Breeding for success - step-by-step guide

Ready to breed?

Having constructed a suitable housing and acquired the best breeding stock and in addition, effortlessly acquired some knowledge on and stocked some feed (feeding materials) we move on to breeding.

When mating, the buck mounts the doe

Breeding: mating both rabbits, male and female. 

When to breed:

Depending on the breed and individual development, you can begin breeding your rabbits when they are 4 - 4.5 months old. For small breeds, it is 4-5 months, for large breeds 9-12 months. If you would like the does to reach full maturity and size for small breeds, I recommend you wait until they are 6 months old before breeding. 

Rabbits have no clear reproductive cycle. Nevertheless, they do exhibit periods of greater willingness. They do refuse the buck sometimes! Signs of greater willingness are restlessness, noisiness (she will scratch the hutch), rubbing her chin on the feeding tray or drinking dish, the genital area will have a redder colour than usual. To mate the rabbit you do not have to wait until these signs show; she can be put with the buck at any time, as the egg will come free after mating. However, she may not always accept the buck. Does that are maintained in good physical condition should produce litters until they are 2 1/2 to 3 years old.

Mating should be carried out during the cooler times of the day, early morning or late afternoon. The buck can mount the doe twice successfully before being separated. Mating takes only 5-10 minutes.

Fertilization of the egg(s) of the doe by the sperm of the buck and the subsequent attachment of these eggs to the uterine horns of the doe occurs. The number of fertilized eggs that attach to the uterine horns is highly variable and can range from 1 - 8 or more. A larger breed rabbit has an average of 7-8 fertilized eggs, and can vary from 1-14 or more. The number of fertilized eggs depends on the age and health of the doe and buck, the season, the number of eggs available for fertilization, the amount of sperm deposited and its viability, the capacity of the uterine horns, the genetic backgrounds, and other factors that may or may not be controllable.

The estrus or "heat" cycle of a doe rabbit is so often that it may be considered continuous. You may see a doe mounting a buck or another doe. She may even attempt to mount another animal of the same size if it is available. It is best to keep rabbits by themselves except when you want to breed them. Do not get the idea that they are lonely, because they are not. They are territorial animals. This means that they normally want their own place. Keep in mind, that when you let rabbits (especially same sex rabbits) run together, they will fight. If you have one buck amongst a herd of does, you might as well consider that they will all get pregnant.

The number of eggs that can be fertilized depends on the parent’s age. The doe and buck have maximum egg/sperm production between the ages of 6 months and 3 years. After this, egg/sperm production decreases, as does the chances of conception and bringing the little ones to birth.

Temperature extremes decreases the chances of conception. At high temperatures, the buck stops producing viable sperm. When the buck is exposed to temperatures above 35 degrees, he may become temporarily sterile. It may take up to 4 weeks for him to recover. Extremely cold temperatures causes the doe not to conceive because her system is concerned with taking care of herself rather than nurturing young.

How many bucks can you utilize?

One buck can service (mate) 10 females effectively. But JF Rabbits advice that you keep two bucks, one as a backup and to also check inbreeding and infertility problems with the bucks. On the other hand, many commercial rabbit raisers are now keeping 1 buck for 25 to 30 does.

Right match:

To avoid inbreeding and other undesirable traits, using the right match to achieve your breeding purpose is very important. Any of the combinations below can be used:

• Father to daughter
• Mother to son
• Cousins

Never breed brothers to sisters until you have adequate knowledge of how genetics works with inbreeding.

 

Pregnancy Check:

This is carried out a week or two after a successful mating of the doe.
Pregnancy check requires some practice but there are some signs that can help, these include: 

• The doe becomes quieter,

• Eats less,

• Sits with her abdomen resting nicely on the floor,

• Gathers nesting materials (hay/grass) a day or two before birth,

• Pulls fur to make nest a day or hours before birth,

• Seem to be restless, pushing things around.

Some of these signs do not show up until the pregnancy is at an advance stage. If your doe shows two or three of these signs, she probably is pregnant.

The best method of checking pregnancy in does is palpation. This may not be easy for first timers, as it requires time and practice. Palpation should not be done earlier or later than 10-14 days of mating.

Place the doe facing you on a table, a bench or the floor. Put both hands on the sides and a little under the belly, gently pressing them towards each other and upwards. If she is pregnant after two weeks, you will start to feel hard things like marbles, in the upper side of the abdomen. These become progressively larger until you might even be able to feel the form of an embryo. Do not mistake hard fecal pellets or kidneys for pregnancy. When palpating, press gently so that the developing embryo is not destroyed. 

In addition, it is possible to check for pregnancy by putting the doe with the buck again 12 days after mating. If she refuses, the first mating has almost certainly worked out well. If she is willing again, the buck can repeat his work. This method has the very small risk that an already pregnant doe is mated again with the possibility of starting another pregnancy halfway through the first.

What next?

When the doe is almost ready for kindling (about 4 weeks after mating) you can put a nest box in the doe's cage.

