# Any insight?



## thumbelina (Mar 3, 2021)

We are still pretty new to rabbits and we purchased 4 rabbits from a person who claimed that all does were "about 2 weeks along". We have now had the rabbits in our possession for 33 days and no kits. I had 2 of them pull a little fur for about a day then nothing after that. Yesterday I took one of the does and put her in with my buck and he immediately mounted her and got 3 fall offs fairly quickly but i could not tell if she was actually lifting for him or not. I put one of the other does that was suppose to be pregnant with him after that and he sniffed her and mounted but didnt fall off and stopped trying to mount her right after that. he just kinda ignored her after that. is that a sign that she might actually be pregnant and if so should i be concerned that she hasnt had kits yet?


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## SA Farm (Mar 3, 2021)

It’s possible the one that pulled fur had a false pregnancy. They do that sometimes. Fall offs don’t always guarantee babies as mamas can expel if they don’t want to have babies or aren’t in good enough condition.
The one the buck wasn’t interested in...I would double check to make sure it’s really a girl. Bucks can and will fall off a female even if she’s already bred.


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## Kusanar (Mar 3, 2021)

Non-rabbit owner here, but could the stress of being sold and moved have caused them to re-absorb the litter?


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## thumbelina (Mar 3, 2021)

Kusanar said:


> Non-rabbit owner here, but could the stress of being sold and moved have caused them to re-absorb the litter?


I was wondering the same thing honestly but theres still 2 of them that look pregnant like their bellies seem to be a little saggy but i have no idea how to tell if they are still preggers or not.


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## thumbelina (Mar 3, 2021)

SA Farm said:


> It’s possible the one that pulled fur had a false pregnancy. They do that sometimes. Fall offs don’t always guarantee babies as mamas can expel if they don’t want to have babies or aren’t in good enough condition.
> The one the buck wasn’t interested in...I would double check to make sure it’s really a girl. Bucks can and will fall off a female even if she’s already bred.


she is definitely a female lol


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## thumbelina (Mar 4, 2021)

So I got home yesterday and the one that the buck fell off of had pulled a good bit of fur.....so maybe she might be getting ready to kindle afterall but I have no idea if shes just tricking me again or not. The black in the nest is her fur.


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## promiseacres (Mar 4, 2021)

Do you have exact dates? I'd wait several more days before trying to breed anymore. That's a good sign she's going to kindle soon. Some does will accept a buck at anytime.... some will only if they're in heat, they can be induced to heat though by around the buck, or him trying. So I put them together at least twice, several hours apart.


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## thumbelina (Mar 4, 2021)

promiseacres said:


> Do you have exact dates? I'd wait several more days before trying to breed anymore. That's a good sign she's going to kindle soon. Some does will accept a buck at anytime.... some will only if they're in heat, they can be induced to heat though by around the buck, or him trying. So I put them together at least twice, several hours apart.


no the lady couldnt tell me exact dates because she said they were her sons and he didnt tell her the details only that they were "about 2 weeks along" but now im thinking the may have been bred later than that


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## Fuchsia (Mar 8, 2021)

How are they? Any babies?


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## thumbelina (Mar 8, 2021)

Fuchsia said:


> How are they? Any babies?


Not from any of those 4 but I did have one of my other does give birth Friday to 6 beautiful babies!! I'm still at a loss about the 4 "pregnant" does. The black doe that I tried to breed back to my buck has now started grunting at the buck if I put her near him so she might be pregnant now and will be due in another 3 weeks if she is. I put one of the other 4 with the buck and she also grunted at him but has not been "rebred" yet so I have no idea whats up with that lol guess I will just have to keep trying!!


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## thumbelina (Mar 8, 2021)

Mom is Broken Black and dad is magpie!


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## Jesusfreak101 (Mar 8, 2021)

I have does that grunt at the buck and generally if I try to put them in on another day they will take some days they just aren't interested. And if they are over weight they won't take very well either so do watch that.


