Amid all the new and growing life on the farm, there is also death, ideally most of the time, its planned death with a purpose.. but sometimes critters pass before their time..
Such is the case of my pretty momma rabbit, she has been a good rabbit and compared to a tradional working rabbit girl she has had a easy life, I only bred at half the rate of what most rabbit breeders do, as I just don’t think breeding back to back to back can be healthy for the female, she needs a bit more time to recoup if you want her to live and produce longer then a year to a year an half.
In this case, this female has been with me for just over four years, a very long farm working rabbit life but a shorter one then I planned for and a much shorter one then most pet rabbits would have.. sigh..
I don’t know why she passed, she was healthy and eating and greeted me yesterday and got a cube of greens to munch on, and sadly today when I was out and she didn’t greet me, I thought, o, did she have her new buns? and opened the lid expecting to be honest to see a nest of fluff and a protective momma, and instead, she was gone..
Something, somewhere went wrong in that time and I feel bad, we can’t be with our critters 24/7 when they live outside, and I didn’t do the evening chores so i don’t know if she was off or not right at that time, but none the less, it was a very sad moment for me.
Because she passed away, I will not be able to use her in the normal way, she will be buried and composted, so she will at least feed the farm cycle in that way..
Rest in Peace, momma rabbit, you were always so sweet.
Just another Day on the Farm 
Oh, that’s so sad! And you lost the babies, too?
She had not had them, so yes, they were lost as well
I’m sorry. Did you keep any of her previous kittens?
May I ask how many times you breed per year?
Yes, I have one of her offspring still in breeding, I typically breed every two months so six times a year but it depends on the heat of the summer, they do better with the cold here in good hutches then they do in the heat of the summer both the mothers and the kits, so sometimes only five litters per year..
Oh, my, and that’s less than a traditional breeding schedule?
Yes, normally you bred your does back when the kits are 30 days old, I perfer to let my kits get to four to five weeks and be weaned and then let momma rabbit dry off and have a bit of a break and then be bred back again..
Its worth noting that with rabbits, you really are doing your does no favors to let them go to long between, as if they get fat, they have issues conceving and even if they do carry, they can have issues with the delivery, good condition yes, fat, no..
I’m very sorry to hear that. }}Hugs{{
Sorry to read about the loss here. It is always hard when we loose a good breeding animal. Hopefully you have a few of her kits to keep the bloodline going.