First litter and all dead :(

We have a male and female mini lop and they have always lived together since they were only 6-8 weeks old (not siblings) We obviously knew we would be probably getting some babies eventually and I have been doing my homework and knew she was probably going to be having her babies soon, but was waiting for her to pull her fur and show some sign of giving birth. I checked on her daily and now with it getting cold I let the two back together yesterday to keep each other warm.

Of course I forgot to separate them before going back inside (they have only been separated for about a week) and I just went outside and there were 3 frozen dead babies scattered around the cage! It was so sad, they weren't even in her nestbox and the hair she had to have pulled RIGHT before was scattered all over the cage, not in the box. Is this normal?

****Karen Sez****
So sorry. No, it was not normal, but if it is any consolation, is not uncommon in some first-time does. Add the buck into the mix, and perhaps the doe felt disrupted somehow. There's the chance something else startled her in the environment - a nearby predator or something. Perhaps the buck was chasing her around trying to rebreed her.

And now that you put the two together again, you'll have to plan for another litter in 31-32 days or so.

Rabbits do fine in the cold, even down into the single digits. I don't know where you live, but if it is getting very very cold at night, you can stuff the cage with piles of extra straw, that will provide extra insulation against the cold.

Good luck next time, and God bless you,
K