How much does litter size affect kit size at 8-10 weeks?

I have one doe whose first litter is quite a bit larger than any of my other does but only had 7 kits in the litter. So, how much does litter size effect kit size at 8-10 weeks. Say 7 vs 9 or 10 in a litter?

I weaned this litter at 6 weeks and then weighed them at 8 weeks 4 days. The largest was 4lbs 3oz and the smallest 3lbs 8oz.

Hmmm, the doe who liked to give me 5 lbs in 9 weeks usually had 9 kits.
Another doe was able to give me a few kits who made it to 5 lbs in 8 weeks, but there were only 7 in that litter..

I'd say the litters of 10 or 11 took a little longer to get there, maybe a week or two.

Especially in larger litters, there were usually a few kits that didn't quite keep up with the others.

My harli kits grow pretty slowly, but litter size hasn't exactly dwindled. (7-15)

Last year I started keeping better records to help me compare does. So I weighed the whole litter or the individual kits at regular times and then recorded the total litter weight (because someone on RT had said that the total litter weight at 5 weeks or weaning point was the best indicator of the does milk supply) as well as the average weight for the kits in the litter. A further complication is that kits in some litters were fairly close in weight while in other litters there was a wider range. I want to see if that is consistent over time because it makes life easier if all the kits in a litter (except any to be kept back for future breeding) can go to freezer camp at the same time.

Zero

It depends on the does milk production - some does can satisfactorily feed 10 and they can be the same size as another doe who has trouble feeding 4 :cheesysmile:

Dood":2bopk0b8 said:

Zero

It depends on the does milk production - some does can satisfactorily feed 10 and they can be the same size as another doe who has trouble feeding 4 :cheesysmile:

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I gotta agree w/ Dood .... its all about milk production .... and the genetics of growth potential.

Rainey":2no0n9zn said:

Last year I started keeping better records to help me compare does. So I weighed the whole litter or the individual kits at regular times and then recorded the total litter weight (because someone on RT had said that the total litter weight at 5 weeks or weaning point was the best indicator of the does milk supply) as well as the average weight for the kits in the litter. A further complication is that kits in some litters were fairly close in weight while in other litters there was a wider range. I want to see if that is consistent over time because it makes life easier if all the kits in a litter (except any to be kept back for future breeding) can go to freezer camp at the same time.

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I select breed stock , mostly based on 8 week litter weaning weights, all that matters to me is how much meat each doe is producing per cycle. - the number of kits, [ 8 or 12 kits] is less important then 8 week litter weights,.

I always preferred the larger litters.
11 rabbits at 4 lbs still amounts to more total rabbit than 6 rabbits at 5 lbs.
I have no use for does who can't feed at least 7 well...

Interestingly...despite the fact that the harlis don't have a hard time nursing many kits, they just don't seem to have rapid growth genetics. Excess calories turn into body fat.

Just reading the discussion helps. Sometimes I have something sitting at the back of my head that is bugging me but I can't quite articulate what I'm really looking for.

I'm trying to decide if it's worth keeping back a doe from this particular doe right now. She is a massive milker for what I can tell. These 7 where all hugly fat but she just had 7 while I have other does who have 9 or 10 and have raised them all but they aren't going to be as large. I'm just trying to work through what I want to do.

This was the first litter I got after summer heat sterility as well however, so it's possible this next litter will have more.

In my experience Milk production is more important than litter size as you can always foster kits over to a heavy milker.

For 2 years I kept a doe who never had more than 6 kits in a litter and usually 3 but she could feed 8 or more and her daughters inherited her good milk production AND their fathers high fertility to give me the best of both worlds

A doe who makes a ton of milk and comparatively few kits can be a great rabbitry asset.

I sure wish I had one here now.
My little 7.5 lb jap, Sinfonia, currently looks as if she swallowed a honeydew melon. That's the girl who gave me 15... I really HATE culling kits, but I won't leave her more than 10 to feed.

when you sell by the pound, -- pounds weaned at 8 weeks is the bottom line. ---[ JMHO]

alforddm":3ry0adtk said:

This was the first litter I got after summer heat sterility as well however, so it's possible this next litter will have more.

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My first litter after the heat died down was THREE. I was in shock as she normally gives me 9-11. Her next litter was 9.

Zass":1bqpvei4 said:

A doe who makes a ton of milk and comparatively few kits can be a great rabbitry asset.

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Yes! I have a doe who rarely has more than 5 but is a superb mother with tons of milk. She is my go to foster mom for every first timer doe, as well as emergency back up for giant angora litters. I probably should be thinking of getting a few daughters from her.

She kindled 8 for me sometime today. I also looked over some of my records and her oldest litter was running a full pound heavier at 8 weeks than most of my past litters. I'm definitely going to keep back a doe from her oldest litter. I'll probably keep back one from the litter she kindled today as well.

Heck if she keeps going like this I may end up with an entire rabbitry full of her daughters.

EDIT: 1-31-16
Well I lied she had 10 I had just felt around in the nestbox yesterday and either she kindled a few after I checked or I missed a few. I brought the box in the house and checked them all over real good a few minutes ago.

I guess I'll get a good comparison for how litter size affects growth.

I also think I have a broken fawn in this litter. This will be the first of those for me. The genetics have been there just hadn't aligned right.

Nice nest too. I can't wait to hear how well they grow compared to her smaller litters.

I weight the older litter today. They are 10 weeks 3 days old. One of the bucks weighed 5lbs 2oz. I'm keeping him and the largest doe who was 4lbs 8oz.

I wanted to keep the buck and breed back to his dam to see what, if anything, is going on with their fur.

I'm excited to see how her litter of 10 that will be a week old on saturday compares.

__________ Mon Apr 11, 2016 7:51 am __________

This does second litter is now 10 weeks old. I missed the eight week weight but at 10 weeks they are a bit smaller than her litter of 7. One 10 died around a weeks old. Not sure what happened with that one. It was plenty fat and I couldn't' see anything wrong, just one day I went out to check and it was dead. The other 9 are all doing great.

At 10 weeks 3 days her first litter weighed 72.7 oz on average. (4.54 lbs) This groups is 3 days older
At 10 weeks exactly her second litter weighted 63.7 oz on average (3.98lbs)

The first groups was left with mom at least a full week longer maybe as much as 2 weeks longer. I didn't write down the exact weaning weights like I should have. I'm sure that affected weights. It also meant that she only had about a week recovery time before has birthed the second litter. That is one of the reason I pulled this second litter earlier. I wanted her to have a longer recovery time.

The second group was also fed more forage than the first group. Not a really significant amount more but it may have affected growth somewhat.

Her third litter is due tomorrow.

Not super stellar performance by meat standards but still not to shabby. She is giving me better weights than all my other does so, I'm keeping back another doe (maybe 2) from this litter. I'm going to have to do some serious soul searching about which does need replaced.