Does wont breed...

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Ptbunny8087

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My 2 sr. holland lops does will not breed. One is 2 and 5. We have taken them to 2 breeders and neither of them will breed. We have tried all of the buck and even taken one home and left them together for a couple of days, and nothing. Any tips? Reasons why?
 
They don't wanna. :)
Have they ever carried litter before? First time does are often the most difficult to get bred, especially when they are older.
There are lots of herbs and things you can try. I don't know how well they actually work, but it seems to be based around making them feel good and healthy to get them "in the mood."

The 5 year old doe may be too old to carry a litter. If she'd never had kits before, I probably wouldn't even try. As it is, I've never tried to breed a doe that age.
The two year old should be alright, but I've heard people say hollands frequently lose their entire first litters. I don't know how much luck you will have starting a dwarf breed doe out at that age.

I personally don't have any hands on experience with dwarf breeds at all. Someone who raises hollands should have better advice.
 
with the meat breeds I raise, if they have not kindled before 1 year of age the chances of a successful pregnancy and kindling are reduced by about 75%.

That said, taking a rabbit to a new environment stresses them a lot. When I offered buck service (which I no longer do for biosecurity reasons) I gave the doe 2 days to acclimate then bred her on the 3rd day.

Adding artificial light will also stimulate the urge to breed, and keeping the doe in temps between 40* and 75* will also help. Raspberry leaf tea can be helpful, too.
 
what do you mean by not breeding? does won't lift? won't stand still? aren't conceiving?

Have they had litters before? I've heard Hollands can be hard to get going after a break so many people keep their does in production. It took me about a year to get my hollands going well but I had a lot of inexperienced animals.

First check over doe for health, make sure vent shows no sign of disease and she is at a healthy weight, Hollands can be easy keeper and too much fat will keep a doe from conceiving. Make sure buck is good and doesn't have a split penis.

Next check signs of breeding readiness, judging-a-doe-s-readiness-and-breeding-tips-t9869.html

I table breed because i can make sure a doe is properly covered that way, there are many ways to do it but I put buck and doe on a carpeted table, let them sniff a bit and then gently hold doe down while the buck mounts. Sometimes you need to flip her tail up. Watch to make sure doe lifts and buck finishes. I will let the buck have another go if he seems eager and rebreed an hour later.

Other factors are general health, lack of vitamins like A and E, sterility in the buck, time of year

good luck!
 
I think if I was getting a buck from someone else I would have to have it at my house for probably a week to breed the way I usually do which because it takes at least 4-5 days because:

2-3 days before breeding I put the doe in the bucks cage and the buck in the does cage overnight. The doe will smell all the buck smells in his cage and hopefully get really excited. Then I check her vent in the morning to see if it is swollen bright pink or purple- if it is I breed, if its not I do the cage swap thing again. My does are always ready and lifting by the third day and acting very desperate to be bred. The only time i ever had to do the cage swap more than 3 days was in winter months.
 
Zass":2r3wkp2i said:
They don't wanna. :)
Have they ever carried litter before? First time does are often the most difficult to get bred, especially when they are older.
There are lots of herbs and things you can try. I don't know how well they actually work, but it seems to be based around making them feel good and healthy to get them "in the mood."

The 5 year old doe may be too old to carry a litter. If she'd never had kits before, I probably wouldn't even try. As it is, I've never tried to breed a doe that age.
The two year old should be alright, but I've heard people say hollands frequently lose their entire first litters. I don't know how much luck you will have starting a dwarf breed doe out at that age.

I personally don't have any hands on experience with dwarf breeds at all. Someone who raises hollands should have better advice.
Click to expand...

The 5 year old has bred before. Thanks! I will try everything :) <br /><br /> -- Wed Apr 30, 2014 6:33 pm -- <br /><br />
dangerbunny":2r3wkp2i said:
what do you mean by not breeding? does won't lift? won't stand still? aren't conceiving?

Have they had litters before? I've heard Hollands can be hard to get going after a break so many people keep their does in production. It took me about a year to get my hollands going well but I had a lot of inexperienced animals.

First check over doe for health, make sure vent shows no sign of disease and she is at a healthy weight, Hollands can be easy keeper and too much fat will keep a doe from conceiving. Make sure buck is good and doesn't have a split penis.

Next check signs of breeding readiness, judging-a-doe-s-readiness-and-breeding-tips-t9869.html

I table breed because i can make sure a doe is properly covered that way, there are many ways to do it but I put buck and doe on a carpeted table, let them sniff a bit and then gently hold doe down while the buck mounts. Sometimes you need to flip her tail up. Watch to make sure doe lifts and buck finishes. I will let the buck have another go if he seems eager and rebreed an hour later.

Other factors are general health, lack of vitamins like A and E, sterility in the buck, time of year

good luck!
Click to expand...

both of the does wont lift or accept :\
 
I have had a hard time breeding first time does, with my Mini Rexes, but after the first breeding they've been easy.
I think I finally got my one doe to breed, but she was difficult. I thought she took twice, buck flipped off. I even put her in with him again a week later. She didn't except him, so I figured she was bred. But I waited a month, no babies. So disappointing.
I gave her Wheat Germ and that seemed to help.
 

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