Problems with a New Litter - please help

My mother dwarf bunny gave birth yesterday morning to three babies. One of the babies was born dead, I believe, but of course cannot be sure. It may have died shortly after birth. She was trying to clean it when I found it and the other two were covered and moving around nicely. I removed it, and the mother has did fine with the other two yesterday.

This morning, when I woke up one of the babies was missing. I found it on the opposite side of the cage behind the litter box and it was dead. She had to have carried it over there, as it could not have traveled there on its own. The cage is quite large. The baby seemed very healthy yesterday.

The mother has had several litters and is an experienced mother. She has always been a good mother. For this litter, the mother did not pull her fur, which she has always done in the past.

My questions: Why would the mother do this? Did she kill the baby? Did the baby die and she simply removed it herself? Is the other one going to be OK?

The last litter of three she had, one of the babies was kicked out of the nest, but not taken to the opposite side of the cage. I found it alive and put it back in the nest. She cared for it, and it did fine. Nothing was wrong with it.

Any advice? Mom is almost 3 years old. Is she getting too old for babies and doesn't want to care for them? We are not avid breeders, but we have one male and one female. We allow her to have litters a few time a year because she seems to enjoy being a mom and caring for her babies. I'm not so sure with this litter. What do you experienced breeders think about this?

I can't answer the questions about the dead babies, but I have to say that having multiple litters in a year is VERY draining on a doe. A good breeder with a breeding program sticks to 2 litters per doe a year, 3 at the absolute most, followed by a lengthy break. Your doe may very well be too stressed and tired with the constant breeding, and might be culling her own litter to lessen her workload?

I don't know for sure of course, but I hope your remaining baby survives. I'd consider spaying the doe and giving her a comfortable retirement once the baby is weaned.

I think anywhere from 2-4 is fairly standard. Any more than 4 is a lot. The kit may have been able to move there by itself, it's one of the reasons why nest boxes are so important, you didn't mention if you had one. Otherwise the kits somehow manage to get to all sorts of places and they die from the cold or from not being fed or being stepped on. I think it is actually very rare for a mother to move a kit, they're simply not designed to do it (unlike cats and dogs etc)

Having said all that, I imagine that sometimes litters just don't work, whatever the reason. Just do the best for the kit that you have left. If you still plan on breeding, I would try one more litter before deciding if the doe simply isn't good for breeding anymore. Breeding is very taxing on the mother, so to make sure she stands the very best chance for the next litter, I would wait until the previous kits are at least 12-16 weeks old before breeding her again, to make sure she's had a decent rest.