If you have had her a couple of years and she was adult when given to you she could well be at the end of her productive years. Personally, I would not breed a doe with her track record again, unless I felt that I had solved the cause of her problem. I'd cull her for the table or keep her as a pet. If you have other breeding does, save a couple of their most promising youngsters as future breeders. Or bring in some new blood. A few things to consider before making a decision: - Is she in excellent health generally? A run-down or overly fat doe may have trouble kindling. - Does she have her own cage in a peaceful place? Kindling does need privacy and quiet. - Did you examine her teats to see if she had milk for the babies? - Has the same buck sired all her litters? - Have you bred other does to the buck with success? - Were there visible birth defects in any of the litters? It is fairly common for a doe to lose her first litter, due to inexperience and confusion. It is more frustrating and sad to lose litter after litter. A replacement doe should not be that expensive. I would look for one around a year old that has already successfully raised a litter.

Can you tell me more about the scent trail? I didn't know about that. Of course, the baby bunnies I found our by our raised bed which I visit everyday anyways, so the scent trail is always there. I've seen the bunny hopping around the bed...almost stepped on it one day before it ran off (they hide well).. Today it rained and I saw it out there all soaked and shivering. I came close and it didn't hop away, and then I noticed a snail crawling on it (not kidding)--which gave me a big clue something was wrong. I decided to removed the snail and it still didn't hop away, and I noticed ants by it. I thought maybe it would help to get him somewhere dry and warm but since I know his mom is around and don't know where his nest is, I didn't want to take him where she couldn't find him. I remember finding some bunnies his size in shoes my kids left outside on one cold day, and my youngest just outgrew a pair, so I put the shoe next to him and sort of nudged him into it. As I did I notice his bottom had blood on it. So ang...something may have already gotten to him. I took the shoe about 5 feet away to the other side of the raised bed, away from the ants--and also put something over it to shield the rain (not directly over it so he couldn't get out...but leaning on our raised bed like a lean-to with enough room for the mom to get in.) So, any advice on what to do now would be appreciated, or what to do differently next time. Cause, bunnies often make nests in our yard so there probably will be a next time.

Hi - I am not an expert on rabbits, but have had several, including one now. Please make sure that you do get timothy hay for your rabbit and make sure that it's always available. Rabbits are prone to hairballs and they do not have the ability to vomit up a hairball as a cat does. They must have hay to keep the hair moving through the digestive tract. I agree that lettuce shouldn't be given. However, greens are very important (micke - please make sure your mother gives her rabbit greens!), the darker green, the better. Carrots and broccoli are Ok, but are very gassy, so only occasional and not big pieces at a time. I tend to give Harey one broccoli florette at a time, every few days. Kale and other leafy dark green veggies are best, along with the hay, always fresh water, and some pellets. I don't know how old your daughter is, but please make sure that when she picks up the rabbit she is sitting down either on the floor or a couch where the rabbit will not drop to the ground if it scrambles out of her grasp. Rabbits are quite fragile and can be terribly hurt if a child is standing and the rabbit jumps. Also, when holding the rabbit, make sure that your or your daughter's hand isn't holding in the middle or top of its back. Rabbits' back legs are very strong and if the rabbit is held against your chest, for example and it kicks off while your hand is tightly holding its back, its back could break very easily. Rabbits are wonderful pets - so congratulations! Just remember to be very gentle. My rabbits (I have one at a time) live in the house with me and my cats and they are easily litter-box trained. They share the litter boxes with the cats! Harley (my current rabbit) has full run of the house and his cage door is always open. He runs in there to eat or to use the litter box in there. You do have to be very careful that the rabbit doesn't chew wires, for obvious reasons. They tend to love to do that, unfortunately. Harley, though, doesn't bother wires and is very well behaved, so I'm comfortable with him always being loose. Also, I've quite rabbit-proofed my home by this time. Anyway, yes, spay or neuter, and feed dark, leafy greens, timothy hay, and some pellets. Have fun!

Actually, after checking it out further my five year old would have to cut through it with something pretty sharp. And I don't think she would have the strength yet. Or the access to whatever would cut it. Regular household scissors wouldn't do the trick. It's pretty thick. Plus, the poles won't come out unless you unhook one of the end pieces from the top, again, she doesn't have enough strength to unhook one of those things. And then pop the poles out one by one. And they don't come out easy. I have a hard time getting them out and I am pretty strong for a girl. I guess an adult could snap one of the poles in half if they really tried. She couldn't. And as for a five year old not needing a barrier, I guess the above poster didn't read all of my first post. She can't swim. At all. If she walked too close and fell in or a dog jumped up on her, knocked her in, another kid pushing her in. That's what happened with her before (again, in my post). One of her friends pushed her in above her head. Even the adults around her didn't pay attention to her flailing around in the water. She had a vest on, but vests don't keep our head out of the water if you don't know to use them. She hadn't been in a pool without someone holding her since she was about a year old. I can't even count on another adult to help her. So yes, a five year old needs a barrier when being around a 10-foot hole in the ground full of water. I am not happy with the way the one panel droops but the pool company who installed it is going to look at it tomorrow when they come back to finish the liner tomorrow.