# Do you think this will work?  UPDATE!!



## GLENMAR (Feb 11, 2013)

I was having a hard time getting my rabbits bred. 
I have 2 American Blue Bucks and 2 Does. and A trio of New Zealands.

I pared up the blues and 1 new zealand pair. They have been in the same cages since Saturday. I plan on removing the does
Wednesday. That will be 5 days together. What are the chances that they will get bred.


----------



## alsea1 (Feb 11, 2013)

Well, I am no expert on this, but I think it is important to witness a mating or two within one breeding session and then remove the doe. 
It is possible for her to get impregnated twice. Meaning that she did take with the first breeding and then again with a subsequant breeding. Only the result is more or less a late abortion if you will. The second breeding will not go well and be expelled. This however can influence the first successful breeding. 
That is what I have read anyway.


----------



## Winddancer (Feb 15, 2013)

It's best to put the doe in with the buck ONLY to breed. Witness them breeding then remove the doe and place her back into her cage. This will guarantee most of the time a litter. Now, some will miss but it's all a gamble anyway. Good Luck


----------



## brentr (Feb 15, 2013)

Glenmar, I think your plan will be fine.  As I've stated in other threads, an acquaintance of mine breeds her does this way.  She actually leaves them together for a week.  This is her preferred breeding practice.  She gets good litters and has not had any problems that I know of.

I would be more concerned if you left them together for that long and the does DIDN'T conceive.  To me that would be an indication that something isn't right.  Weight, health, virility, etc.

If you haven't had success through other breeding techniques, this method is a good next step.  I hope you get some litters!


----------



## GLENMAR (Feb 15, 2013)

Yep. I did not see a lot of action with the quick visits. So I decided to let them pair up for 5 days. I left them together for 5 days. I did see the New Zealand attempting the wrong end, 
Anyway, I tried not to bother them except to see if they were fighting. I did not see any other breeding attempts, but like I said, I pretty much just left them alone.
I will put in nest boxes around 2/24. We shall see.....


----------



## brentr (Feb 16, 2013)

GLENMAR said:
			
		

> Yep. I did not see a lot of action with the quick visits. So I decided to let them pair up for 5 days. I left them together for 5 days. I did see the New Zealand attempting the wrong end,
> Anyway, I tried not to bother them except to see if they were fighting. I did not see any other breeding attempts, but like I said, I pretty much just left them alone.
> I will put in nest boxes around 2/24. We shall see.....


One other thing to remember is that rabbits are nocturnal...there's a whole lot of time they'll be together that you WON'T be observing them unless you have a closed circuit camera or something.  Lot can happen in that time.  And if you saw a buck trying to breed you can be pretty confident he's going to keep after the doe until he is successful (or she won't put up with it anymore, LOL).


----------



## GLENMAR (Feb 17, 2013)

Thanks for the words of encouragement. Man, I really hope they are bred. I have one more New Zealand doe to breed this week.
I have lots of empty cages in my rabbitry waiting for bunnies, and I would love to eat a few.    I will update results here.


----------



## alsea1 (Feb 17, 2013)

I wouldnt worry about it too much. Rabbits are very prolific. Soon, you will be looking for more cages and bemoaning to price of rabbit feed. LOL.


----------



## greenbean (Feb 17, 2013)

I hope you get lots of nice healthy babies!


----------



## nawma (Feb 17, 2013)

I'm too new at this to have an opinion on this technique, but I wish you all the luck. Hopefully you will fill up those cages in short order.


----------



## Citylife (Feb 20, 2013)

That is a practice I would not recommend as they can get impregnated multiple times.  They can also fight and have heard of does seriously damaging males business.  
I  put them in and watch to see if they breed.  Then out they come.  Its safe and affective for me.


----------



## greenbean (Feb 20, 2013)

Did you try table breeding any before you put them in together for a few days?


----------



## GLENMAR (Feb 22, 2013)

I had tried everything else. I never saw any fighting. 
They are not used to being handled, so table breeding would be hard. 
I think I felt some babies on one of the does yesterday. I did not feel anything on the
other two. I am going to wait and see what happens.


----------



## Prairiechick (Feb 22, 2013)

GLENMAR said:
			
		

> Yep. I did not see a lot of action with the quick visits. So I decided to let them pair up for 5 days. I left them together for 5 days. I did see the New Zealand attempting the wrong end,
> Anyway, I tried not to bother them except to see if they were fighting. I did not see any other breeding attempts, but like I said, I pretty much just left them alone.
> I will put in nest boxes around 2/24. We shall see.....


