Young momma won't care for kits

[Mikeljcarr]

I have a Californian who is less than a year old. Her first kit she didn't use a nesting box at all and I found 9 dead kits on the wire. I bread her again. She ate or removed all the hay I put in her nesting box and berthed her kits in the box but they all died. Neither time has she pulled her fur for a nest for her babies. Any thoughts? Is she just not mother material or should I try again with some different methodology?

 

[majorv]

I would give her one more chance. It sounds like she improved from the first time. I would overload her with hay, some in the box and some in the cage. Maybe she'll eat what's not in the box next time. Just keep her stocked up when it's kindling time. We keep extra hair for those does who don't pull. Since you know she may not pull fur you could put some in the nestbox on day 30 and maybe she'll get the idea. Lacking that, you could use dryer lint.

 

[bright_eyes]

I would try one more time, but after that I definitely wouldn't consider it again.

How old is she? She might just be too young to breed yet.

Put hay in the box AND all over the cage floor, check the cage every 4-5 hours as she gets close so maybe you can save the babies if she decides to spread them everywhere and abandon them. Brush her and collect the hair, on day 28 line the nest box with the hair you've collected to try and jog her thinking a little.

 

[Mikeljcarr]

Thanks for the input. We'll give it one more try.