preemie popples

[kareninaustria]

One of my first timers just had a litter of six at 27 days. I'm just curious, how often does this happen? I haven't read much about it here, and all my previous litters have pretty much arrived on day 31.
They were all dead, but I'm not sure if they were born dead or just froze - Mama tried to make a nest, but of course she didn't have much to work with, since the nestbox was going in tomorrow! What was interesting is that the babies were not yet pigmented; my rabbits are all agouti so the babies are usually born black with pink undersides. These early babies were all pink. I guess the pigment develops very late in gestation.
Well, I guess the buck has a date for tomorrow, so it's good news for someone!

[MaggieJ]

Offhand, I can't remember any posts about premature popples, except perhaps one case where it was obvious they were not viable due to birth defects... so I don't think it happens very often. Sad to lose them, but I don't think at 27 days they had any chance at all, nest or no nest. Hope things go better for your doe next time.

[jhuebner]

Unfortunately it happens, but a doe can be re-bred in 3 days. (that's why they are rabbits) ..
I usually wait a couple weeks or more, just to let a doe get back to condition.

good luck!

JLH