My doe trampled her kits

by Kaiti
(Columbia City, Indiana)

My mini rex doe had her first litter three days ago, four healthy kits. She was taking great care of them until last night. I went out this morning and found the nest squashed and two of the kits dead. The other two were scattered around underneath the straw. It was really cold last night too. My question is why did she trample her kits and how can I keep it from happening again?


***** Karen Sez *****
So sorry, Kaiti. It wasn't the cold, and I don't think it was anything innate in the doe. It sure sounds like she took a fright for some reason, and went tearing around her cage like a bunny in a blender. Would you describe her as easily startled in general or not?

So, you have her outside? In a hutch or a shed? Is there a fence around it? Have you any idea what could have frightened your doe? Sirens in the neighborhood? How about predators? Rats? Snakes? Raccoons? Fox? Coyote? The neighbor's dogs? Did you see any signs of predators, like paw prints or anything? Scraped up soil from an animal trying to get to the rabbit?

Sorry for all the questions - I hope you can use them to try to figure out what went wrong.

Then take measures to eliminate the problem and rebreed the doe. Hopefully next time all will go smoothly for it and for you.

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