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Help! I need some advice......

H

HayleyD

New Kit
Hi everyone!

I am new to this forum and found it as I am in need of some advice.
I have two mini lop does aged 2 years and 1 mini lop buck aged 19 weeks and have decided to breed them and I have some questions!

1) He only ever tries to mate with one of the does, never the other. Why could this be?

2) Is it possible to successfully breed rabbits of such different ages?

3) I do think that the 'deed' was done yesterday, is it best to keep him seperate from that doe for the next 30-35 days? (Currently the two does are in one hutch and the buck in a seperate hutch).

Thanks,

Hayley
 
Hiya, welcome to the forum.:wave:
You'll find that most of us are very rescue orientated so this might not be the best place to ask about breeding.
There are a couple of breeders on here though so they might be able to help.
 
The only answer you are like to get about this is don't do it unless you know the grandparents of all your rabbits you intend to breed a nasty genetic conditions can be passed down. Is there a reason you want to breed? There are thousands of rabbits in rescues all over the country that need homes so why add to the problem.

In answer to your question about removing the male - please do, feamles can get pregnant again 30 minutes after giving birth so you could up with yet another litter.
 
All three rabbits will need to be kept separately. The male must not be in with the female otherwise she will become pregnant immediately after giving birth (very bad for her).

You will also need to set aside two empty hutches to house the boy and girl babies when they reach 8 weeks old. Well four hutches to be on the safe side as it's possible the second female is pregnant too as the 'deed' only takes a couple of seconds once and you may have missed it.

I hope you have a plan for what to do with the 15 or so babies arriving in 4 weeks time!
 
I didn't realise that this was mainly a rescue forum, I'll have a look for a more appropriate website. Thanks
 
HayleyD said:
Hi everyone!

I am new to this forum and found it as I am in need of some advice.
I have two mini lop does aged 2 years and 1 mini lop buck aged 19 weeks and have decided to breed them and I have some questions!

1) He only ever tries to mate with one of the does, never the other. Why could this be?

2) Is it possible to successfully breed rabbits of such different ages?

3) I do think that the 'deed' was done yesterday, is it best to keep him seperate from that doe for the next 30-35 days? (Currently the two does are in one hutch and the buck in a seperate hutch).


Hi and welcome to the forum:wave:

As someone else said we are mainly into rescue bunnies etc on here as there are so many Bunnies without homes but i am not one to judge, :)but i do have a few questions for you if thats ok....[may help people give you more acurate answers];)
1. Why do you want to breed? and what do you intend to do with all the young?
2. Do you have or know anyone who has any experience of breeding?
3. As Tasmin said do you have the space for all the young from 2 differnt females to keep them all seperate
4. Do you know what to do if there are any complications etc...

I know baby bunnies look cute but unless you have good homes for all the young [and not just someone who gets bored as soon as they grow up and adds to the many others in rescues]

I know you have already started breeding so some of this may seem pointless. But are you sure you know what you are letting yourself in for? :shock:
Click to expand...
 
yoshi&gizmo said:
HayleyD said:
Hi everyone!

I am new to this forum and found it as I am in need of some advice.
I have two mini lop does aged 2 years and 1 mini lop buck aged 19 weeks and have decided to breed them and I have some questions!

1) He only ever tries to mate with one of the does, never the other. Why could this be?

2) Is it possible to successfully breed rabbits of such different ages?

3) I do think that the 'deed' was done yesterday, is it best to keep him seperate from that doe for the next 30-35 days? (Currently the two does are in one hutch and the buck in a seperate hutch).


Hi and welcome to the forum:wave:

As someone else said we are mainly into rescue bunnies etc on here as there are so many Bunnies without homes but i am not one to judge, :)but i do have a few questions for you if thats ok....[may help people give you more acurate answers];)
1. Why do you want to breed? and what do you intend to do with all the young?
2. Do you have or know anyone who has any experience of breeding?
3. As Tasmin said do you have the space for all the young from 2 differnt females to keep them all seperate
4. Do you know what to do if there are any complications etc...

I know baby bunnies look cute but unless you have good homes for all the young [and not just someone who gets bored as soon as they grow up and adds to the many others in rescues]

I know you have already started breeding so some of this may seem pointless. But are you sure you know what you are letting yourself in for? :shock:
Click to expand...

Hi,
1) I am not sure exactly why i decided to breed. I guess it's because I adore rabbits and wanted the chance to breed pure mini lops. I have not taken this decision lightly and have done lots of research including talking to local breeders and a vet.
2) I do not know anyone personally who has bred rabbits before.
3) I am in the process of getting new hutches in preparation for the babies.
4) Like I have said I have never done this before so do not consider myself an expert but I am hoping to gain knowledge along the way.

