Inducing Labor in Overdue Doe

[HappyFarmBunnies]

I have a doe that is overdue by 3 days now. (She was due over the weekend.) She has always had big and successful litters in the past, but this is her first time with a new buck. He is smaller than her by about a pound but I don't believe that will make any difference. She is pregnant to the best of our knowledge.

I have heard of three or four things to induce labor: blackberry/raspberry leaves (of which we have none), lavendar (ditto), fresh parsley and Tums.

Fresh parsley and Tums are the easiest and most accessible to us, but how much do you feed and at what intervals? Do you need to crush up the Tums or feed it to her like a treat?

Any help would be appreciated. She is a favorite of mine and I don't want anything to happen to her, especially if there's something I can do to prevent it.

 

[Jaded]

She's only 3 days overdue atless wait another2 days, has she made a nest?

 

[HappyFarmBunnies]

Oh yeah, made a nest and pulled hair just like every other time. I thought that you weren't supposed to let them go over like 34 days though?

 

[CCWelch]

Did you breed her to the buck more than 1X sometimes that will make a difference.
Can you palpate her and feel babies? Maybe she decided to take a break and not breed.
I have heard of rabbits going 36 days but it isn't usually the dwarf varieties.
Fruit flavor tums you can give her one like a treat, she may or may not like it, try different flavors till you hit on one she likes. I would not use more than 1 whole one because that is a lot of calcium.
You can try oat straw too, it helps produce extra milk and won't hurt your bunny. Sundried is better than dehydrated.

 

[Jaded]

You should take her to the vet, can you feel movement in her? if not, then its likely the kits are dead.

 

[HappyFarmBunnies]

@CC: I bred her once, removed her back to her cage for 3 hours, then bred her again to ensure a successful breeding. She is big and we can definitely feel something in there. She has always been hard to palpate though, even at this stage.

She is really *acting* like she is pregnant and going to have a litter, and she's never delivered dead kits before. She didn't even have any upset in her diet or living situation that might be causing her to retain the kits. Grrr! :?

I think we are going to give her one more night, and give her some parsley, and if she hasn't had them by tomorrow late morning we'll try the Tums.

 

[HappyFarmBunnies]

Thought I would just give an update. It appears at this point like she reabsorbed the babies, but not too long ago because when we palpated her at 12 days there were definitely kits in there. That's probably why she built a nest too. Oh well, we are going to try again this weekend. Thanks for all the help ladies!

 

[SNM]

You sure. I have a doe right now that is on day 34. I already knew all the babies would be DOA because they will usually start kicking and moving around day 29.

Turns out all the babies were breached...Oh nono Good luck with breeding her again.