Any faults in the plan?

So I have a pair of HLs and a pair of DT. I have 3 hutches - two large double decker's - and one 1 floor hutch. Since I have two females and two males, I'd like to keep the does together, but with the DT doe I have now, I wouldn't want to risk it (she's aggressive towards other does). Anyway right now I have both boys in a double decker and just took out the ramp and blocked the hole. My HL doe is in the one deck, and my DT doe has the other double decker (since she is more active)

My DT doe is about 3yrs, and just not producing well at all, so I want to sell her. BUT she has great genes to give me the different colored torts I like with my dwarf buck (dwarf/dutch buck, I'm trying to breed towards a smaller breed of dutch) so I've been trying to get a girl kit from my DT doe. I've bred her a couple times to no availed.
Later this year she had a litter of one (some of you may remember Pumpkin) I sold her to a friend of mine that lives nearby. I talked to my friend and she agreed to have her bred by my DT buck (Pumpkins dad) and I'll keep one of Pumpkins kits to have as my new broody once she gets old enough.

SO now you know some background: the plan is that I’d pick up Pumpkin, and breed both her and my HL doe on January 1st. That way the litters will be born at around the same time, and when they are, I would swap out litters so that my HL doe would care for Pumpkins litter and Pumpkin would care for my HL's. (if they both get prego of course) That way I can get my HL doe used to the DT kits so that when I keep one she will already see it as her young and I won’t have to introduce a whole new rabbit to her. (Since I already wanted them to be in the same cage. ) I will only do this if they show no aggression to the litter switch (I will be watching VERY closely) but I’ve never heard of any problems with this, and know of many who foster, but not really heard of a litter swap... it should be fine....right? I'd like to breed them at the same time anyway just so if Pumpkin isn’t doing well (since she will be a first timer) or if one of the does isn’t producing enough milk etc, I will have a backup doe to foster with. (My HL doe will also be having kits for the first time WITH me. She's had kits with her previous owner.)

By the end of this process I should have one buck in a double decker, one in the one story, and both does in a double decker.

Any flaws? Should I reconsider anything? Thoughts? Comments? I'd love to know your opinions!!

I'd think it would be worth a try.

I've never ever had any trouble swapping kits either.

Coooool! Thanks Zass!!!!!!!!

I have had good luck with fostering, and even just subbing in with a better mom for a feeding or two has gone smoothly (before eyes open).
I have two does side by side, one is fostering some for the other, along with her own~ it evened out their litter sizes.
Yesterday i decided which does I want to keep from the litters, and as I am selling the one mama this weekend, I took a chance and put a keeper doeling into the cage with the OTHER mama and her kits
hoping she can hang with them, rather than the little campers.
It went fine! Mama didn't care at all, only one of the resident doelings was ticked LOL
Feeling brave, I pulled out some of the camp bound kits and tossed them in with the off-to-market doe.
No problems.
I figure they are mature, laid back does and they raised their litters (5 weeks or so now) side by side.
Now I don't have to rearrange everyone... Keepers are with a mama and campers will be on their own.

Just thought of a possible problem....Pumpkin would be bred for the first time at 10 months old....is that too long to wait?

I've swapped entire litters several times. The does did not care whose babies they were, just that there were babies to tend!

I also have left a daughter in with her mother. They lasted about 5 months. The daughter stayed in while her mom had another litter and there were no problems, however, eventually they began to fight and I had to separate them so make sure your cage is BIG!

Thanks imajpm! My hutch is about 4ft long, 2ft deep and roughly 2ft high, and has a ramp leading to the same dimensions.

(This is an old picture, so the ramp was not yet installed)

I'm starting to think the size of the cages doesn't matter much at all.
Some rabbits just get along and some do not. They are very individual and hard to predict.

Mucky and Euryale (unrelated) are fine in a 3x4 foot space that was Mucky's pen long before Euryale was introduced. Other rabbits I've had (even related ones) have had issues with each other in a 20x18 foot neutral space.

I've even had brood does leap out of their cages to attack related rabbits that were hopping around the floor of the (8x10) rabbitry, and loose does in the same wire rabbitry climb up on cages to attack other does through cage wire.

:shrug:

Zass":jvlvd1ny said:

I'm starting to think the size of the cages doesn't matter much at all.
Some rabbits just get along and some do not. They are very individual and hard to predict.

Mucky and Euryale (unrelated) are fine in a 3x4 foot space that was Mucky's pen long before Euryale was introduced. Other rabbits I've had (even related ones) have had issues with each other in a 20x18 foot neutral space.

I've even had brood does leap out of their cages to attack related rabbits that were hopping around the floor of the (8x10) rabbitry, and loose does in the same wire rabbitry climb up on cages to attack other does through cage wire.

:shrug:

Click to expand...

Wow... rabbits and their personalities. :lol:

Easy Ears":jvlvd1ny said:

Just thought of a possible problem....Pumpkin would be bred for the first time at 10 months old....is that too long to wait?

Click to expand...

Anyone have an answer for this?

I don't think it's too long to wait.

Chances of complications seem to increase as a rabbit ages (or merely puts on more body fat) but there is no guarantee that anything would go wrong at all, and breeding younger is no guarantee that everything will go well. :shrug:

Zass":xy4m2135 said:

I'm starting to think the size of the cages doesn't matter much at all.
Some rabbits just get along and some do not. They are very individual and hard to predict.

Click to expand...

I think when they are equal in dominance levels that they won't be peaceable until that is settled. But if they are equal in size and strength too then settling the matter could get very ugly. I had no idea rabbits had pecking orders until I started turning my angora does out together in the grazing play yard. Every doe gave way with no fuss to Miss Piggy, until I put Parsnip in lol. Apparently Parsnip was the real Boss.

imajpm":r0d5ksh0 said:

Every doe gave way with no fuss to Miss Piggy, until I put Parsnip in lol. Apparently Parsnip was the real Boss.

Click to expand...

Miss Piggy!? :lol: I literally laughed out load! That its a GREAT name for a rabbit! LOL!!! :lol: :lol: :lol:

Zass":r0d5ksh0 said:

breeding younger is no guarantee that everything will go well. :shrug:

Click to expand...

Ok, I was just told that the older the rabbit got the more likely she was to become infertile. I heard usually at one year, if they've never been bred they won't be fertile... Was this totally off?