oh dear. Need skill at sexing!

"Oly" was born on 11/23 this year during a freak deep freeze we were having in our parts. The little NZ was so-named because it was the oly one to survive a litter of two. We pulled her thru the cold spell as a single popple with a combination of inside/outside transfer, goat milk and extra insulation.

At two weeks I sexed it and determined it to be female. I was happy for this since I'm considering retirement for our doe. To be kind, I left the little one in the spacious hutch with mum (adjacent to dad) so there is a 'colony' feeling. Beats the solitary confinement of our grow-out cages since there were no siblings to be of company.

Well, long story short - "Oly" is now "Oedipus" thanks to my failure to determine gender properly. :shock: I pulled the two apart (literally) a week ago. To add insult to injury, now mom has pulled fur and is occupying the nestbox. I feel just horrible. Had I have known, I'd have better conditioned her. I was transitioning them to a green diet now that spring is here.

We've been at this for a couple of years and have 6 or more litters under our belt. I'm not the best at sexing...apparently, though I didn't have any others to compare it to. On the good side, this is the first unplanned event we've had on our farm, all critters included - but I still feel horrible.

Is it me? or are they just that difficult to sex? Unbelieveable the little one could be so fertile so young - but there it is....and to that end, NOW what I do? We need another doe, not a sire!

:lol: Maybe there will be a nice doe in the upcoming litter.

Don't worry about it--As trinityoaks states, you may get some nice repalcement doe out of the breeding-- and the one time 'incestuous' relationship, for rabbits, doesn't do a lot of genetic harm.

It's also possible that mom is having a false pregnancy due to the mounting activity.

Did you check "Oly" again? Mounting can sometimes be a dominance display so unless you see testicles, you might just have a dominant young doe.

Good to see you here at RabbitTalk, lfrj!

I agree with all the above. Don't worry about the genetics at all... line-breeding in rabbits is not only common, it often produces excellent rabbits. There is no need to feel badly about this situation... although I understand the blow to one's ego about sexing the rabbit incorrectly.

With rabbits, it is not always as clear-cut as we would like. In general, young bucks will exhibit a round opening, like a little donut... and the young does a slit, rather like a taco. But until the testicles drop in the males it is hard to be certain.

Here's the best link I know for sexing young rabbits. Even if you've seen it before, it is a good refresher course.

http://www.rudolphsrabbitranch.com/sexing.htm

It seems to be rather like chickens...the rabbits and chickens have been around so long and inbreeding so much (since they both are prey animals and tend to have ONE dominant male in a large large flock) that the really undesirable traits have already been bred out of the genetic makeup. (undesirable as in 3 eyes, or 5 legs, or no stomach, etc.)

Sorry about Oly there....I remember the thread about her..er, him. Here's hoping the litter is ALL DOES!!

Okay, no popples, just a lot of fur pulling. So now I'M as dazed and confused as my rabbits seem to be.
When I pulled the two apart last week, I saw what appeared to be a long appendage on the young (male?), but no testicles. Figured he was just too young thankfully, to do much more than go thru the motions... and then this. Oh the drama.

Probably time I have a vet take a look at the young one for confirmation. Wonder what he'll charge, and as for our doe - well, false pregnancy.... I guess. Weird!

False pregnancy is not uncommon in rabbits. I think it is because they are induced ovulators... that is they ovulate as a result of sexual stimulation, rather than having set fertile cycles.

You could have the vet look at the rabbit... but many vets know very little about rabbits. I'd just give Oly his/her own cage and wait a while. If Oly is a buck, the testicles will drop sooner or later. Try comparing his/her genitals to the parents to get practice. Donut or taco shape is more telling than the length of protrusion, I believe.

yup - and check through the day - testicles often come down and retract again
Niobe appeared to be a neuetered male for a LONG time - in fact others sexed him as female when he first came into rescue ... and I honestly don't think he's under a year ...

If you just pulled them apart a week ago, isn't it too early to tell whether mom is really pregnant or not? (Although the early nesting COULD mean false pregnancy. . .)

Trinity is right. You'd better mark that calendar and provide a nest box at the appropriate time... just in case!

Oly is going to the vet on Monday for a confirmation. No charge. Hope they know what they're doing, but will remain in his/her own cage either way. Our doe has a nest box full time, so no worries there, and my experience with her is that she NEVER uses it or pulls fur until the last minute of the last hour, so I doubt she's waiting. (Our buck hides in his box all the time).

I later learned that my DP has apparently observed the opposite of what I saw, that is, Mom was all over the little one. I saw the reverse - so there was definitely some dominating behaviors going on from both critters. SO...its possible that I didn't get it wrong and that they are both female (which would make me feel a little less like a total dufus!

Thanks all, for your help! Will follow up Monday.<br /><br />__________ Tue Mar 30, 2010 6:10 pm __________<br /><br />It's official. He's a boy. The vet had a lot of trouble determining this though, including finding his testicles at first. She was kind enough to admit that he was a difficult one identify -(Do they vary?) - which made me feel a little better. As for mom, still an empty nest. (Whew). I'll give her a month before I put her to the buck.

Here's the amazing part! I lamented to the vet that I wasn't sure what to do with an extra male. Now, I'd have no problem sending him to freezer camp, but my DP,"RJ-St. Francis", will have nothing to do with Oly Cordon Bleu - if you know what i mean. The vet then told me that she and her husband were all excited about getting into meat rabbits themselves and they had been planning on acquiring a pair in the near future. And behold! Here he was, all young and virile! She's going to call us about taking him off our hands. I swear. That has to be the luckiest rabbit in the world!

I've done 'pre-emptive' sexing at 3 weeks to get an estimate...which never comes out right. I sex again at 5-6 weeks and I'm pretty dead on. I find that sexing them too young is very difficult. I have sent two to freezer camp because I just couldn't tell. I didn't need them and I couldn't sell them, not knowing.

oh, you can sell then not knowing, you simply say...I have no clue what this one is. Usually the ones you can't tell are slow maturing boys. I've learned this, but sometimes one will fool you and end up being female. So that's when I say... "I have no clue, but for a pet bunny, this will be a good bunny.".

What a nice vet you have, LF!