I got my first rabbit trio yesterday. How long do i leave the does together with the buck to mate? Is there anyway to tell if its a success? Also if i separate the buck from the does in his own area will he get depressed? And can i leave the two does in the same area to nest and give birth? I have the three of them in a 40 square ft chicken coop that i cleaned out. My flock went from 40 to 4. They didnt adjust to the move so im trying to repurpose my coop
Mating
- Thread starter Gary
- Start date
DutchBunny03
Loving the herd life
It would not be a good idea to breed them yet. Give them at least a few days to get used to the new surroundings before breeding. Rabbits mate fast. It should be done within a couple minutes as long as the does are willing and the buck isn't lazy or uninterested. This sounds gross, i know, but sticking around to watch is the best way to tell if the mating was successful. At 10-14 days, palpating the does (https://www.arba.net/PDFs/palpation.pdf ) will give good assurance as to if they are pregnant or not.
It should be ok to leave the buck with the does as long as they all get along well, but take him out on day 27 of the gestation period (kindling is possible btw days 28-33). If you don't, there could be a few results: everything is just fine (which is highly unlikely); the buck breeds with the doe minutes after she kindles, forcing her to give birth again a month later and have overlapping litters, which will put her under high stress and eventually reduce her lifespan; or the buck gets aggressive, chases the does, and kills or otherwise harms the kits. He will not get depressed by himself as long as he has toys and other stuff to do (cardboard boxes and toilet paper tubes stuffed with hat make good entertainment).
Only leave the does together to nest and kindle IF THEY ARE FULLY BONDED. That means mutual grooming, laying down side by side, being comfortable near each other. If they are not like this, you may only have one doe left even before they kindle (two of my does had a spat where one bit the other so hard she screamed). If you think they are fine together, make sure to provide plenty of nesting material (hay, straw) and at least two nestboxes.
It should be ok to leave the buck with the does as long as they all get along well, but take him out on day 27 of the gestation period (kindling is possible btw days 28-33). If you don't, there could be a few results: everything is just fine (which is highly unlikely); the buck breeds with the doe minutes after she kindles, forcing her to give birth again a month later and have overlapping litters, which will put her under high stress and eventually reduce her lifespan; or the buck gets aggressive, chases the does, and kills or otherwise harms the kits. He will not get depressed by himself as long as he has toys and other stuff to do (cardboard boxes and toilet paper tubes stuffed with hat make good entertainment).
Only leave the does together to nest and kindle IF THEY ARE FULLY BONDED. That means mutual grooming, laying down side by side, being comfortable near each other. If they are not like this, you may only have one doe left even before they kindle (two of my does had a spat where one bit the other so hard she screamed). If you think they are fine together, make sure to provide plenty of nesting material (hay, straw) and at least two nestboxes.
Suburban Rabbits
Chillin' with the herd
I started breeding rabbits that were donated to me, without an exact age on the breeding pair (Satin show rabbits).
I believe they were both too young to really knew what they were supposed to do, but of breeding age anyway.
I actually make different subject videos on Youtube (cooking, guns, motorcycles ...) and decided to make some on rabbits as well.
I am not sure if I want to pursue that specific avenue, but I already made a couple of rabbit videos to get into it, and this particular one will show you what I had to do to make it work. Good luck.
I believe they were both too young to really knew what they were supposed to do, but of breeding age anyway.
I actually make different subject videos on Youtube (cooking, guns, motorcycles ...) and decided to make some on rabbits as well.
I am not sure if I want to pursue that specific avenue, but I already made a couple of rabbit videos to get into it, and this particular one will show you what I had to do to make it work. Good luck.
Bunnylady
Herd Master
@Suburban Rabbits - you want to be careful with a buck that doesn't know better than to mount a doe's head rather than her other end. A friend of mine put a very nice Fuzzy Lop buck named Samson in with a gorgeous doe named Tinkerbell, who apparently wasn't ready to breed. He mounted her head, and she bit his penis off. So much for his career as a breeding/show animal.
I don't think I have ever had a pair take 30 minutes. First, I check the doe's vulva to make sure she is at the appropriate stage of her cycle. Then, I put her in the buck's cage. If there hasn't been any action within about 5 minutes, I take her out, and get on with my day. If the doe seems actually hostile to the buck, she gets taken out immediately. Does like that need to be put with experienced bucks only. A doe that seems to be reluctant in spite of other signs indicating readiness may get caged next to the buck so they can get acquainted safely (though you can get surprise litters that way, since on occasion, rabbits have bred through the wire).
Normally, breeding rabbits should take 5 to 10 seconds for the first fall-off. Some people let the rabbits stay together until they observe two or even three, though that really isn't any better than once if they happen less than a couple of hours apart (the doe only has so many ripe eggs; a single shot from a fertile buck will have millions of sperm).
If the OP's rabbits are housed together, the odds are excellent that the does are already pregnant. You might keep the buck with them for a couple more weeks, but he may make a nuisance of himself before then. If you see him chasing the does and they are growling and squeaking, get him out of there. Whether the does will be all right together depends on how much space they have and how well they get along. I usually separate does as soon as I am sure they are pregnant, since I have had does try to use the same nest box, which generally results in a bunch of dead bunnies.
I don't think I have ever had a pair take 30 minutes. First, I check the doe's vulva to make sure she is at the appropriate stage of her cycle. Then, I put her in the buck's cage. If there hasn't been any action within about 5 minutes, I take her out, and get on with my day. If the doe seems actually hostile to the buck, she gets taken out immediately. Does like that need to be put with experienced bucks only. A doe that seems to be reluctant in spite of other signs indicating readiness may get caged next to the buck so they can get acquainted safely (though you can get surprise litters that way, since on occasion, rabbits have bred through the wire).
Normally, breeding rabbits should take 5 to 10 seconds for the first fall-off. Some people let the rabbits stay together until they observe two or even three, though that really isn't any better than once if they happen less than a couple of hours apart (the doe only has so many ripe eggs; a single shot from a fertile buck will have millions of sperm).
If the OP's rabbits are housed together, the odds are excellent that the does are already pregnant. You might keep the buck with them for a couple more weeks, but he may make a nuisance of himself before then. If you see him chasing the does and they are growling and squeaking, get him out of there. Whether the does will be all right together depends on how much space they have and how well they get along. I usually separate does as soon as I am sure they are pregnant, since I have had does try to use the same nest box, which generally results in a bunch of dead bunnies.
