Getting discouraged...

[Hens and Roos]

hang in there , we are in the same predicament, we have 3 does and only one had a litter- which 3 survived to weaning only to lose 2 to enteritis. At this point we have 1 doe who hopefully is due towards the end of Feb. she is carrying hay around so we added the nest box already.

Going forward we will breed each doe at least twice, 12 hours apart.

 

[cwrabs]

hang in there , we are in the same predicament, we have 3 does and only one had a litter- which 3 survived to weaning only to lose 2 to enteritis. At this point we have 1 doe who hopefully is due towards the end of Feb. she is carrying hay around so we added the nest box already.

Going forward we will breed each doe at least twice, 12 hours apart.

We always breed twice. At least three "fall offs" then take the doe back to the buck anywhere between 2-8 hours later (depending on our schedule)

 

[Hens and Roos]

We always breed twice. At least three "fall offs" then take the doe back to the buck anywhere between 2-8 hours later (depending on our schedule)

thanks for the tips, we will try this idea when we re-breed hopefully this week sometime.

 

[Hens and Roos]

Has anyone heard or know of; the water one is using causing problems with breeding? A couple of people that I have been talking with regarding our lack of baby rabbits, mentioned this to me

 

[P.O. in MO]

Hi H & R, In all my reading when I was trying to figure out how to get started I never saw anything about this, they all just say rabbits need clean fresh water. I use those ez crocks that clip on the side of the cage and I usually take them off and dump the and wipe them out about every third day in the winter as they usually are getting a little dirt in the bottom. In the summer I bring them in a wash them every 2 or 3 weeks when the heat promotes something pink starting to grow in them. I would think that since wild rabbits drinking out of puddles and muddy ponds manage to proliferate in the absence of a lot of predators that this wouldn't be the problem unless you have some seriously toxic water coming out of the faucet. Hope you get a litter, I have one due tomorrow and another on the 25th. Am keeping my fingers crossed.

 

[Hens and Roos]

Good luck with your litters, our Cali doe is due around the end of this week . Just bred our French Angora doe this am so we will see what happens- plan to re-breed her later today and see what happens.

 

[P.O. in MO]

Thanks H & R, in that last post I meant to add that in Storey's Rabbit book, Bob Bennett says that he believes daylight length affects the breeding cycle. Since things DID seem to slow down this winter in my production I put some CFL daylight 23 watt bulbs (100 watt equiv) on a timer and have them coming on just before dark and staying on until 10 PM. That's giving them around 15 hours of daylight. I know they say chickens don't lay as much in the winter on short daylight hours and I have always had a light and timer in the coop. I can tell a little difference in the number of eggs I get summer vs. winter but not much. I don't know if this will make any difference with the rabbits but until I get a bunch in the freezer I am going to leave them on. Hope all goes well this afternoon.

 

[Hens and Roos]

We use lights as well with our rabbits and in our coop- my kids show chickens for 4-H so we have to have chicks hatching just after Jan 1st.

We are trying what Cwrabs posted several posts up... at this point it can't hurt!

 

[sawfish99]

In our experience, problems with a doe getting pregnant are most commonly associated with the doe being too fat. We put fat does on a hay only diet for a few weeks. I have culled some that had excessive fat built up inside and 1 that appeared to have cystic ovaries.

 

[P.O. in MO]

Thanks for the post Sawfish, I didn't know you could put a doe on a hay only diet. I have been meaning to post some pictures of my does to get an idea of what is ok, what is fat and what is really fat. I haven't been doing this long enough to really know. I need to get on this as the one I think needs to go on a diet is on full feed since she is nursing but I think I wean in a couple of weeks and I want to rebreed her as soon as I get her down to the size she needs to be.