Raising Rabbits ~ Breeding to Weaning

 

 

Breeding

People think that you just put the rabbits together and let them do what rabbits seem to do best.  But there is actual ways to help insure a successful breeding.

Cage Breeding: First of all,  NEVER  put the buck in the doe’s cage!!  The reason is that a doe will become extremely protective of her space and will attack the buck.  Also the Buck will be busy smelling and marking the cage.  So if you want to breed rabbits in cages then you must put the doe in the buck’s cage.

Run Breeding: You can put them in a small ‘run’ cage but this can be hard to tell if the breeding was successful because both rabbits might run around instead of actually breeding.

Table Breeding: You can also put a mat on a table and place the rabbits on there,  that is one of the best ways to breed rabbits.

You might want to hold the doe in place so she doesn’t run around.  The buck should go straight to doing his job or scenting her with his chin.  Let him take his time. A successful breeding is when the buck falls over and grunts when he was on the doe. If the doe tucks her tail then you might want to help and gently lift her tail.  Also she may flatten and or tuck in her entire rump to prevent being bred.  Simply lift her hindquarters up as the buck mounts.You will want to do this once every hour, around two to three times all together to ensure a pregnancy.

Also it is always best to breed two does the same day so that if something goes wrong with one doe or she has to many kits then you can transfer some/all of the kits to the other doe.  (depending on the number of kits)

Hope this helps!
 

 

 

Pregnant does

The Gestation period of a rabbit often lasts between 27-32 days. If your doe hasn’t given birth within that time there is still a possibility that she will, I always leave the nestbox in till day 40,  giving the doe a chance for a late delivery.

Start to increase food so that by the time the doe gives birth she is being free fed.  Some people don’t do this but it is healthy for the doe to have as much feed as she needs in order to produce milk.   If you have Raspberry leaves then give a few to her a week before due date.  It is supposed to help with milk production.  Also Dandelion leaves are very good for her,  can be fed anytime.

They can get very moody when pregnant but you will still want to handle the doe and continue your regular scheduled just don’t overwhelm her and stress her with to much handling.

 

 

 

When a Rabbit Gives Birth

When you rabbit gives birth, make sure that the babies are in the nest box and not of the floor of the cage. You can pick them up right after they are born. Though I wait about ten minutes after the doe delivered till I actually handle the babies. (Unless born out of the nest box, then pick them up right away and get them cozy in the nest. Take out any dead babies and count how many there are. Check them everyday to make sure they are being fed.
Your doe should have pulled some fur, if not then shred up some newspaper and place it in and scraps of a soft blanket.  Or you could to the fun job of plucking fur from the doe. (Careful not to hurt her or you could get a bite coming your way.)

The babies will be fur-less for around a week before they start getting some fur.   So do not worry.  They only drink milk once or twice a day for about 5 minutes.  In the wild the doe would stay away from the nest to avoid predators,  some domestic does will do that as well.  They aren’t chickens that need to lay in the nest.
 

 

 

Transferring from Milk to Pellets

At 3-4 weeks of age, baby rabbits (domesticated ones) will learn by example of their mother, what to eat and drink. They will still drink milk  until they are weaned (8 weeks) but not as often. They should have unlimited pellets available to them as well as hay and fresh water. If you don’t have an automatic watering system (might be harder for babies to get water from) then I would suggest at least two 2 water-bottles attached to the cage. Also if there is a large litter and the nestbox starts to get crammed then flip it on it’s side. That way it allows the kits to still cuddle in the nestbox but they have more room to cuddle in the hay rather then the back of the nest. You may also take the nest box out at this time,  but if you have colder days and or nights then I would leave it in till week 5 or later.

This age is usually called the ‘cute stage’. You may handle them a bunch and get them antiquated with people.
 

 

 

Weaning

When rabbits are around 6 to 8 weeks old you may begin to wean them from their dam.  I would wait until 8 weeks to wean them. During the springtime the does are getting a bit agitated and will be hormonal, so a doe with a litter might want to breed again while still being on momma duty.

To prevent Mastitis move the kits to a different cage within a few days instead of immediately. Example: If you have 6 kits, then move two babies into a new cage so that they are not alone.  The next day do one more baby to the cage with the others (in the early morning), next day (or later that night) do one more baby to the grow out cage.  Then finally do the last two kits.  So that is   2.1.1.2   (dots represent nights).  So just spread out the separating so that the doe won’t suddenly have no kits to gradually wean off her milk.  Make sure to take the biggest kits out first so that the smaller ones will have some time to catch up with out the bigger ones shoving them away.