Do I cull him or keep him?
- Thread starter Carla D
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Carla D
True BYH Addict
Nope. No hors. But that’s also a different type of boss training. At least in my eyes.You don't do horses, do you?
MiniSilkys
Loving the herd life
Sexually mature rabbits should not be housed together. I had two and the stronger one always pulled the hair out of the smaller one. Until I separated them at night and let them run free in a pen during the day. problem solved.
Ridgetop
Herd Master
Having raised both meat rabbits and Holland Lops for many years, I think you should cull the large aggressive buck. None of our bucks in a 100 cage rabbitry were ever aggressive, although we had many does that were not friendly. Does get aggressive when they want to breed (which is practically anytime they are not pregnant). I never sold recommended does as pets for children since they eventually got grouchy wanting to breed. Bucks on the other hand usually would stay pretty docile forever.
Keep the small dwarf rabbit to breed. If the larger rabbit is traumatizing him, after ridding yourself of that problem buck the small buck should breed just fine.
The main problem that I see for your breeding plans is the age of your doe. Production does should be bred by 1 year of age. After that they sometimes fight against breeding, or simply don't take. Many people don't realize this when they start with rabbits and let the does get too old before trying to breed them. Rabbits are on the bottom of the food chain, in the wild a doe will have a litter in the nest and another gestating. She will abandon her litter at 4 weeks and immediately give birth again. The doe is most fertile within 3-7 days after giving birth. Age of the doe was a problem for us when showing a doe that needed one more leg for a championship as summer came around. In hot southern California the rabbit show season is from October through May due to the heat. If a doe did not finish her championship by May, we retired her and bred her since keeping a yearling until the show season started 5 months later meant a doe who often would refuse to lift for the buck or simply was reluctant to breed. Does who have plucked all their hair for a nest do not usually do well in a show and they also tend to blow coat after kindling.
Rabbits have a very short life span. They are breedable from 6 months. Does have lessening fertility from 12 months on if not already in a breeding program. Bucks can go temporarily sterile during the heat of the summer. When does reach 2 years old you will notice their litters getting smaller, and more missed pregnancies. By 3 years old a production doe's breeding life is pretty much done if you are counting on litters to pay the bills.
One trick we used with our Champagne d'Argents (notorious for being difficult to breed) was to put the doe or does in a carrier and go for a drive for about 20 minutes. As soon as we returned and parked the car, we would race the doe to the buck's hutch and immediately breed her. She would usually immediately lift and we would have a successful breeding. You can try this if your doe is not receptive.
Do not just leave the doe in the buck's cage with him since you will never know when the kits are due. You can try switching cages and putting the buck I the doe's hutch and the doe in the buck's hutch. All your rabbits should be in their own cages. Aside from fighting, caging rabbits together can result in bad habits like fur pulling and eating, one rabbit eating more food than they need, etc. I would check the body condition of both rabbits. Fat does won't breed well either.
Another trick to use during the winter is to hang a light in the rabbitry. Rabbits respond to the number of daylight hours to breed, just like chickens do for laying eggs. Most people have trouble getting their rabbits to breed successfully during winter. By keeping light on in the rabbitry, the rabbits will respond to the extended light hours with willingness to breed. During several years of dark rainy weather we were the only people with winter litters.
Keep the small dwarf rabbit to breed. If the larger rabbit is traumatizing him, after ridding yourself of that problem buck the small buck should breed just fine.
The main problem that I see for your breeding plans is the age of your doe. Production does should be bred by 1 year of age. After that they sometimes fight against breeding, or simply don't take. Many people don't realize this when they start with rabbits and let the does get too old before trying to breed them. Rabbits are on the bottom of the food chain, in the wild a doe will have a litter in the nest and another gestating. She will abandon her litter at 4 weeks and immediately give birth again. The doe is most fertile within 3-7 days after giving birth. Age of the doe was a problem for us when showing a doe that needed one more leg for a championship as summer came around. In hot southern California the rabbit show season is from October through May due to the heat. If a doe did not finish her championship by May, we retired her and bred her since keeping a yearling until the show season started 5 months later meant a doe who often would refuse to lift for the buck or simply was reluctant to breed. Does who have plucked all their hair for a nest do not usually do well in a show and they also tend to blow coat after kindling.
Rabbits have a very short life span. They are breedable from 6 months. Does have lessening fertility from 12 months on if not already in a breeding program. Bucks can go temporarily sterile during the heat of the summer. When does reach 2 years old you will notice their litters getting smaller, and more missed pregnancies. By 3 years old a production doe's breeding life is pretty much done if you are counting on litters to pay the bills.
