# Accidentally bred a pregnant doe, what to do??



## Luke0987654321 (Sep 9, 2012)

On friday i bought what i thought was a 5 month old doe (unknown breed) all goes well, today i breed her to my dwarf buck 
and she accepts him three times so i put her back in to her hutch.
ten minutes ago i get a call from the man i bought her from, and he tells me that he has sold me the wrong rabbit, and that she was mated two 
weeks ago...
I am worried that mating her has messed up her pregnancy???
this has never happened to me before.
any help will be apreciated.

The doe:











The buck:










thanks in advance.


luke.


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## Akpahsj (Sep 9, 2012)

I don't know for sure, but I think if she had been pregnant she would not have accepted the buck so easily. Did she struggle very much? If not, there is the possibility the breeding was not successful [ the first one] 
Hope I made sense!


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## Luke0987654321 (Sep 9, 2012)

yes you did make sense 
i palpated and she is pregnant for sure, normally if i put a doe in with my buck and she is pregnant she will grunt and try to get away from him, or she will just lay there and ignore his advances, that is why it came as a surprise to me when he told me she was 2 weeks pregnant, because it didn't take her long to "lift" for my buck.
anyway does anyone know if it will mess up her pregnancy?
thanks.


Luke.


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## currycomb (Sep 9, 2012)

if she was really pregnant from the breeding at the other place, she will go ahead and have those babies on time. you may loose the 2nd litter when she has the first litter, or she may go ahead and have babies from the second litter. you must be ready!!! preferably with another bred doe due the same time as you double bred rabbit so you can put the second litter with the surrogate doe. the kits born later cannot compete with 2 week old kits for food. rabbits have 2 uterine horns and can maintain pregnancy in both, giving birth at different times. good luck


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## DianeS (Sep 9, 2012)

Like others have said, the first pregnancy wasn't disturbed by this more recent breeding. If she did get pregnant at the original owner's home, she will still have those kits on time. 
But, it is possible for rabbits to carry two litters, conceived at different times, at the same time. They have two horns to their uterus, and one continues to have viable eggs even after the other has conceived kits. 

That said, most of the time when rabbits breed, they breed multiple times in a short period of time (like you saw with your buck). This usually leads to pregnancy in both uterine horns that were conceived within minutes of each other. If that happened at the original owner's house, then you won't even notice that she was bred a second time.

The potential issues arise IF when she was bred 2 weeks ago, she only got pregnant in one uterine horn. IF that happened, then she could have gotten pregnant today in the second horn. IF that happens, then one of two things will happen:
1 - She will deliver the first litter as normal, along with the second litter at the same time,. If this happens, the second litter will be too premature to live, and will either be born dead or die extremely quickly (minutes, probably not even hours, after kindling).
Or
2 - She will deliver the first litter as normal, and two weeks later she will deliver the second litter as normal. If this happens, the second litter is likely to not get enough milk to live. You will likely need a nurse-mom for them (another doe whose litter is the same age that will accept some extra kits), or learn how to bottle raise them (which is not often successful). 

So, to sum up - the kits from the first breeding are going to be delivered normally, just as if the second breeding never happened. The kits from the second breeding might not exist, might be born prematurely, might be born but not fed enough, or very very tiny chance of being just fine. 

Hope that helps! Don't sweat it. This messed up your breeding plans, but isn't a disaster. And you can't act on what you don't know. Are you going to keep this doe anyway, or return her for the one you were intended to buy?


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## Four Winds Ranch (Sep 9, 2012)

Very educational!!! 
Thanks for the question and the answers!  
I guess one learns something new every day! That explains a lot to me, as I raise rabbits too, and when this happend, I just assumed the doe has some extreamely small runts that I somehow missed when I checked the nest!


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## Luke0987654321 (Sep 10, 2012)

DianeS said:
			
		

> Like others have said, the first pregnancy wasn't disturbed by this more recent breeding. If she did get pregnant at the original owner's home, she will still have those kits on time.
> But, it is possible for rabbits to carry two litters, conceived at different times, at the same time. They have two horns to their uterus, and one continues to have viable eggs even after the other has conceived kits.
> 
> That said, most of the time when rabbits breed, they breed multiple times in a short period of time (like you saw with your buck). This usually leads to pregnancy in both uterine horns that were conceived within minutes of each other. If that happened at the original owner's house, then you won't even notice that she was bred a second time.
> ...


hi,thanks for the info, i have raised litters before succesfully so whatever happens i will be ready, and if she has the two litters  at the same time... well there isnt anything i can do, but thats just life. I am going to keep her, thanks again for the info!


Luke.


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## oneacrefarm (Sep 13, 2012)

Luke0987654321 said:
			
		

> yes you did make sense
> i palpated and she is pregnant for sure, normally if i put a doe in with my buck and she is pregnant she will grunt and try to get away from him, or she will just lay there and ignore his advances, that is why it came as a surprise to me when he told me she was 2 weeks pregnant, because it didn't take her long to "lift" for my buck.
> anyway does anyone know if it will mess up her pregnancy?
> thanks.
> ...


Rabbits can and do, as you now know, lift for the buck even when already pregnant. That is why "test breeding" is not the best indicator of pregnancy. You have already gotten some very good answers to your question, so I will just say Congrats on the new rabbits and I hope all goes well with the pregnancy! Let us know how she does.


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