away from them. Buns don’t lie with their kits like cats and dogs do. In nature, the baby buns are kept in a separate burrow, wrapped in mama-bun’s fur to stay warm.

There is another forum that might be better for your needs, RabbitsOnline. They have a section called the Rabbitry and Showroom, where you can find breeders and others that have experience with baby buns and their mums. http://www.rabbitsonline.net/forumdisplay.php?f=20

I found this web-page about one doe having 2 litters. In your case it seems more likely tat the 2 litters have 2 mothers though: https://www.raising-rabbits.com/rabbit-pregnant-with-two-litters.html

[Author]

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