One trick we used with our Champagne d'Argents (notorious for being difficult to breed) was to put the doe or does in a carrier and go for a drive for about 20 minutes. As soon as we returned and parked the car, we would race the doe to the buck's hutch and immediately breed her. She would usually immediately lift and we would have a successful breeding. You can try this if your doe is not receptive.
Do not just leave the doe in the buck's cage with him since you will never know when the kits are due. You can try switching cages and putting the buck I the doe's hutch and the doe in the buck's hutch. All your rabbits should be in their own cages. Aside from fighting, caging rabbits together can result in bad habits like fur pulling and eating, one rabbit eating more food than they need, etc. I would check the body condition of both rabbits. Fat does won't breed well either.
Another trick to use during the winter is to hang a light in the rabbitry. Rabbits respond to the number of daylight hours to breed, just like chickens do for laying eggs. Most people have trouble getting their rabbits to breed successfully during winter. By keeping light on in the rabbitry, the rabbits will respond to the extended light hours with willingness to breed. During several years of dark rainy weather we were the only people with winter litters.
MiniSilkys
Loving the herd life
Ridgetop, are rabbits the same as Guiena pigs in that if they are not bred by 1 year of age their pelvic bones may fuse together and prevent labor?
secuono
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I've found that to be bull.
Also, buck rabbits should be in solo cages once sexually mature.
Separate him, wait a few weeks and bring him to a doe.
Some bucks, or does, are aggressive or too shy for awhile. But separate immediately once one starts to bite the other.
If he refuses to mellow, eat him. Gazillion of bucks out there, no point to keep him.
MiniSilkys
Loving the herd life
I had a guiena pig once and bought a book on them, so it is just what I read. Never had a female.
Ridgetop
Herd Master
Since you mentioned wanting to breed for Easter and holiday bunnies, here is more information. I used to do a good business breeding my Holland Lops for the pet market from Valentines Day through Easter and Mother's Day. This is a business and you have to keep good records to know your costs or else you will be selling for less than you have invested in them, or more than the market price which will mean no sales for you. Your breeding schedule is very important when breeding for the pet market. Miss the prime selling time and you will have no sales and a barn full of unsellable no longer cute bunnies. This is what you want to avoid so planning is everything.
First, you need to make sure on a calendar when your target holiday falls. Breed one or two does for Valentine's Day. That means you will need to breed around November 18. This gives you a week or so to make sure the doe is pregnant and enough time to rebreed her if she is not. Gestation takes 30 days and the bunnies sell best if they are 6 weeks old. Younger and they are too fragile, older and they are not as cute. Breed for flashy colors. Then breed another doe 2 weeks later. People will return for replacement bunnies when they disregard your care instructions and let little Jenny or Billy hug Fluffy too tight or let Fido play with the bunny. This means repeat sales for you.
Breed for Easter 12 weeks before the holiday. Again this gives you enough time to make sure the doe is pregnant and rebreed if not. Your sales age should be around 6 weeks. You should start advertising a week before. Again breed another doe 2 weeks later for replacement bunnies. Do the same for Mother's Day. If you are handy with tools, and can get the wire, cage parts and tools to make cages, selling the bunny with a cage, feed crock and water bottle can also add to your profits. Make sure to add all the costs and add in about 10-25% for profit.
After 3 years I stopped selling pet bunnies. I could no longer deal with the stupid people who returned for replacements because they let the bunny hop around loose and it drowned in the pool, got squashed accidently or killed by their (or the neighbor's) pet. However, I did make a nice profit while I did it. After 3 years I decided I preferred selling NZWs and Cals for breeding stock or meat. Breeding stock went to sensible people, and at least it was quick when we killed them for eat.
First, you need to make sure on a calendar when your target holiday falls. Breed one or two does for Valentine's Day. That means you will need to breed around November 18. This gives you a week or so to make sure the doe is pregnant and enough time to rebreed her if she is not. Gestation takes 30 days and the bunnies sell best if they are 6 weeks old. Younger and they are too fragile, older and they are not as cute. Breed for flashy colors. Then breed another doe 2 weeks later. People will return for replacement bunnies when they disregard your care instructions and let little Jenny or Billy hug Fluffy too tight or let Fido play with the bunny. This means repeat sales for you.
Breed for Easter 12 weeks before the holiday. Again this gives you enough time to make sure the doe is pregnant and rebreed if not. Your sales age should be around 6 weeks. You should start advertising a week before. Again breed another doe 2 weeks later for replacement bunnies. Do the same for Mother's Day. If you are handy with tools, and can get the wire, cage parts and tools to make cages, selling the bunny with a cage, feed crock and water bottle can also add to your profits. Make sure to add all the costs and add in about 10-25% for profit.
