Author Topic: Rabbit breeding (Read 43693 times)

pigsatlesrues · « **Reply #15 on:** October 13, 2008, 11:58:01 am »

I should have stuck to the office job!

Kate

stephen · « **Reply #16 on:** October 13, 2008, 12:29:10 pm »

hi! my partner and i breed cats and this is how cats work i dont have any experience of rabbits but it sounds very similar! when a queen (female breeding cat) calls / comes into season she will be introduced to a boy for 3 days and then removed, 21 days from the first day of a confirmed mating (we watched it basicaly! or the neighbours heard it!) her nipples will turn red (pillar box red on a virgin queen and lighter with experience) this may be for an hour or could be all day and this confirms that the queen is pregnant (i have no idea if other animals do this!) then some weeks later she will give birth. if however a boy gets near her again he will still 'mate' her even if she is the size of a balloon and most girls will let them, this would be a split litter. a split litter is 'normally' concieved within the first couple of weeks and can be from different fathers! a queen can have one kitten and then hold for hours and hours (one of ours has done it for about 20!!) before giving birth to the rest (she loved keeping me up all night i however wasnt impressed lol) because of the short pregnancy kittens concieved on the first day of mating will normally be bigger than on the third (hence runt of the litter that i always fall in love with!!) it sounds like you rabbit had a split litter and the boy mated her again when she was put back in with him! i would say introduce the female and leave her for 3 (ish) days then remove her (when you have seen him mate her) and do not introduce her again until you are past the due date! i havent experienced such a long time between births in cats but they are different animals!

pigsatlesrues · « **Reply #17 on:** October 17, 2008, 03:37:53 pm »

Thanks Steven, and interesting reply. The rabbit in question has four lovely little ones and is doing well with them. I put her sister back to the buck after finding she wasn't pregnant, and left her for a week acutally and she gave birth yesterday. Not sure how many yet - daren't disturb her. I certainly wont make that mistake again, and I have to say it sent me into a bit of a panic - it really was a horrible experience. I had never heard of this double mating of rabbits before, but it has obviously happened - quite bizzarre.

Anyway, a learning curve, and I have learned a hard lesson despite thinking I was doing the right thing.

Many thanks again.

Kate

jackle23 · « **Reply #18 on:** January 14, 2009, 01:08:39 pm »

hey neil do you live in france?If so wat are the regulations for air rifles by the by my female gave birth to a litter of 9 but 3 died in the cold they r now weaned but the thin 1 keeps escaping so we have put them inside!!

spam · « **Reply #19 on:** February 04, 2009, 06:23:09 pm »

I have heard of rabbits doing this before, but never experienced it myself. Does have two uterine horns in which young can develop. It is possible for them to be fertilised at different times. I would say that the first time you put her to the buck one horn was fertilised, when she went the second time the other horn was fertilised,his is why the second lot of kits were born a week later. You probavly have one very confused doe but she may well rear her litter very nicely. To avoid this problem in future it is better to feel for kits on the abdomen with a thumb and forefinger, after a week they should be about the size of a marble. Good luck with your future litters if the stress hasn't put you off!

jalo_nitram · « **Reply #20 on:** February 16, 2009, 04:53:21 pm »

as a newbie I wanted to ask if anyone knew of a rabbit breeder in east yorks area who has nz whites for sale? Only breeders I can find are for pets or showing, thought they might linch me if I asked for rabbits to breed and eat

thanks!

stephen · « **Reply #21 on:** February 17, 2009, 09:30:08 am »

dont tell them you are going to eat them!

xxmillyxx · « **Reply #22 on:** February 17, 2009, 10:24:16 am »

LOL - that was my 1st thought - don't TELL THEM.

jackle23 · « **Reply #23 on:** March 01, 2009, 09:17:39 pm »

Hi. We had a similar experience with our rabbits in December. We bought a pair of 'demi sauvage' rabbits. They proceeded to escape and be re-caught several times...very unsettling. Finally, the doe was caught and 2 days later had a litter of 9 kits, 6 of whom survived. She reared these very nicely, bu to our surprise, once the first lot had been weaned, she delivered 9 more! She had not been near the buck in all this time, so we were surprised. We hoiked the first litter out of her hutch and let her get on with it. The second litter are now nearly 6 weeks old and doing well. We have put the all outside in a run, and put the into seperate hutches at night for safety. I phoned my dad to ask him about it ( he is an old farmer!) and he said that females can sometimes carry two pregnancies concurrently, but its unusual. I think the best thing to do is to leave them well alone and let her get on with it. The next hurdle will be killing and eating the first litter. (yikes!)

doganjo · « **Reply #24 on:** March 01, 2009, 09:19:24 pm »

You don't need ferrets and airguns now!

jackle23 · « **Reply #25 on:** March 01, 2009, 09:22:33 pm »

Yea but weve also got some wild ones and they dont taste the same

Stefan · « **Reply #26 on:** March 23, 2009, 05:28:40 pm »

Out of interest, how do you kill your rabbits ?
I was thinking of breeding some for meat myself but the killing puts me off.

Stefan

doganjo · « **Reply #27 on:** March 23, 2009, 10:27:57 pm »

I can lend you a German Wirehaired Pointer

, or a ginger rabbit killer cat

Mind you, they usually eat half of what they kill

IainW · « **Reply #28 on:** May 11, 2009, 12:23:09 pm »

Quote from: Stefan on March 23, 2009, 05:28:40 pm

Out of interest, how do you kill your rabbits ?

I Kill mine with a karate chop or by pulling their neck out and to one side (i find this hard) so normally a chop will kill instantly and obviously humanely. Then straight upside down hanging from a tree and start skinning and gutting (15/20 Min's work in total)

Iain