Early Doe Birth

by Carly
(Essex)

The nest she made today

The nest she made today

My doe is 24 days pregnant, she will be 28 days on the 13th. This is her first pregnancy and she’s 1 and half years old healthy with no problems. Yesterday afternoon when I went to take her out of her run to weigh her and wouldn’t come out of her hutch which is very unusual as she loves coming out of her run and having a stroke even while she’s been pregnant.


So I opened her hutch and noticed she had some blood on her back leg then when I looked closer I saw she was eating what looked like a baby, then I watched her give birth to a second one and she ate that one as well, from what I saw while checking on her throughout the day she ate 3 babies and the one she didn’t eat was dead and cold so I removed it.

There was no nest or fur so last night at about 8:30pm when I did my last check she was fine and there was no new blood so just in case I made a nest for her and left her. She did eat yesterday after the baby incident but she hadn’t drank.

This morning at about 9 I checked on her and still no new blood or anything and she hadn’t gone near the nest I made so I thought it was all over and done with and when I checked her water bottle she had drank some of it and she happily ate as well.

When I checked on her at about 3 this afternoon I noticed that she had made a burrow in her hutch And she had a mouthful of hay fur and straw (I will attach a picture) at about 5:30 I went to give her some greens and noticed she had a little bit of blood on her nose And a little bit on her food bowl but I couldn’t see any more or movement. Should I leave her until 16th when she should be 31days?

***** Karen Sez *****

Yes, leave her till the 16th or a little longer.

So let's recap: At 24 days of pregnancy your rabbit miscarried 4 bunnies, eating 3 of them. Just in case, you gave her a nest, and at the moment, your doe is happily building her burrow and acting completely normal. Yes?

Quick question: Where is the daddy to these babies? And does the mum rabbit typically live or play with him?

While I can't be positive about what happened from way over here, I think the chances are high that your rabbit had two separate pregnancies inside her at the same time. If so, she miscarried the first litter (see explanations in either of the two resources below), and the second one would be still inside her and growing well. The doe apparently has high hopes that this second litter will survive, and quickly hop away to a successful life, since she's happily preparing her nest.

How can a doe have two litters at once?
The normal anatomy of a double-horned uterus makes it possible for a doe to be pregnant twice at the same time. Nevertheless, a double pregnancy is uncommon. Get the full explanation in either of these two resources:

Rabbit Raising Problem Solver.
Rabbit Reproduction.

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