Doe Not Accepting?

[HomesteaderWife]

I'm with @animalmom on this one- our rabbits are going to be bred for meat and sale, so this is an important topic for me. I am very thankful to you Samantha for posting all of this information, as I had read up on the Vitamin D bit but didn't really know if it worked.

I am curious to try this and see what results we have. Thank you again for your help, and I will be sure to stay updated on this.

P.S. Our local animal supply company sells this calcium phosphorous powder with Vit. D pretty cheap, so when I order our pet vaccines next I will be surely ordering this as well! I am curious to see the results of it.

 

[samssimonsays]

Yes! please let me know how it works for y'all! I would love to watch your journey as well.

 

[HomesteaderWife]

I will be sure to, because the frustration of buying a female we thought to already be pregnant...then waiting for the 31 days to have no results- it just really is a bummer. Especially when we already have found folks to buy from us!

Either way, as mentioned, this information is really helpful and I do enjoy learning things from the experiences of others. I do have one other question though? When you mentioned the color of her vulva brightening and hinting that she could be ready- about how often does this happen? I'm just trying to see if there needs to be a certain time frame that I try to breed at.

Thank you!

 

[samssimonsays]

LOL I feel you there, I have had a waiting list backed up for over a year now.

I am not sure how often it occurs... maybe a couple times a month? I check daily and then when it is brighter reddish/purple breed that day. I have had more luck with the supplement and just breeding but I know many who it works for

 

[HomesteaderWife]

Oh okay, I will make sure to check her then to see if I notice this (before I order and start feeding the supplement). Thanks!

 

[samssimonsays]

Perfect Good luck!

 

[mysunwolf]

We have had good luck putting our rabbits in direct sunlight for extra Vitamin D This has the opposite effect in summertime as they overheat and are reluctant to breed, but in the winter it has helped us a lot.

And very much appreciate the info on lady parts, I did not realize that! I just read that a doe will accept a buck 12 out of 14 days--if this is true, it means that there are on average 4 days each month that a doe will be unresponsive to a buck because of her hormonal state. Guess that's not many, but I bet I've been able to hit all 4 in one month before

 

[samssimonsays]

LOL @mysunwolf I am sure I have too!

Breeding weekly, religiously sticking to one day each week to ensure the due dates are far enough apart to know if you're using a different buck and give it time to settle if they did take, improves the chances of them taking sooner. You would do it until you could feel a difference in if they are pregnant or not. Who gave me the advice is an ARBA judge and she raises French has been for over 30 years along with her husband and they raise other breeds too. What she told me made complete sense. It took her 19 breedings with one doe to get a single litter. Had they waited the full month between every one she would have never had a litter and it would have been a waste of feed and cage space. She has never had any issues with does taking with multiple breedings and causing issues nor have I, but I have only tried it this year. It just sucks to keep track of ALL of the due dates LOL.

I have found, however, that some does will not take no matter how hard you try until they are ready internally. Some of mine take by 12 months, others have their first litters at 19 months. My french have to be sr weight or between 8 and 9 months to even start trying. I like to wait until they are around 9 months to a year with some depending. if they hit age 2 with no litters, live or dead, They most likely will not have a litter and are pet out or freezer camp. Thankfully I have lucked out and most have found loving pet homes so far...

 

[HomesteaderWife]

Loving the information that you all keep providing! I look forward to trying all of this out and seeing if our doe will yield any results. Like I said- daddy rabbit isn't the problem. It's just trying to get her interested and get a successful breed!

Another question to add on here- I saw one article where the breeder mentioned that they would put the doe in the cage, and wait until the buck had mounted two successful times before removing her. How many times do you allow yours before separating them?

 

[samssimonsays]

I have some bucks that I HAVE to take the doe after one because he will exhaust himself too terribly but I will place her back in after 5-7 hours. This also increses chances because they release their eggs when bred and take a while to move down to the horns. Some will go upwards of 10 drops in only a few minutes. I like the number 3 for number of drops. BUT when I started out I only got one drop each time from my buck and got 12 babies each time. All depends. the more litters you have from your rabbits the more you will get to know their cycles and patterns.