I see my boys doing the hump the head thing after they have unsuccessfully tried the right end, but I push them off and make them do it right.  However, there are times that it is more of a dominance maneuver.  You can actually see does do this to the buck when she is not receptive.  
Personally, I don't leave them together.  I want to know when they were actually bred and stay there watching until I see the deed.  I let him do his thing twice, check to see if semen is noticable around the doe's vulva and then consider it a good mating.
Sometimes, even after I have seen the deed happen, I will still try them again the next couple of days until I see the doe really reject the buck.  BUT that doesn't always tell the truth of what is going on.
I had a Cal doe last year that I put her in with my buck.  He serviced her.  I tried again the next day and she let him again.  In fact, I was getting pretty upset because I was trying her every day for about 3 weeks and she just kept letting him.  
I had put another doe in starting the same day as the first attempted breeding, and she rejected him in a very aggreassive way the next day!  
Well, kindling day came for the one doe and as I was looking through her nest box to see if there were stills to remove, my son says, "Hey, there are babies over here on the floor."  That tramp of a doe that kept letting the buck mount her was preggers the first time and had 8 babies right one time!  I was able to save 6 and get a box in with her in time that no others were lost.
This rabbit breeding thing is tricky business sometimes.


----------



## sonnythebunny (Feb 23, 2013)

> I see my boys doing the hump the head thing after they have unsuccessfully tried the right end, but I push them off and make them do it right.  However, there are times that it is more of a dominance maneuver. You can actually see does do this to the buck when she is not receptive.


yes, my doe did that to my buck the first time they met


----------



## GLENMAR (Mar 6, 2013)

Well if it worked, my first ones should be due during the week of 3/11.


----------



## GLENMAR (Mar 12, 2013)

I don't think any are pregnant even though I left them with the bucks for 4 days.


----------



## Mamaboid (Mar 13, 2013)

We had a pair of Rex rabbits that we tried to breed.  Nothing happened.  We finally gave up put them in together full time and left them alone.  Still nothing happened.  Finally, one morning we found a nest of babies.  We left them alone for a few days while we went and got a set of cages and set them up.  The mom and dad and babies all in the same cage for a week or so.  Babies got big enough to move out so we moved babies and during moving babies we found another nest of new borns.  Couldn't get her started, now can't get her stopped.  Dad is now in new home all by himself again.  Oh BTW, I have baby rabbits for sale.


----------



## GLENMAR (Mar 17, 2013)

Ok. I palated the does. There was I blue that I was 90% sure that I thought was pregnant. 
Last night she kindled 5 kits, but she never pulled any hair. 
They were all over in the next box and got too cold, so I lost those. 

The good news is I was checking over the other does really well, 
I decided to try to re-breed one if the New Zealands. Will the buck 
really wanted her. I held her head and lifted her rear a little with my other hand. 
He bred her successfully right away. 

I am going to give the blue a few days to recover, then try to re-breed her.


----------



## DianeS (Mar 20, 2013)

GLENMAR said:
			
		

> I decided to try to re-breed one if the New Zealands. Will the buck
> really wanted her. I held her head and lifted her rear a little with my other hand.
> He bred her successfully right away.
> 
> I am going to give the blue a few days to recover, then try to re-breed her.


Actually, I recommend re-breeding her ASAP, since you have another doe bred at about the same time. Having does scheduled to kindle at the same time is highly recommended, since it allows you to foster kits between the two momma does. That can be a litter saver if you have a litter of just one, or if one doe doesn't feed them, or one doe dies, or other problems like that. 

Plus, does are really *really* fertile right after they kindle.


----------



## GLENMAR (Mar 20, 2013)

DianeS said:
			
		

> GLENMAR said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I did. THANKS. I bred her today along with another doe.     I am going to have bunnies everywhere.


----------



## treeclimber233 (Apr 23, 2013)

What you should do before you breed your rabbits is check the doe to see if her "part" are swollen and RED on the inside.  If she is not it will not matter how long you leave them together she probably will not breed.  And does will castrate a buck if they are pestered and not in the mood.  So a quick peek for red and a quick trip in the bucks pen is all it takes.


----------



## treeclimber233 (Apr 23, 2013)

Prairiechick said:
			
		

> GLENMAR said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Did she lift for him or just sit there  and he did his thing


----------



## currycomb1 (Apr 23, 2013)

someone gave me an old book on raising rabbits. they would pair up rabbits for 30 days. kinda limits the bucks that are useable, but they got babies. we had to do this, but modified it to a week. used first day in together to base when to put nest boxes in, and left in for a week and half past due date. the rabbits actually liked being together. always sitting close together, eating at same time, etc. it workrd for us, hopefully for you too


----------



## hitnspit (Apr 24, 2013)

with my rabbitry we put the doe in with the buck and we see that he does his deed 3 to 4 time while we clean the does cage. I have not read all the replys but something you may want to change is put the buck where he can not see the does. then when it comes breeding time he should take no time at all. to leave them together for that long could get nasty with the birthing. we did breed a doe that was already bred (somehow the paperwork did not get filledout right) and she ended up having her litter of only three but then a litter of 6 that was not fully developed. Pretty nasty. Just my 2 cents....


----------

