Not pulling fur.

[hitnspit]

Ok we have been raising rabbit for some time now and have gotten past the hole first time mother crap..... my rabbits have been having the litters without pulling any fur. 2 days latter after the pinkies have been removed the female will then pull. Very strange any help would be good. All rabbits are inside a barn and out of the weather. Thank you all.

 

[alsea1]

That is strange.
What I would do is keep the hair they pull. That way you can put it in the nest. Maybe she will get the hint.

 

[brentr]

My experience has been that my does will pull fur based on temperature. You mention they are in a building out of the elements (I envy your set up ) so it it possible that even though it may seem cold to you, the doe is not pulling because instinct tells her it is not needed?

I've had does kindle in a slight warm up (temps climb into high 40s-50s from 30s) and pull a lot less fur than when they've kindled in colder temps. Sometimes they pull more fur when temps drop back down, sometimes they don't.

Hormonal changes loosen their fur when they kindle, and I've pulled fur from does to line the nest if they haven't pulled enough (in my opinion). It comes out easy from their sides and belly and I can pull a fair bit with no trouble.

Someone else mentioned storing clean excess fur from a nest. I've done that too and found it helpful in colder temps when I think the nests need a little more help.

Lastly, just consider how important or troubling this is to you. Does that repeatedly don't build good nests to tend their litters would be targeted for culling by many.

 

[hitnspit]

Oh i have 6 right now that will be number 3..... 3 Strike our OUT. The rest so far are ok. I just had another doe give birth lastnight and she pulled plenty of fur. She is a first timer. Thank you for the post.... I will try the save the good fur from other boxes to help......

 

[Prairiechick]

Between instinct and hormones, who can tell what is really going on?
If this is the first time with them doing this and it is not their first litters, I wouldn't be too hasty in culling. I find it more infuriating when they have them on the wire after the pulled a good nest.

I have a friend who suggested using dryer lint for them too if you don't have enough fur. As long as you don't have a bunch of perfumey smell in it, I think it would work well in a rabbit nest. I haven't had to do this yet, and I do keep excess fur when available.

Good luck, I hope they straighten themselves out soon.

 

[Hens and Roos]

1 of our does who kindled a week ago- she is a 1st timer- didn't build a nest very well at all and had 2 of the 7 out on the wire-we warmed the 2 babies up put them in the nest with the others added some hay and clean lint to the nest- the next day she had lots of hair in the nest box and the cage- she has a good nest built now and is doing a excellant job with her babies. Maybe it just takes the does a little bit to either figure it out or for their hair tocome out easy for them

 

[goatgirl132]

We have had that happen too when i bread and showed rabbits.
If you want you can take the fur after the babies are born and out and don't need it or they died take the hair and put them in an air tight container and next year you can use the hair again encased its to cold or the just don't pull hair some time