Meat rabbit kindling question

Here is the scenario, we have 3 meat rabbits. We traded a few laying hens for 2 unrelated does and 1 unrelated buck. I had no meat rabbit experience when we got them in SEPT '24. I read and refer to "Raising pastured rabbits for meat" by Carangelo. The breeders are a mix of a few different breeds and kept on wire. Each have their own homemade 4'long by 2' wide cage. I need to get as much mileage out of the winter and the rabbits as I can. The lady we got them from is about 30 mins away and her advice was to breed for the last time in March or beginning of April at the latest and not try again until Sept or Oct because of the hot humid summers here.

Doe 1 was bred but not doe 2 because she was still too young. Doe 1 kindled 5 kits. 1 was dead outside the nest box and partially eaten, 1 was a runt that died about a week after birth. The remaining 3 are growing out and weaned. Doe 1 spent a decent amount of time on her nest and pulled lots of fur. She seemed to take good care of the remaining kits. I waited 5 weeks to rebreed. I had read about mortality rates and this behavior in the book I referenced.

Doe 1 was rebred and doe 2 was bred for the first time. A day apart. Doe 2 kindled 4 kits 2 days ago. All 4 are in good shape and covered well in the nest box. Doe 1 kindled last night. She had 8 kits, 3 dead kits outside the nest box. 2 partly eaten, 1 intact but dead by the time I got to it. The remaining 5 are covered well in the box and appear fine.

I plan to keep 6 breeders over the summer for line breeding this coming fall. 2 bucks and 4 does.

Is doe 1 a candidate for culling or should I keep breeding her through winter? I think I'll have time to breed her 1 or maybe 2 more times if I do not cull her before summer. She breeds well, handles easily and takes care of the kits that are in the box but man the carnage of the last 2 kindlings makes me ask the question. After seeing doe 2 kindle with no issues, I do not want this mothering to be passed on if it will continue but I could also grow out all her kits and only keep 1 buck. I also do not want to exclude the possibility that those kits were DOA and she was following her instinct to get rid of them or got a little overzealous when cleaning them. I read both of those things are a possibility in the book.

I asked my husband. He says that he usually gives a doe three tries, if she keeps rejecting one or more of her kids, then she is done and get replaced. Some does are just not meant for breeding.

If Doe keeps losing kits, it might be best to stop breeding her.
But I think it's better to wait and watch her next time to decide what’s best.
If her next litter is healthy, you can try breeding her again.

I would cull doe 1. Mothering for me is an inherited trait and that is a problem here. I would also put a wildlife camera on the cage, because i'd want to know what chewed on the newborn kits. The doe herself or a rat/whatever. Might also answer the question of stillborn or killed after.
Since the mothering trait can be passed on via a buck to his offspring, i'd say no to keeping any for breeding from her.

Note : there are plenty of breeders that do the 3 chances thing on this, it tends to keep such traits going. So ask about the mothering abilities of the doe you get a kit from. Good from first litter on or losses first and why.

tamara dutch wrote:I would also put a wildlife camera on the cage, because i'd want to know what chewed on the newborn kits. The doe herself or a rat/whatever. Might also answer the question of stillborn or killed after.

I would also want to see how the babies are getting outside the box. Maybe the nest box needs some improvement, or the babies need some more protection (did they die from exposure, were they stillborn, etc etc)

Tereza Okava wrote:

tamara dutch wrote:I would also put a wildlife camera on the cage, because i'd want to know what chewed on the newborn kits. The doe herself or a rat/whatever. Might also answer the question of stillborn or killed after.

I would also want to see how the babies are getting outside the box. Maybe the nest box needs some improvement, or the babies need some more protection (did they die from exposure, were they stillborn, etc etc)

Given that this happened during kindling, the doe likely started outside, rabbits don't move their kits.

tamara dutch wrote:

Tereza Okava wrote:

tamara dutch wrote:I would also put a wildlife camera on the cage, because i'd want to know what chewed on the newborn kits. The doe herself or a rat/whatever. Might also answer the question of stillborn or killed after.

I would also want to see how the babies are getting outside the box. Maybe the nest box needs some improvement, or the babies need some more protection (did they die from exposure, were they stillborn, etc etc)

Given that this happened during kindling, the doe likely started outside, rabbits don't move their kits.

My train of thought was the same. I thought that maybe she was surprised by it and finally moved to the box. If so, it has happened twice now.

I made my boxes based off of https://www.tealstonehomestead.com/blog/diy-wood-rabbit-nest-box

I made mine a little bigger because I made my cage door large enough for a 12"x12" box to fit. It is 22" long.

Correction to my original post is that doe 1 had 10 total kits. I miscounted. 3 dead outside the box. The other 7 are in the box doing well so far.