# Buck having a hard time breeding



## daniel-delarosa (Sep 5, 2011)

My buck is having a hard time getting the deed done.  It looks like the does  aren't lifting their butts up for him.  Is it because they are being watched?  My wife and I figured that was the reason, so I just left them alone for about an hour.  Now the "wonder if they actually bred game" begins. I guess I will know in a month.


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## woodleighcreek (Sep 5, 2011)

How old is the buck?


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## daniel-delarosa (Sep 5, 2011)

8-9 months, the does are too.


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## woodleighcreek (Sep 5, 2011)

Im pretty sure it is not because they are being watched. 

This article has some helpful hints on breeding.  http://www.barbibrownsbunnies.com/having_baby_bunnies_questions.htm


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## Ms. Research (Sep 5, 2011)

Thanks Woodleighcreek.  Have definitely bookmarked that article.  Lots of information on rabbit pregnancy.  

daniel-delarosa, must be real frustrating but young ones, I hear, take some time to prove.  Also remember the heat affects them as well, does and bucks.   I think I'm finding out that breeding any livestock has the " wonder if they are bred" game.  I think the animals do that on purpose. 

Hope to hear you posting about kits in a month.


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## bunnylovincowgirl (Sep 7, 2011)

I find that when does won't lift, leaving them overnight with the buck usually works.   You can also do a force breeding, where you hold the doe in place and lift her tail, but I've found that she often doesn't catch when you do that, because if she's ready she will lift anyway.  However, the breeding stimulates ovulation, so it can work.  

Good luck!


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## crazyturkeydesigns (Sep 7, 2011)

bunnylovincowgirl said:
			
		

> I find that when does won't lift, leaving them overnight with the buck usually works.   You can also do a force breeding, where you hold the doe in place and lift her tail, but I've found that she often doesn't catch when you do that, because if she's ready she will lift anyway.  However, the breeding stimulates ovulation, so it can work.
> 
> Good luck!


Did you mean switching cages for a night? IMO it's a really bad idea to leave a buck and doe unattended, and even more so with a feisty doe. You could go out the next morning and find an injured/dead pair of rabbits. But like I said, IMO.
If we have a doe (I've found it's the doe that's the difficult one about 90% of the time) that won't lift her butt, there's a couple of tricks you can try. You can switch cages with the buck and the doe (i.e. put doe in bucks cage and buck in does cage) for the night, take the doe for a little car ride (weird, I know, but sometimes it helps) and starting about 2 weeks before you breed her, put a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar in her water each day. I'm not sure why it works, but we got our unbreedable AS doe bred using that trick. A close friend and breeder recommended it to me. 
Sometimes, if the doe has a will of iron and refuses to let the buck do the deed, you can hold her up. There's a website that describes how to do it but I can't think of it off the top of my head. If I find I will post it later.


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## bunnylovincowgirl (Sep 7, 2011)

crazyturkeydesigns said:
			
		

> bunnylovincowgirl said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


No, I agree.  That should be done only with great caution.  I've heard tales of castrated males and worse in the morning.  I don't know that I've ever done it with my Polish, for they are usually easy breeders and being more high strung, I would be less likely to trust them.  However my silver rabbits are extremely hard to get bred, and sometimes leaving them overnight is the only way I've been able to get it done.  They are more laid-back than the Polish so I am more comfortable with it.  

Taking a doe to a show can also work; I guess you mentioned the car ride.  If it's not summertime already, I've found that increasing the light and warmth in the doe's environment for two weeks can help.


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## hoodat (Sep 7, 2011)

daniel-delarosa said:
			
		

> My buck is having a hard time getting the deed done.  It looks like the does  aren't lifting their butts up for him.  Is it because they are being watched?  My wife and I figured that was the reason, so I just left them alone for about an hour.  Now the "wonder if they actually bred game" begins. I guess I will know in a month.


Put both in cages close together where they can see and (more importantly) smell one another. The bucks pheremones may get her going.


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