Doe not interested in breeding

[Marsha Kay]

I have a 6 month old Florida White that started growling at me. Everyone I talked to said she might want to be bred so I tried putting her in with a buck. He is more than willing to give breeding a try but she just doesn't let him complete the act. She lets him get in place but before he finishes the act she hops away. She is not aggressive to him so I thought maybe she was playing hard to get. I left them together for 2 hours but they just seem to tire each other out. Neither seem over weight. They just eventually lay down together and rest after he chases her and tries to mount her for 90 minutes.
https://imgur.com/a/Wa69G

I plan to keep trying weekly but I was wondering if anyone had ideas to speed up the process. I'm afraid to leave them together alone because I won't know when she's been bred and I don't want them to end up fighting. I tried to hold her in position but he seems shy and won't mount her when I'm holding her. I have also tried switching cages overnight so they could get used to each other's scents but she still plays hard to get.

 

[Bunnylady]

Before you put a doe in with a buck, it's a good idea to check the color of the lining of her vulva. If it's a light pink color, chances are that she isn't ready to breed, and will just run and squeak and waste a lot of energy and your time. The color of the doe's vulva is a pretty good indicator of where she is in her hormonal cycle. The color you are looking to see is a bright, cherry red color - that is usually a doe at a hormonal peak. A doe that is showing red will usually breed willingly, and settle with a nice sized litter. Some does never show anything darker than a deep rose color, so you kind of have to know the doe. A purplish color usually indicates a doe that has cycled past a peak; she may refuse to breed, and even if she does, she is less likely to have a decent litter size because her eggs have been "ripe" for a while, and her hormone levels are dropping.

 

[Marsha Kay]

I thought rabbits were "in heat" 365 days per year or possibly 12 days followed by 2-4 days of not being furtile followed by another 12 days of furtility. Should I be checking her vulva every day to pick the best day to put them together?

 

[Bunnylady]

Rabbits don't experience typical 'heat,' instead, they do a thing called "induced ovulation." Does ripen eggs in response to rising hormone levels, but don't automatically release them. Instead, they hold them in a state of readiness until the act of mating causes the production of a hormone that triggers the release of the eggs. Because an egg has a relatively short period of time after release during which it must be fertilized (or else it dies), induced ovulation allows a much greater window of opportunity for the doe to get pregnant during each hormone cycle.

But hormone levels rise and fall, even eggs held in readiness deteriorate, so there are periods when a doe is more fertile than others. Some does will give clues that they are ready to breed - they may grunt, or 'chin' things (scent marking - they have a gland under the jaw), or some does pull fur in response to high hormone levels. I have found the vulva color to be a fairly good indicator as to which does will breed and which won't. I don't know that I would check every day; every few days should be enough.

 

[promiseacres]

Being willing to breed 12 months of the year is a trait only some inherent. Some breeds are harder to breed than others. My velveteen lops are definitely seasonal, though 1 line I have is better than the others.

Also sometimes it takes 2,3 days to convince the doe that she is ready. Especially if she's maiden. Watch her color and I try daily until the deed is done. I try to use an experienced buck with a maiden as my bucks expect me to but involved to keep the does still, even lifting her if she refuses.

 

[Marsha Kay]

Thank you both for your input. She was starting to get aggressive toward me kind of out of the blue so I tried to breed her the past two weekends without success. Unfortunately I work during week days and I'm not comfortable leaving her alone with him while I'm at work so I've just been trying on Saturdays and Sundays but I sim keep an eye on the color of her vulva to get a better idea of when to put them together.

 

[promiseacres]

My rabbits take less than 2 minutes to breed, I never leave them together unless I am feeding, ect and can watch their interactions

 

[HaloRabbits]

I was just about to post a similar question but found this, so I hope you do not mind if I hop on.
We have some young does as well. We tried to breed one two days ago and she wouldn't lift. So the next day we tried again, same thing. So we tried another doe that is the same age as her and she didn't lift either. Multiple sources I read said we could breed at this age, so I was unsure what the issue may be. Our first doe we got last year was already bred when we got her, so this is my first time dealing with young/unproven/virgin does.
I will check their vulva's and will wait to try again if it is a pale pink. They are all good weight 8-9 lbs, so I know they are physically capable of carrying kits now.