One stillborn and one live tiny lionhead baby

[Lionlove]

I tried breeding my lionheads at all at once. The first doe had two stillborns and 1 peanut. I unsuccessfully tried doing feedings with his first time mom and hand feeding. He lasted longer than expected, but lost the battle. The does milk dried up completely and he didn't seem to absorb any nutrients through hand feeding. I was hoping to have them give birth at the same time soI could foster if necessary. One of my other does seemed cranky, so I separated them after losing our peanut. se started nesting behavior and I came home tonight to find a tiny pink kit and a still warm still born. It was stretched out and had a blue face.
She's very small for a lionhead. Maybe just over 3lb and the buck is under that. They do come from show lines. I think it was a matter of the breeders choosing looks over health. This is her second litter, the first only had two stillborns, also "stretched out" I'm not planning on continuing breeding. Its just too heartbreaking. But my question is, how common is this? I have two other does that are possibly going to kindle this month. This doe has been fed alfalfa hay, pellets, and apple/carrots/oatmeal as treats.
She built a nest this time (out of the box). I moved the nest and kit in the box. I'm hoping she'll accept the move. I noticed her vent is rather large and looked like it had a bruise on it. No sores, I've had her from 8 weeks. She's around a year now. No contact with other bunnies then our own and they're kept indoors.
My buck is scheduled for neuter and kept in a new bunny room.
He is a blue carrying Vienna gene. She is a BEW. Our does that could be expected to kindle are another BEW (larger at almost 4 lbs) and a Blue tort (even larger and a little over 4lbs) The blue tort had a successful litter of 5. I know it doesn't matter since they won't be bred again. But I've been scouring the internet for what could have gone wrong. They came from good breeders, and where a healthy age/weight. Any advice is appreciated!

 

[SableSteel]

That's a dwarf breed, their first litter is usually the hardest
The stretched out kit sounds like it had a difficult birth. That's probably why her vent is swollen.

 

[JBun]

If your other two does also have similar problems with their litters, when there is a widespread issue like this with all the does, another possibility could be rabbit syphilis(vent disease). That can cause inflammation, stillbirth, and neonatal death. Vitamin A insufficiency/toxicity from the feed is another possible cause for pregnancy and kit mortality issues, when there is a consistent problem with all rabbits in a herd.

 

[Lionlove]

Thank you for the information. I do think she had a difficult birth. I have checked the vents and they all appear to be normal, although hers was swollen. They got a clean bill of health from the vet as well. Our boy has an appointment for a neuter. I think one problem is how they are. I've never seen full bred lionheads their size (new doe mom and buck) the other two does are "normal" size. The single kit seems to be thriving....his tummy was VERY full when I checked him earlier today. Shes also going in the nesting box a lot. We share our room with the bunnies. So I'm sure shes comfortable. But could she be feeding him too much? He went from an oval to a fat little hippo. I know I'm paronoid and the vet told me to wait to avoid stressing her and the kit out. Our other doe just tended to feed twice a day. She's in and out at least 5-7 times. Maybe too good of a mom? She does get very annoyed when I check him (about 2-3 times a day)

 

[JBun]

Yes, they can get overfed, and that can sometimes result in issues with their leg development causing splay leg. So if the singleton is getting overfed, it may be a good idea to remove the nestbox and only return for morning and evening feeding to see if that helps. If he's still getting too much, maybe only one feeding a day. That's what I would do.

 

[Lionlove]

Update: baby is doing well and not looking like a balloon. However our buck who is still waiting on castration managed to jump past the three stairs and open the slider. Also going through the living room and across our other does cage. I'm going to rename him bunny bond. We came across him in her room today. The kit seems OK. Little chunk. But I'm so worried about her having another litter! Clearly she's not suitable as a breeding doe. I've called the vet again, begging to have him neutered asap. But we don't have a lot of specialists down here.