Rabbits can sometimes eat their own young. This is most likely to happen if your pet is feeling particularly anxious, lacks dietary protein, or has become excessively territorial.
Feed your rabbit a diet of Alfalfa hay in the days before the birth of her kits. This will prevent her from eating her young because she lacks nutrition. After giving birth, she’s likely to eat the placenta, but could eat a baby in error. Remove the kits if there are early warning signs.
Unlike hares, rabbits don’t eat meat. They’re not carnivorous animals, so they’ll very rarely eat their young by choice. It’s most likely to happen with young rabbits after giving birth to their first litter. The rabbit is frightened and confused by the experience, and just does what comes naturally to her.
Why Do Rabbits Eat Their Babies?
There are several why a rabbit eats her kits:
👉Stillborn. Where a baby was stillborn, your rabbit will proceed to eat the body.
👉Placenta. The rabbit was eating the afterbirth and placenta, and became confused. She ate the baby thinking it was part of the afterbirth.
👉Panic. She was already nervous and ate her babies to avoid attracting predators to her hutch.
👉Dietary protein. She was left drained and devoid of energy following the birth of her kits.
👉Territorial behavior. She has no intention of sharing her hutch and removed the competition.
👉Weakest less likely to survive. Rabbits can be Darwinian in their approach to motherhood.
The majority of the time, a rabbit will not consciously decide to eat her young. Once she has birthed multiples litters, she’ll have a better understanding of her role and what is required of her.
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