Re-introducing rabbit (daughter) with mom

[cornflakes]

The mother rabbit had some bunnies 1.5 weeks ago and they are in their nest doing well (at my workplace). The dad rabbit is also in the pen. But for the past 6 weeks, I've kept the daughter rabbit (who is about 1 years old now) at my house as she also had 2 bunnies of her own. Now that they are big enough, I've decided to bring the daughter rabbit and her 2 bunnies back to my workplace pen. As soon as I emptied them into the pen, the mother rabbit was chasing and attacking the daughter rabbit and her 2 bunnies. She would bite them and whatnot.

My guess is it's because the mother rabbit is feeling protective about her babies or that she just doesn't get along well with newcomers at first (even if the newcomer is her own daughter).

So I've created a wall in the pen to keep them separated. The dad rabbit was ok, he was just sniffing the daughter and the 2 bunnies so he seems to be fine.

Is my guess correct? Should I keep the mom rabbit separate from them or will I be able to allow them to mingle again a little later maybe when her babies are grown up?

 

[majorv]

I would keep them all separated. Whether you can put them back together again...who knows. Rabbit parents aren't attached to their offspring like humans are. At this point, the daughter is just another intruder she's protecting her litter from.

 

[cornflakes]

Yes, I think that is what she is doing. So then, do you think after the babies have grown up the mother rabbit won't attack the daughter rabbit and her babies anymore? I was thinking it might be a hormonal thing as she is still nurturing her babies so her body is probably in some hormonal state (producing milk, defense/protective nature activated?).

 

[Leopold_Ruby]

Rabbits can fight even when spayed, so two unaltered would be worse

 

[Nancy McClelland]

:yeahthat:

 

[majorv]

The mother rabbit doesn't care if that's her daughter or not. They could easily fight each other, with or without the litter of kits being there. Same goes with the dad. Young rabbits tend to get along better with each other, but at some point that can easily change. It's just too much of a risk to keep any unaltered rabbits together, IMO.

 

[HototMama]

I would keep them all separated. Whether you can put them back together again...who knows. Rabbit parents aren't attached to their offspring like humans are. At this point, the daughter is just another intruder she's protecting her litter from.

:yeahthat: