Rex doe went/is going crazy

[lizziebreath]

We got two rexes to breed for meat/maybe a few pets to sell. My buck is a little over a year and is pretty mellow. My doe is a nut and seems to be getting nuttier as the weeks go on. She's 4.5 months old so we haven't bred her yet since everything I read said she's too young(if I'm wrong on that please feel free to correct me).

You handle her at all and she goes bananas. We have a few indoor cages( my husband was insistent since summer got to 106 degrees) and you have to take the rabbit out to clean the bottom of the cage. She runs under the furniture and attacks anyone who tries to get her back out. If we put anything in her cage be it toys, food dishes, hay feeder, etc... she throws it around her cage and wastes all the food/hay. I have to burrito her in a towel just to trim her nails. Since it's been getting cooler I tried to move her to our outside cage we have and she literally bounced off the sides and front till she broke the door latch. She was so freaked out she wedged herself in the thick foliage between to fence and the shed. We had to literally pull her out and burrito her quickly again. She's back in her indoor cage because I obviously have to get a new latch/whole new cage, but every single time I go in there she stomps at me.

I know she wasn't handled a lot in her first three months, but this seems excessive. To put it plainly, should we just process her and get a new doe(this option probably means that we have to wait even longer to breed because no one seems to sell breeding age does unless there's an issue), or is there some way to fix this/deal with it more effectively?

 

[B&B Happy goats]

If she was my rabbit she would be in the freezer, I only keep mellow normal rabbits to breed, so that bad behavior / attitude isn't passed on to any future kits. Good luck, and let us know how things work out

 

[secuono]

She's got a personality of a more wild type of rabbit. She's also maturing and they get more witchy as the go through that, like a teenager.
Rabbits also don't like sudden drastic changes and being out in the open. That would explain some of her freak outs.
If you don't want to deal with that, eat her and get an older doe ready to breed or see if you can trade her for another that's closer to breeding age.

I'll add, she'll probably be the type to be a little aggressive or too bolts for an inexperienced buck to deal with. And that may harm his confidence.

 

[promiseacres]

She's scared and feels fighting back is her only choice. Instead of letting her run free during cage cleaning, I'd put her in another cage. Some people suggest treats and gentle handling will help settle her. BUT like the other's said part may be her personality and it won't change. Sounds like she's pretty high strung and it may be hard to get her to raise a litter if she's that way.

 

[LilTxFarmer]

Yeah, there's really nothing you can do about her aggression, at this time. I'd just process her if I were you. I just processed one my California white does, for the same reason. Which was odd, because they are not normally aggressive.

 

[Larsen Poultry Ranch]

In my experience, the kits usually take after the mom, so if she's hard to handle and skittish, the babies will end up that way too. You'd have to do a lot of hands on gentling work to get them calm. You might want to get a different doe.

I have standard Rex and the breeder I got my starter pair from said to wait until the doe was 8 months or 8 pounds, whichever comes first, before breeding. Others might have different age/weight suggestions but that's what I go by for my herd. I'm in northern California but I don't have any extra does right now. The breeder I got mine from is still nearby though in case you are close ish. I also know of a breeder near Nevada that I previously got a really good buck from.

Where are you located? There are Rex groups who might be able to help you find a better doe, do an online search with your state plus Rex rabbit, or something similar. Or go onto the official Rex website and take a look at their list of breeders to see if one is close to you.

 

[lizziebreath]

In my experience, the kits usually take after the mom, so if she's hard to handle and skittish, the babies will end up that way too. You'd have to do a lot of hands on gentling work to get them calm. You might want to get a different doe.

I have standard Rex and the breeder I got my starter pair from said to wait until the doe was 8 months or 8 pounds, whichever comes first, before breeding. Others might have different age/weight suggestions but that's what I go by for my herd. I'm in northern California but I don't have any extra does right now. The breeder I got mine from is still nearby though in case you are close ish. I also know of a breeder near Nevada that I previously got a really good buck from.

Where are you located? There are Rex groups who might be able to help you find a better doe, do an online search with your state plus Rex rabbit, or something similar. Or go onto the official Rex website and take a look at their list of breeders to see if one is close to you.

I'm in Eastern Utah, near Colorado so a bit far out. I had to drive quite a ways for this doe, but I'll check if Utah or Colorado had a rex group.