# how old does a rabbit need to be to get pregnant?



## Rabbit (Feb 24, 2012)

how old does a rabbit need to be to get pregnant?


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## AZ Rabbits (Feb 24, 2012)

Depends on the breed/size. 

If dealing with a meat-breed like NZW, Cali, American, etc, then I've bred both bucks and does successfully at 4 months. And they continued to be extremely healthy and productive right from the start. 

As far as how early "can" they get pregnant. Not sure. I'd assume they could get pregnant earlier.

If you're talking about smaller or larger breeds, other people can chime in...


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## brentr (Feb 24, 2012)

AZ Rabbits said:
			
		

> Depends on the breed/size.
> 
> If dealing with a meat-breed like NZW, Cali, American, etc, then I've bred both bucks and does successfully at 4 months. And they continued to be extremely healthy and productive right from the start.
> 
> ...


AZ Rabbits, when you breed at 4 months are your does relatively easy breeders the first time or do you do a lot of hand breeding to get them to take?  I've got a NZ (red/white cross) doe that is 4 mos. now.  I was going to wait another 6 weeks to breed her but you're making me re-think it.  Sizewise she is 7 lbs plus.


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## adorable (Feb 25, 2012)

IF she is 7 pounds plus. THen i would go ahead and breed. YOu should check her first to see if she is ready . IF you put her in the buck cage for the first time without checking to see if she is ready. Some get a trama from it and will not breed later on.


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## AZ Rabbits (Feb 25, 2012)

brentr, many rabbits don't breed really easy the first time. I bred 5 does in 2 days using 2 bucks. All were 1 week short of 4 months. They always bred easily after that. 

The ONLY drawback I saw is that it took a bit longer for them to get the size I'd wanted to see in them. Their energies were focused on producing babies vs. gaining size. However, they were big enough and extremely good producers.

I personally think the idea of letting the doe determine if it's a good day to breed is a bunch of nonsense. They are producers. It doesn't matter to me one bit if they're "in the mood" or not. If they're old enough to be bred and it's on the calendar, they're getting bred. Then once they're on the breeding timeline, they almost always are accepting when you put them with the buck. It's only when they haven't been bred for a while that they are tough to breed and need forced breeding assistance. Otherwise, I never have problems breeding my does. But that's just my personal opinion...


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