Nest box

 

Fill the box with soft straw, hay and/or pine-shavings about 3 days before the doe is due.  She will pull hair out of her dewlap (the roll under her chin) and make a cozy bed for her young. They should arrive within 28 to 31 days after being bred (usually on day 31). If they have not arrived by day 34, they are not coming... time to rebreed. Make sure you inspect the litter after they are born. Remove any dead in the boxes. If you have bred multiple does at the same time you may want to foster some kits if one doe has too many and another too few. Continue to inspect the litter on a daily basis to check for any dead. A doe may not have very successful births the first or even the second time. If she is not good at it by the third kindling, you may consider stewing her. In addition, depending on the doe, they can optimally care for between 8 to 10 kits. Litters of 11 or more are not manageable by does. Kindling can then take place in this nest box. Kindling can take place at any time of the day but morning seems to be the most popular time. All she needs now is rest and feed. A scared doe may eat her young. Cannibalism may occur for other reasons too, such as no drinking water, lack of minerals and sometimes for no apparent reason. However, unrest is likely to be a main cause. If a doe, especially after the second litter, keeps eating or biting her young, it is better to kill her and eliminate this bad characteristic. Most does, however, have no problems and distinguish easily between the newly born young and the afterbirth. They lick the first and eat the second, although smell and taste cannot be so different.

Doe making her nest

Litter of kits - born hairless and blind

Do not handle the kindles more than is necessary, but check the newborn trying not to disturb them too much. Wash your hands first, as the smell of dogs, cats or rodents may upset the mother. Check the kindles for full bellies and for dead ones. The smell of the nest will soon tell you if it is dirty. Does with diarrhea cause a distinct smell.

The doe does not take care of her kindles is a common complaint from beginners. In fact, the doe only allows her kindles to suckle one or two times daily and even then only for a short period. So the doe will rarely be seen with the kindles. Do not worry too much!

The hutch/cage should be large enough for the nest box and leaving space for the doe. If it is too small, she might accidentally hurt the kindles by sitting on them.

After two weeks, they will start to come out of the box, depending on the size of the box, the amount of milk the mother has and other factors such as the temperature in the box. After about 3 weeks, the nest box can easily be removed. If the floor of the maternity cage is of wire or has big holes that make it difficult for the kindles to put their feet down, give them a piece of plywood or something similar in a corner so they can sit easily. At this time they will also suckle (or seem to) more often in a day.

Weaning usually takes place after about 4 weeks but should not be later than 6 weeks. Milk production seems to stop at that time, so there is no use for the young being with the mother any longer.

False Pregnancy:

Sometimes a doe will prepare the nest with fur but never give birth. This is called "false pregnancy." This is most common with does that have not kindled their first litter. It may also occur if does have not been separated at least 18 to 20 days prior to breeding or if the doe urinates immediately after breeding, flushing out the semen. 

In addition, obviously a false pregnancy will occur if the breeding was sterile. You may re-breed her four days after she was due.

When to mate the doe again:

Like rats, the rabbit can be mated the very day of kindling and she is likely to become pregnant. However, results might be disappointing. The litters will be smaller, lighter and with a higher rate of mortality, not forgetting the stress on the mother, being pregnant and lactating at the same time. Even where feeding and other conditions are optimal, it is common to mate again only after 3-4 weeks. In backyard farming practice, feeding can be assumed less than very good. Therefore giving the doe more time between matings (10-12 weeks) will probably be better and result in larger and healthier (although fewer) litters.

Sometimes the doe will not accept the buck right after weaning, it may take quite a few days (weeks) to get her willing. What can you do? Just wait and keep trying to mate! Willingness seems less of a problem right after birth or during lactation than later on around or after weaning! 

Fostering:

There are advantages in mating two does at the time, if one of them does refuse to suckle the kindles or dies or whatever, you always have a foster mother at hand. The fostering mother is a lactating doe with a smaller litter size, taking care of kits from another doe with large liter, say 12, who is dead, injured or not producing milk to feed her kits properly. Transferring of kits from one doe to another is done between the period of birth and 12 days. As long as their ages are within 4-5 days of each other, you may transfer them from one mother to another, and the other mother will take care of them as if they were her own. You may have problems if you transfer them after they are 12 days old, the kits are developed, with opened eyes and scent different from the other kits; the foster mother may attack them.

Weaning:

Weaned after 4 weeks from birth

Since the bunnies start eating solid food between the 11th and the 14th day, they continue to grow and may be weaned as early as 4 weeks after birth. Usually, it is best to keep them with their mother until they are 6 weeks old, but you may wean them at 4 weeks without complication. Some breeders allow them to go 8 weeks before weaning. This maximizes their nutrition and growth.

Weaning simply means taking the kits away from their mother. The kits cannot and should not continue staying with her after they are 3 months old.

At the time of weaning, you should sex the bunnies and separate the males and the females into their own cages. At the same time you sex them, check their teeth. This is very important. While the bunny is on its back spread its lips apart sideways and note how the teeth are set. The upper teeth must overlap the bottom teeth. If the upper teeth meet the lower teeth or the lower teeth overlap the top teeth, this rabbit has malocclusion or "wolf-teeth". 

This disqualifies it for show as well as breeding or pet purposes. The teeth will eventually grow out to look hideous and the lower teeth may dig into the upper gums, or worse, the rabbit may not be able to eat.  Do not use a rabbit with wolf teeth for breeding. The wolf teeth trait can be passed down to offspring, and no one wants a rabbit with wolf teeth. Sell the rabbit for meat but never for breeding or to be someone's pet.