# breed back



## longbow163 (Feb 10, 2013)

Win is the best time to re breed your Doe back after having her baby's some say 14 day's or longer.


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## P.O. in MO (Feb 10, 2013)

This is what Storey's Guide to Raising Rabbits say:

"For years, normal practice was to wean the litter at 8 weeks and breed the doe again at that time, thereby gaining a maximum of four litters per year per doe.  But since the nutritional advances that came with the manufacture of rabbit pellets, it is possible to maintain the doe in good condition even if you breed her again sooner than 8 weeks after kindling.  Ordinarily, my own practice is to rebreed the doe when the litter is 4 or 5 weeks old and wean the young at 6 or 7 weeks.  That gives her 1 or 2 weeks without the litter to regain her strength for the next litter.  And that gives me the potential for about five or six litters per year per doe.  Some commercial breeders accelerate the breeding program even more to seven or eight litters, by rebreeding the doe sooner and weaning the litter sooner."


I am new to raising rabbits so don't know enough to give you any recommendations from experience.  I intend to rebreed mine when they are 5 weeks old so my doe gets a little break.  If the commercial breeders talked about above get 7 or 8 litters a year then they would have to:

365 divided by 8 litters is 45 days between kindling so with 31 day gestation you would have to rebreed at 14 days after kindle.
365 divided by 7 litters is 52 days between kindling so with 31 day gestation you would have to rebreed at 21 days after kindle.

I think that's the way it would work out.  

Hopefully there will be some more input from more experience breeders.  Good luck.   P.O. in MO


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## WhiteMountainsRanch (Feb 10, 2013)

*I'm not a commercial rabbitry, just provide meat for our family and friends, so take my opinion for what it's worth. 

Honestly that sounds like A LOT of breeding to get out of a doe. You will likely wear her down in that time. I always give my does a few months AFTER weaning the babies, just because I don't NEED 6 litters a year from one doe. I'd rather keep two and stagger them so they don't get too thin or worn out.

I had one doe that would give me 10 babies every single litter and she definitely needed a couple month break in-between. My rabbits get rabbit pellet, calf manna, fruits and veggies from our garden and BOSS so they are quite healthy, and I just couldn't image trying to get 6 litters a year from a doe. 

If you had to do it once it'd probably be ok, but I wouldn't think that she could maintain that cycle for very long.*


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## greenbean (Feb 10, 2013)

WhiteMountainsRanch said:
			
		

> *I'm not a commercial rabbitry, just provide meat for our family and friends, so take my opinion for what it's worth.
> 
> Honestly that sounds like A LOT of breeding to get out of a doe. You will likely wear her down in that time. I always give my does a few months AFTER weaning the babies, just because I don't NEED 6 litters a year from one doe. I'd rather keep two and stagger them so they don't get too thin or worn out.
> 
> ...


I agree completely with this.  I like giving my does time to recover after their babies have been weaned.  IMO breeding for 6 litters a year would run a doe down quickly.


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## Prairiechick (Feb 11, 2013)

I also give my girls a break after having a litter.  I think of it this way, a woman who has a baby is recommended to take at least 9 months to get back to her prepregnancy normality.  Some will say to wait a year even.  So, I apply that same concept to my rabbits.  If a doe has a litter, she gestated for a month, then I let them nurse for 6 weeks, so I give them at least 2 months to get their bodies back in shape before I re-breed.  However, if I have a doe that loses a litter at kindlng, I will breed her back two days later.  If she loses the litter (had one litter get too cold and died at a week old), I wait a couple of weeks and re-breed.  
I think you are asking your does to get burned out a lot faster if you just breed them constantly.  Unless you are a commercial breeder, why would you need that much rabbit?  I have a family of 5 and we put 14 in the freezer this fall and I know that the 3 does I just bred are going to give me plenty more and I am going to either have to use some of it for my dogs as part of a raw addition to their diet, or sell it.


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## brentr (Feb 11, 2013)

Going to weigh in on the opposite end of the spectrum, and preface my comments about breeding intervals by saying it depends on the doe in question.

I have two does in my rabbitry, a Cali and a NZxChinchilla.  In order to give them a longer break in summer 2013 and avoid the heat, I decided to shorten my breeding intervals in Fall and Winter 2012-3 and increase their production.  My Cali doe has been amazing!  She has kept her condition well, litter size high, and had 3% mortality in her litters (lost one kit total from her litters).  My NZ, not so much.  After two litters, she clearly needed a longer recovery period, which I have given her.

Here's the stats on my Cali doe:
*18 mos. old in Sept '12
kindled every six weeks (14 day breed back) starting in late Sept '12. Four litters to date.
*average litter size of 9.
*has only lost 5 oz. of body weight (compared to pre-breeding weight in Aug; comparison weights were taken on breeding dates of next litters, so she was open but nursing) from Aug to now. (Compare to my NZ, who was down over 2 lbs after the second litter and needed 7 weeks to regain condition to where I felt it was okay to breed her again.)

My does get Producer's Pride pellets, a little grass hay.  When nursing they have free choice pellets, supplemented by 1 Tbs Calf Manna plus 1 Tbs oats.  During rest period of 10 days between litter weaning & kindling, supplemental feed is suspended, they are ration fed for 3-4 days (to help dry off milk supply) and then feed is slowly increased until she kindles again, at which point free choice pellets and supplemental feeding starts again.


I don't have any other Cali does, so I can't say if this is typical for the breed or if I just happen to have an amazing rabbit.  I love everything about this doe and plan to keep 1-2 does from her as additions to my rabbitry.

I guess my point is that some rabbits can easily handle a shorter breeding interval, IF their nutritional needs are met.  I've seen no break down in her physically or  psychologically (hasn't developed bad habits or gone crazy).  Unless something changes my mind, I will rest her over late spring/summer and repeat this cycle staring in Fall '13.


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## Bossroo (Feb 11, 2013)

There is a great difference between a commercial rabbit and a backyard rabbit in terms of production/ recovery / number/# lb per litter   of kits raised efficiency.  A commercial breeder wouldn't be in business for very long if he/ she gave a longer recovery period between litters if they were to keep breeding the less efficient/ productive does.


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## WhiteMountainsRanch (Feb 11, 2013)

brentr said:
			
		

> I don't have any other Cali does, so I can't say if this is typical for the breed or if I just happen to have an amazing rabbit.  I love everything about this doe and plan to keep 1-2 does from her as additions to my rabbitry.
> 
> I guess my point is that some rabbits can easily handle a shorter breeding interval, IF their nutritional needs are met.
> 
> Unless something changes my mind, I will rest her over late spring/summer and repeat this cycle staring in Fall '13.


*
Al 30 of my rabbits are Cali's, and yes they are amazing rabbits.  I love them. 

I'm sure I could do the same thing a few times and they would be fine. I just don't want to wear them out. I have des going on 6 years that still give me large fat healthy kits. 

And you are resting them during the summer. I'm sure that definitely helps; they aren't undre that stress of being bred year round.  4 litters a year is a big difference from 7. *


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## brentr (Feb 11, 2013)

WhiteMountainsRanch said:
			
		

> brentr said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I'm sure the rest helps too.  She is currently pregnant with litter #5, and I anticipate getting a sixth before resting her until fall.


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## longbow163 (Feb 17, 2013)

thanks for all the he[p, I'm going with a ever 30 days re-bred that will give me about 6 liters a year.


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