After 3 years I stopped selling pet bunnies. I could no longer deal with the stupid people who returned for replacements because they let the bunny hop around loose and it drowned in the pool, got squashed accidently or killed by their (or the neighbor's) pet. However, I did make a nice profit while I did it. After 3 years I decided I preferred selling NZWs and Cals for breeding stock or meat. Breeding stock went to sensible people, and at least it was quick when we killed them for eat.
Ridgetop
Herd Master
NO, their pelvis bones do NOT fuse together! The does just decide that they don't want to bother breeding. Once you have them in a regular breeding cycle, they will breed until 3-4 years of age. The litters get smaller, and older does will eventually not take. Then they become stewers.
When DH and I were running our 100 cage semi-commercial rabbitry, I was in an accelerated breeding program. I bred the does at 6 months, then after the litter was 4 weeks old I rebred the doe. When the litter was 7 weeks of age I moved the doe to the cage next to the original cage with the litter. The doe would kindle a week or so later. The bunnies were graded and sold as fryers at 8 weeks. Since this was an accelerated breeding schedule, I fed a higher protein pellet. Standard Kruse pellets had a protein level of 16%, my does were on 18% with a 2 oz. supplemental feed of mixed oats, barley, calf manna, sweet feed and sunflower seeds (our own recipe). I fed 1 cup pellets per day at night, the grain in the morning. The doe's ration was increased very slightly before she kindled, and afterwards. Once the kits were out of the nest at 2 weeks, the doe and litter got free fed in a 12" screen feeder. My rabbit cages were 36" wide by 30" deep, hung in a pole barn over manure pits. They had baby saver wire on the bottoms, and automatic waterers. I had urine guards on the bottom front of the cages, and urine guard panels between each cage. The nest boxes were made of plywood, open on the top. I had 12" x 18" pieces of drywall in each cage for the does to rest on. I replaced they as they got chewed up. The bucks had chunks of pine hung from the cage top for amusement while the does were busy with their litters.
Since DH showed his rabbits and had buyers coming for breeding stock, we also had sorting and grower cages where we would sort the bunnies every month into individual cages for showing and breeding sales. Anything determined to be not up to our exacting standards was sold for meat. I kept detailed breeding and kindling records. The manure pits were filled with sawdust. Several times a year the manure pits were emptied and tilled into the vegetable garden. There was no odor in the barn, and the shavings soaked up the nitrogen rich urine and made a balanced fertilizer for the garden. Lots of earthworms too!
When DH and I were running our 100 cage semi-commercial rabbitry, I was in an accelerated breeding program. I bred the does at 6 months, then after the litter was 4 weeks old I rebred the doe. When the litter was 7 weeks of age I moved the doe to the cage next to the original cage with the litter. The doe would kindle a week or so later. The bunnies were graded and sold as fryers at 8 weeks. Since this was an accelerated breeding schedule, I fed a higher protein pellet. Standard Kruse pellets had a protein level of 16%, my does were on 18% with a 2 oz. supplemental feed of mixed oats, barley, calf manna, sweet feed and sunflower seeds (our own recipe). I fed 1 cup pellets per day at night, the grain in the morning. The doe's ration was increased very slightly before she kindled, and afterwards. Once the kits were out of the nest at 2 weeks, the doe and litter got free fed in a 12" screen feeder. My rabbit cages were 36" wide by 30" deep, hung in a pole barn over manure pits. They had baby saver wire on the bottoms, and automatic waterers. I had urine guards on the bottom front of the cages, and urine guard panels between each cage. The nest boxes were made of plywood, open on the top. I had 12" x 18" pieces of drywall in each cage for the does to rest on. I replaced they as they got chewed up. The bucks had chunks of pine hung from the cage top for amusement while the does were busy with their litters.
Since DH showed his rabbits and had buyers coming for breeding stock, we also had sorting and grower cages where we would sort the bunnies every month into individual cages for showing and breeding sales. Anything determined to be not up to our exacting standards was sold for meat. I kept detailed breeding and kindling records. The manure pits were filled with sawdust. Several times a year the manure pits were emptied and tilled into the vegetable garden. There was no odor in the barn, and the shavings soaked up the nitrogen rich urine and made a balanced fertilizer for the garden. Lots of earthworms too!
Bunnylady
Herd Master
No, absolutely not. Rabbits are lagomorphs, guinea pigs are rodents; not even related. There's a persistent internet rumor that applies this problem (which has to do with the fact that the guinea pig babies are quite large in comparison to their mother) to a number of other species, but it is only an issue in guinea pigs.
Actually, you need to check on this. In a lot of areas, my state included, it is now illegal to sell rabbits that are less than 8 weeks of age. At that age, they have lost a lot of the "baby bunny" cuteness, and look more like young rabbits.
