Lost a litter of Bunnies

My rabbit has just given birth this afternoon, but she gave birth outside the nesting box on the wire mesh and none of the litter survived.

I've been checking up on her almost hourly the last couple of days as she continued to fill up the nesting box with fur. Even now, it's got plenty of fur in it, but she never moved the babies into it.

It's been pouring down rain all day today (very unusual for Utah to see an all day soaker, even in the spring) so the mother is not used to this wet of weather. But due to the weather, the babies were stone cold by the time I noticed them (maybe 30 minutes after birth, if that). None of the bunnies appeared mutilated. The placentas were sitting amongst them still attached to the fetuses. The mother still had fresh blood around the vaginal area.

I built the nesting box myself. It's got a 9" x 14" footprint made of 1/2 plywood sides, and a solid bottom that I replace every litter.It's just big enough for her to get in turn around.

She had one successful delivery and raising her first time, but since then she has lost THREE litters, two born outside the box and one born in the box but on a very hot day and she put waaaay too much fur in with them. Every time we pulled out fur, she replaced it back.

I'm about ready to call it and say she's an unfit breeding mother and needs to be put on the menu for our next rabbit stew. What's your opinion on her, anyone?

I dont want to tell you shes a dud if youre just going to eat her. Isnt that against the forum rules anyways? Thats very upsetting.

Might have been better to post this in the Rabbitry and showroom. This thread might get edited or closed because some people get offended by the thought of rabbit meat.

Anyways how attached are you to the doe? If you don't really need her in your program then move her on. I usually just sell instead of harvest and sometimes just a change of scenery helps them. A lot of people are very strict with the three strike rule. I'm a little more lenient because I only have so many breeders. If it's a new line that I needed to add then I'd try one more if it's one of my own that just won't keep her babies alive I might cull her and try the parents again for another doe

Isnt this a pet rabbit forum?

It is a forum for all rabbit people and there is no discrimination here. Pet people are just the majority and us breeders are the minority. Although some of us old timers have seen good breeders come and go from this forum it's still sad that we can't post about all the things we deal with because we get criticized. A mod should be coming in soon but just because this is a majority pet forum doesn't mean breeder issues are not allowed. The only inappropriate thing was talking about dispatching a rabbit.

You mean to tell me this forum talks about all things rabbits except not raising rabbits for meat? I hate to break it to everyone here, but a BIG part of raising rabbits is for food, and not just for pets. Our rabbits are for livestock, and if these forums are full of a bunch of PETA loving easter bunny huggers then I want no part of thi website. Please feel free to close my account. I'll be looking for another site that appreciates the benefits of raising rabbits for food.

That's probably best. Not everyone here likes PETA, including me. We can discuss many breeder issues, just not all of them.