Our pet white rabbit gave birth today, her 3rd litter, 2nd with us. The first litter was a surprise and 2 survived, 5 didn’t that we know of. I noticed her opening up a burrow she commonly covers up this morning and her body language made me think birth was about to happen. She spent a few monitors in the burrow then came out and moved to a different part of the yard.

We then saw 8 get born. These 8 were not born in one of the burrows the mama had dug. The first three were born very near one, and then she moved about 6 feet away and the next 5 came. One of the first three tumbled into the burrow on its own. After letting the others struggle a while we carefully moved them in with the one that tumbled in. The mama left them all on the surface and then moved away from them after giving birth. We weren’t near them during this process except after she left them and we moved the 7 into the burrow.

After she left them she moved back to what we think is her preferred burrow, the one she had uncovered before giving birth. She sat at the top and plucked her own fur and then took it down into the burrow (not the one with the babies).

I know they use fur to insulate the babies, we know she did it with the other litter she had with us. Why would she put fur in that burrow after leaving her babies in a completely different location and on the surface?

My only thought is that maybe she gave birth to a few in the preferred burrow, then moved off the get the rest out, abandoned them, and then went back to cover the original one(s) that we didn’t witness.

I’m not planning on checking that “preferred” burrow for a while but I’m pretty sure the other 8 are dead, or soon to be. They are completely uncovered.

Can anyone share some experience and knowledge? Did she abandon the 8? Are they typically born underground or above ground and then moved under? Is it likely there are other little ones in the “preferred burrow” under the fur pile?

From the web:

How Rabbits Protect Their Young
If rabbits don't keep their babies safe by occasionally moving their nest to different locations, you might wonder how they protect their young. Mother rabbits keep the nest site secret by staying away from it most of the time. They only visit the babies once a day, early in the morning. Mama Rabbit uses this daily visit to feed and clean the babies, then leaves them to sleep until the following morning.


Perhaps she is instinctively burrowing away from her babies and will check in on them as described above.

I know that they don’t really go near them much but I was under the impression that they are born below ground and then covered with nesting material. These were born above ground and then she brought nesting material to a different burrow.

Not much help to you possibly, but I have backyard Cottontails. The litters have a high mortality rate so few of the babies survive. A rabbit owner told me that is natures way of keeping the population in check. I dont know if that factors in with a domestic rabbit.