Can a litter be from 2 bucks (fathers)?

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jimmywalt

jimmywalt

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Yesterday we had a littler of 9 Holland Lops born from our broken-black-tort doe. She was born on 3/4/14. This is her second litter.

When we bred her we had ONE cover from a cream colored male. This was his first mating (he was born 6/19/14). Because he's small we didn't think that he might have "made it", so we then tried with a different buck.

The second buck is pure black (DOB 8/1/13) and has been a proven buck to us 6 other times. He had TWO successful covers on the same day.

This is our does second litter. The first litter she had 6 kits, so yesterday when we got 9 we thought WOW!!!

So the question is........... could both bucks be the fathers, or is that not likely?

Here is a pic of the babies at 1 day old. Approximately 28 hours old.

DSC_6527_resize.JPG
 
Yes, a litter can have more than one father. :)
I've had it happen myself, so I know it isn't just hearsay.

I was able to tell the kits fathers apart due to color genetics. Crossing an opal to a lilac cannot make chocolates....so the chestnut buck must have been the father of the chestnut and chocolate kits.
But I KNEW he didn't have dilute...so all those blue and lilac kits HAD to have come from the opal who I knew carried both...
 
Honestly, I think litter size has more to do with the doe than a buck.
One ejaculation of sperm should be more than enough to fertilize as many embryos as a doe can carry. I actually routinely allow just one fall off because I'm too lazy to wait around, and I manage to get pretty decent litters.

In the case of the combined litter I mentioned, I never even saw the opal finish. But, he must have gotten some stuff in the right area. He fathered more kits than the chestnut buck who DID finish. Maybe because he was first? :shrug:


I have read that mature bucks average more kits than juniors, but that is about all that I've seen on how a buck's fertility plays a part in litter size.
 
Yep I got a litter of some mini rex coated and some not after breeding a mini rex doe to a mini rex buck and then her being accidentally put with an american sable buck. Rex only shows up if both rabbits have rex which should be utterly impossible with an american sable.

I find does produce the same average number with any buck I breed them to. I don't bother to do second breedings either unless I'm questioning the success of the first because I've found no gain. The buck just has to hit his target once.
 
Zass":2e0ip8er said:
Honestly, I think litter size has more to do with the doe than a buck.
One ejaculation of sperm should be more than enough to fertilize as many embryos as a doe can carry. I actually routinely allow just one fall off because I'm too lazy to wait around, and I manage to get pretty decent litters.

In the case of the combined litter I mentioned, I never even saw the opal finish. But, he must have gotten some stuff in the right area. He fathered more kits than the chestnut buck who DID finish. Maybe because he was first? :shrug:


I have read that mature bucks average more kits than juniors, but that is about all that I've seen on how a buck's fertility plays a part in litter size.
Click to expand...


Bucks have millions of sperm per ejaculate, but does will only release a certain #of eggs. Doe usually determines litter size, but bucks usually determine male/female ratio.
 
However, if a buck came from a doe with large litters and good mothering skills, he can pass that along to his daughters. That is how a buck can affect litter size by passing along the genetics for it.
 
I will wait around for multiple breedings if it's hot or if I haven't used the buck in a while. Just to make sure he's got fresh stuff to offer.
 
Any animal that has "litters" or releases more than one egg at a time can carry pregnancies by multiple sires- it just depends on how fast the sperm swim to the eggs. :)

jimmywalt":14nq19mg said:
Could the 2 fathers also contribute to the large litter of 9 kits???
Click to expand...

Science says "no"- as my Sistah OAF said, does only have a certain number of eggs that are mature enough to be fertilized at one time.

However, hopefully OAF will pop back into this thread, because I seem to remember her mentioning that a breeder she knows swears that her does have larger than average litters when bred to multiple bucks. :?

Personally, I would put that down to coincidence, but one never knows.
 
Hey Jimmywalt,
I believe that the Black Buck is the sire.
The colors produced come from the combination/genetics
of the Doe and the Black Buck. They could easily produce
that color combination. As always, JMPO.
Ottersatin. :eek:ldtimer:
 

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