Death of Baby

[Sabine]

A few days ago one of my almost 4 week old baby bunnies died. She was the only one in the litter that survived. Her two sibling and her were born outside the nest and by the time we got home only one was alive and we put her into the nest. Since then her mom looked after her really well and being a singleton she was pretty well fed and quite round even until the day before she died.
I am wondering what could have caused this and if there may have been something wrong with her from the start. She also only opened her eyes as late as 15 days and I wonder if that was a sign of things to come?
Another explanation I have is that I may have allowed her onto the grass a bit too early. I usually wait till about 4 weeks until I leave baby bunnies out into the run but as she was all by herself I let her out with her mum when she was only 3 weeks (the run is more a wooden hutch without a floor so rather protected.) On the other hand in a setup where the hutch is attached to a run baby buns will naturally venture out onto the grass even before that and come to no harm.
Anyhow shortly after the two days that she was out she stopped eating and became very quiet. I did not realize how bad she was and as she was not loosing weight I was not too worried. I wish no in retrospect I had taken her to the vet sooner but I am not sure if they could have done anything?
I am really searching for an explanation and wish I had done things differently. I feel totally gutted. I have never (apart from stillborns) lost a baby bun before.

 

[TinysMom]

Its really hard to say why you lost her - I don't let mine out on the grass or anything like that (then again - its really hot here). Is mama normally out on the grass?

For instance - I don't give my babies greens because I can't afford to regularly give mamas greens...but if my mamas ate greens all the time - then I could give it to the babies cause of mama's milk having the greens in it - if that makes sense.

I hate to say this - but losing babies - even at that age - is just part of breeding. So much can go wrong that I don't count on any particular babies till at least a week after they're weaned.

 

[Sabine]

Her mum was used to eating grass all along. Even a day or so after birth I leave my does out in their runs where they graze for the best part of the day. The climate is very moderate (to yuck) here and heat is no problem:?

 

[CCWelch]

Sabine, I am sorry for your loss. Sometimes bunnies just die. They are healthy one day and the next gone. I have had it happen a time or two, and usually it is the one you are hoping to keep.
Please do not beat yourself up over it, relish the time you had with your youngster and try breeding again, mom should be ready in a couple weeks.