Rabbit Newbie here..How can you tell the age of a rabbit?

[dipence71]

My DH decided he wanted a rabbit (1). I said since I will be the one taking care of it, as he is good for about a week then it falls to me(speaking from experience with his ducks, dogs,ect) I will not get one If you get rabbits it will be 2 and I will be breading for meat rabbits. He did not like this but ended up bringing 3 rabbits home from the farm store.

Question 1 - how can you tell how old they are?
Store ppl weren't sure.

Q2 - How soon can they breed?
because while still building their hutch they are all in one big cage and found them "doing the deed"??? They are not fighting or aggressive with each other as yet. But I thought they were around 2-2 1/2 months by guessing. So I figured they would be ok for about another month or so till we got the hutch complete(almost done). Now I am questioning that lol.

As I said I am new to rabbits so I have read a couple books and searched around on here as well. But as always, experience is a better teacher than any book.
Thank you.

 

[chickygirl55]

It depends on the breed but usually around 5 months old or 5 pounds whichever comes first. Do you know what you have? I mean which ones are boys and which girls? Females can stay together up until its time for them to have babies but males need to be seperated. And you can keep the male with the females but you better have someplace else to put them when the females have babies or they will kill them. We got two rabbits for free because i wanted the female and she said i could have the cage if i took the male. I didnt think about her having babies and went out one day to check on them and found dead babies. He had tried eating them. So he got his own cage after that.

 

[Bunnylady]

Most people will tell you not to breed a doe until she is at least 6 months old, even later for the giant breeds. You want to be sure that the doe's body is fully grown before you subject it to the stress of raising a litter. Does are frequently capable of conceiving by about 12 weeks of age, so it is a good idea to separate the sexes before they are 10 weeks old, just to be safe.

You said you have 3 rabbits. Can you tell whether they are bucks or does? Mounting behavior is more common in bucks, but does will do it, too, so that by itself tells you nothing. Bucks usually wind up doing a lot of fighting when they hit adolescence, does may or may not continue to get along.

Guessing the age of a young rabbit is largely a matter of experience. You just get used to what a breed looks like at a given age. One thing that you might be able to look for is a "prime line." Rabbits usually shed out the old coat and grow in a new one, beginning at the nose and moving back. Baby rabbits' coats are a little on the thinner side, so it is often pretty easy to see when the junior coat starts coming in. I'm thinking that usually begins at about 7 weeks.

I have bred rabbits for about 20 years, and I keep hearing this rumor about bucks killing babies, but I have yet to see any evidence of it. If I am having trouble getting does to "catch," I will often put 2 or 3 does and 1 buck together in a large cage, and I don't always get a doe out before she kindles. I have never seen a buck show any interest in the babies at all, either positive or negative. However, he is always extremely interested in their mother, who is full of hormones and receptive. The mother is frequently in a panic about her babies, jumping around and stomping, the buck is chasing her all over the place, babies could easily get killed in the scuffle. Does sometimes deliberately kill babies when they feel stressed (I've only had this happen a couple of times, most of my does are really tolerant.) My belief is that the buck is getting blamed, but it was the doe that actually did the damage!

Another reason for getting the buck and doe separated before the babies come, is that the doe immediately becomes fertile after her litter is born. Most people think it is too much of a strain on the doe to let her have a litter every 31 days, which is what will most likely happen if the buck has access to her.

 

[dipence71]

They are supposed to be two bucks and a doe.
The funny thing is when I caught them doing the deed it was like a threesome, doe on one buck then buck on the doe all at once like a tree. My DH and I just about dies laughing. The only one to flop down after was the buck that was on the very top lol. So I just wonder if they were sexed right or not?
But we are almost done with the cages and frame of the hutch so not to much longer and they will all have there own room. It is one very large cage with dividers to separate into 4 "rooms" One for each rabbit and a baby/grow room. We are making the cage and hutch ourselves so that it is how we want it. Well sort of I wanted more cages but settling for this right now can always add on LOL.....

 

[Bunnylady]

The only one to flop down after was the buck that was on the very top lol.

When a buck "does the deed," he often grunts (a few squeal) and falls over, usually to the side. The whole business can take as little as a few seconds. If your buck fell over, he at least believed he just served a doe (they can miss.) Rowdy, randy does will ride bucks, sometimes it can look like some pretty serious gender confusion!

If I were you, I'd make a note of the date on your calendar. You may very well have a pregnant doe now, her due date would be 28 - 32 days from the date when she was bred.

 

[dipence71]

I did note it on the calendar and guess we will have to wait and see. "Nature will find a way....." Don't know if quoting Jurassic Park is the way to go but it is what came to mind LOL...