rabbitry continuously selling me bucks instead of does.
See B&B post - change where you are buying your rabbits. You need to learn how to sex rabbits yourself so you can check for yourself. They can be correctly sexed as young as 4 weeks. You also need to learn how to check for other things in the rabbits when you buy them. Go to some rabbit shows and ask questions. Breeders usually are thrilled to have someone ask them questions about rabbits. Go early in the day because people spend a lot of time sitting around waiting for their classes and will be glad to talk to you.
If the rabbitry can't tell the difference between a buck and a doe, I would buy my rabbits elsewhere! Especially with all the issues you have had with them dying. What breed of rabbits are you breeding ?
Definitely. If they are selling you bucks instead of does, either they don ot know what they are doing, or they are not honest. In either of these cases you need to find some one else.
I had all nz trio 2 does 1 buck but this weekend i had to exchange one doe becuase she wasn't pregnant after 3 months. All the had was mini rex in female so i exchanged 1 and bought a 2nd mini rex. They assured me that it wouldn't be a problem to breed nz with mini rex
This was a bad idea. You traded a large meat breed rabbit for a smaller mini breed, and then bought another small breed rabbit as well. If you are breeding for meat you will not get much meat on a Mini Rex or Mini Rex cross. For meat production you want to stay with a meat breed size rabbit, not minis. Second if you traded a NZ doe for a Mini Rex doe and bought a 2nd Mini Rex doe and are planning on breeding those does to your NZ bucks you have just put yourself in the position of having kindling problems because you bred a large breed buck to a small breed doe. If the kits are big like the sire the small doe may not be able to deliver them alive.
You need to go to a couple rabbit shows. Unfortunately, in hot climates the show season is during the winter months. However, there will be County Fairs around. find out when the rabbit judging is taking place, in particular the "meat pen" judging. "Meat pens" are 3 rabbits that look and weigh as much alike as possible. That is how they are judged, based on the met standard. Go to the judging show and listen to the comments. They will be very helpful. Then you can see which kids have meat pens entered. Most of those kids will have extra rabbits they left at home after choosing their meat pens for competition. See if you can buy some does from them. Be careful about buying meat pens straight across since you don't know how to sex a rabbit Meat pens are chosen for the 3 rabbits that weigh the same and look the same. Often they are all bucks. In any event they are seldom all does so you will be getting at least 1 or 2 bucks, usually littermates. If you talk to some of the junior exhibitors, they or their parents will be able to help you choose a couple good does from their rabbits. Depending on the Fair, not all the meat pens will sell. The exhibitors who don't sell will be willing and happy to sell you some does and will also be glad to teach you how to sex the rabbits.
They should do fine breeding in the summer. Bucks will sometimes become sterile in the hottest months (or when it's over 90 degrees for 10 days in a row) and frozen water bottles in their cages can prevent them from becoming sterile...but some just don't want to breed because it's hot! The does are usually just fine though if you can get your bucks to breed them
I am in so California and used to breed year round. Short daylight hours can be compensated for by lights in the rabbitry. Bucks become sterile in the heat (along with some rams and other animals). The older the buck the more the heat affects him. If yiu want to continue breeding successfully in the summer months, keep your best young buck from a December litter and use him for the summer breeding. Junior bucks about 6-20 months will usually stay fertile during the heat. In addition to ice bottles, you can use misters along the outside of the rabbitry where the breeze will blow through the water and produce a cooler temperature. Fans can also be useful.
For the does, I put shavings in the bottom of the nest box and just give them a handful of straw to build their nest. I check every morning and take the fur and extra straw out of the nest. I keep the fur and replace it on the kits if the nights cool down. Make sure that direct sun cannot hit the nest box at any time. The kits are extremely sensitive to heat and if they are gasping in the nest, remove the nest box and take it inside the house. If there is A/C in the house cover them with the fur. Replace the box in the evening so the doe can feed them. If the temperatures are high you will have to do this every am and pm.
Another trick to cool off rabbits is to put squares of wet carpet in the cages for them to lay on. Some like it, some don't.
ALSO, CHECK THE AUTOMATIC WATERERS SEVERAL TIMES DAILY. THE LINES CAN GET HOT AND RABBITS WILL NOT DRINK HOT OR WARM WATER IN THE SUMMER. IF YOUR LINES GET HOT, USE CROCKS AND YOU CAN DROP ICE CUBES IN THEM DURING THE HEAT OF THE DAY TO ENCOURAGE DRINKING. We also used to do that at the summer Fair.
One year our feeder PVC line broke and DH ran a new line. He decided to put it overhead instead of replacing the line I had buried in the barn. It was spring and everything was fine until we had a sudden hot spell in the 100's. In spite of the misters, I lost 3 does, and no rabbits were eating. When I checked the automatic drinker nozzles, not only were they hot to the touch, but the water almost burned my fingers! As soon as I bled each line to cool water the rabbits attacked the drinker! To avoid more deaths I had to scrounge for enough crocks for the cages until we could insulate the pipes. DH put them back underground the following weekend.
It was a hard lesson. Rabbits won't eat if they can't drink. Any time I have a rabbit off it's food, I immediately check the automatic water valve. They can plug up.
Ha ha ha! Tons of mosquitos I assume?!! Oh and don't forget the roaches!