No way did I intend to offend anyone by posting on here, I honestly did not realise it was a rescue forum.
Click to expand...
 
hope it all goes well, now the deed is done i hope your girls have safe and easy pregnancies, id never be brave enough to breed rabbits, my stress levels went thro the roof when my chipmunk was pregnant :oops:


HayleyD said:
No way did I intend to offend anyone by posting on here, I honestly did not realise it was a rescue forum.
Click to expand...

ill be offended if you don't post pics of the babies :love:
 
donnamt said:
hope it all goes well, now the deed is done i hope your girls have safe and easy pregnancies, id never be brave enough to breed rabbits, my stress levels went thro the roof when my chipmunk was pregnant :oops:




ill be offended if you don't post pics of the babies :love:
Click to expand...

Thanks!!:)
 
no no you haven't offended me... i just wanted to be sure you know what you are in for.... and as someone else said i hope your does have a safe and well pregnancy :) I am no saint. When i got my 2nd bun i got him from a breeder :oops: it wasn't until i worked at a rescue just helping out that i came to realize how many bunnies are in rescues.

But look yes there are people on here who will be very against what you are doing but at the same time there is always people on here who will help. Please do keep us posted on how you are getting on and depending on what area you live in i may have a couple of hutches you can have as we are building new ones for our two males

Oh and photos always go down well.... cute little bunnies. :love:
 
Well I won't repeat what others have already said I'm pretty anti-breeding but I would buy a book on breeding rabbits rather than listen to breeders (because alot of them really don't know much about genetics) and a good book would be much more recommended. Are you looking to rehome them? Or keep them?? (Just wondering) :)


EDIT: I say most breeders don't have a clue because I used to work in a petshop and the amount of rubbish breeders that came in with the WORST advice was really worrying, things like "oooh you can force the doe to breed by holding her down and letting the buck mount her:shock:" So yeah I would get a well recommended book instead!! :wave:
 
yoshi&gizmo said:
no no you haven't offended me... i just wanted to be sure you know what you are in for.... and as someone else said i hope your does have a safe and well pregnancy :) I am no saint. When i got my 2nd bun i got him from a breeder :oops: it wasn't until i worked at a rescue just helping out that i came to realize how many bunnies are in rescues.

But look yes there are people on here who will be very against what you are doing but at the same time there is always people on here who will help. Please do keep us posted on how you are getting on and depending on what area you live in i may have a couple of hutches you can have as we are building new ones for our two males

Oh and photos always go down well.... cute little bunnies. :love:
Click to expand...

Thank you. May have left it too late anyway as the does are now 2 years old and apparently may have too much fat surrounding their ovaries??
 
Just wanted to update you all and let you know that Fluffy had 5 kits yesterday! 4 have survived and seem to be doing well. Mum is also doing great.
 
donnamt said:
aww glad all is well. sorry about the one you lost :cry:
Click to expand...

the same sentiments.

be aware that really at age 2years you need to start thinking about spaying the does as they will soon be prone to uterine cancer i know you want to breed but at that age it may have more compications if they have never had a litter before.in saying this i dont know much about breeding, i would say do research and be able to trace back about 4 generations for future breeding and try to better the breed ie you wil find mini lops often have to problem of deformed skulls which cause misaligned teeth or elongated tooth roots which can present later in life. various breeds do seem to get more problems than others due to skull shape.

i hope they continue to thrive be aware they cannot for any reason other tha for their helath leave mum before 8 weeks and will need sexing and seperating at 12 weeks. also be aware of the amount of space rabbits need. ie a pair of adult rabbits needs a 6x2x2ft hutch attatched to a 6x6ft run and so each bunny needs much space and time. i would keep some kitten milk or goats milk on hand too in case for whatever reason babies end up needing hand reareing( can be discussed more if it happens tho unfortunatly hand rearing is a hard task and not always successful)

make sure you home check anyone they are going to live with and dont advertise free to good homes give a good factual care sheet telling about spaying neutering bonding(neutered buns mal/female who have been introduced in a small neutral area) and say about vaccinations and hutch size, also explain about bunny proofing for indoor rabbits and be wary of those who take them on for children make sure the adult is prepared to take full responsibility of the bunnys as they can live up to 14years which means sometimes children get bored or outgrow them. x
 
So glad all is well - please don't breed from these females again though, even leaving aside the arguments that there are already far too many bunnies in the UK, these two are far too old to be starting to be bred from! You have been very lucky on this occasion but it is very unkind and potentially very dangerous and painful for bunnies of this age to be having their first litter!

I would strongly advise that you ensure that these babies are neutered before passing them on - if every female bun has 'just one litter', then you could be talking about hundreds of additional bunnies from just this one occasion.
 
Santa said:
So glad all is well - please don't breed from these females again though, even leaving aside the arguments that there are already far too many bunnies in the UK, these two are far too old to be starting to be bred from! You have been very lucky on this occasion but it is very unkind and potentially very dangerous and painful for bunnies of this age to be having their first litter!

I would strongly advise that you ensure that these babies are neutered before passing them on - if every female bun has 'just one litter', then you could be talking about hundreds of additional bunnies from just this one occasion.
Click to expand...

Mum seems absolutley fine, if anything alot more affectionate than before she was pregnant! Maybe that is just luck.
 
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