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## Ridgetop (Mar 10, 2021)

If none of the does produced kits after 33 days when they were supposed to be halfway through their pregnancies they probably were not bred.  Out of 4 one might reabsorb from stress of moving but they normally don't do that just from moving,  

The one that he mounted once that is now grunting at him might have conceived from that one time.  It only takes once!  LOL  I usually give my bucks an hour or so to recover between breeding does since often they won't be as aggressive with the second doe.  Not sure if they are confused and think they already got her or are tired, or what. However, I would definitely breed the other 2 does.  You want to be sure that the does you bought are actually going to be able to conceive and kindle.  If all 4 were bred to the breeder's same buck, he may have been infertile.


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## Longhornbreeder101 (Mar 10, 2021)

Beautiful babies


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## thumbelina (Mar 11, 2021)

Ridgetop said:


> If none of the does produced kits after 33 days when they were supposed to be halfway through their pregnancies they probably were not bred.  Out of 4 one might reabsorb from stress of moving but they normally don't do that just from moving,
> 
> The one that he mounted once that is now grunting at him might have conceived from that one time.  It only takes once!  LOL  I usually give my bucks an hour or so to recover between breeding does since often they won't be as aggressive with the second doe.  Not sure if they are confused and think they already got her or are tired, or what. However, I would definitely breed the other 2 does.  You want to be sure that the does you bought are actually going to be able to conceive and kindle.  If all 4 were bred to the breeder's same buck, he may have been infertile.


So last night I took out the nest boxes and this morning when I checked on everyone, one had pulled fur again is she just being weird? should I put the nest box back in? its pretty warm during the day right now so even if she does by some miracle have kits while im at work she has plenty of hay in her cage to make a decent nest so they should be okay until i get home but the nights are still pretty chilly.


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## LilTxFarmer (Mar 11, 2021)

Don't get impatient. Give it at least another 3 weeks before you try to breed again and then be sure to write down the date after the first time the buck falls off her, even though you'll still want to let him do it a couple of more times, to be on the safe side.


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## LilTxFarmer (Mar 11, 2021)

thumbelina said:


> So last night I took out the nest boxes and this morning when I checked on everyone, one had pulled fur again is she just being weird? should I put the nest box back in? its pretty warm during the day right now so even if she does by some miracle have kits while im at work she has plenty of hay in her cage to make a decent nest so they should be okay until i get home but the nights are still pretty chilly.


It won't hurt one bit, to put them back in.


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## Larsen Poultry Ranch (Mar 11, 2021)

thumbelina said:


> So last night I took out the nest boxes and this morning when I checked on everyone, one had pulled fur again is she just being weird? should I put the nest box back in? its pretty warm during the day right now so even if she does by some miracle have kits while im at work she has plenty of hay in her cage to make a decent nest so they should be okay until i get home but the nights are still pretty chilly.


If she's not using it as a bathroom it won't hurt anything to put the box back in for a few more days. Kits move around, and the nest box helps keep them contained to one spot where they can stay warm and where mom knows to feed them. While they might survive if she has them in the cage on hay, it's less likely to have a positive outcome. Good luck!


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## Ridgetop (Mar 11, 2021)

Definitely put the box back if she is pulling fur.  The thing to remember with rabbits is that the mother will not gather the kits together like  dog or cat, nor will she call to them like other species. If she has babies on the floor of the cage ("on the wire") they will just drag themselves about blindly and she will ignore them.  The warmth of the outside air has nothing to do with this  Kits are born hairless so they chill easily.  The nest box enables them to pile up together and stay warm.  When the doe goes into the nest to feed, it is rather hit or miss with her.  Unlike a dog or cat she will not nudge the kit toward a teat.  Litters born on the wire rarely survive so put the nest box bac in the cage.  Better safe than sorry.


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## thumbelina (Apr 8, 2021)

So just a little update. The black doe I was originally asking about did not have kits that round but I did rebreed her and she delivered 5 beautiful and healthy babies last Friday! Here are some pics I took yesterday!


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## Ridgetop (Apr 8, 2021)

Congratulations on the beautiful kits!!!


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## Larsen Poultry Ranch (Apr 8, 2021)

Congratulations! 

Looks like your doe carries the shaded/sable gene, that light kit looks just like my sable agouti kits did.


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