Why would a rabbit eat there young?

I bought a pregnant female rabbit who had been pregnant once before and ate some of her baby's. They said probably because it was her first bunch. So 3 days ago she had more and when I went to check on them she had already eaten half of one. It was alive so im not sure why she would eat them.Why would a rabbit eat there young?
Is she being fed the proper diet of pellets, unlimited amounts of timothy hay and fresh greens? If she is not being provided the correct nutrients, she may eat the kits. You must begin to free feed her now that she is nursing in order to keep up with the supply and demand of milk for her young kits. If you don't, she could become very ill.





The doe will eat the kits if she detects a strange scent and if she senses that something is defective with the kit.





As gross as it may seem, it's a normal behavior. Many animals do this in the wild as a method of survival for the group/herd.Why would a rabbit eat there young?
Sometimes they don't really understand what they are and may see them as a threat.


Or perhaps they feel they are under threat, so will eat the babies to get rid of the temptation from predators.


If the female rabbit is malnourished she might eat the babies because she does not have enough food reserves to feed them.


Maybe because one of them was a runt and so she killed it because she knew it wouldn't survive and would lure predators.
Because she is trying to protect them, and if there is another male rabbit somewhere around she will eat them!