Advice or pep talk needed, please?

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The other day DH brought up I'm throwing a lot of money into rabbits and getting little to no return. I will admit that he is right so far. I've had my rabbits a little over a year now. I bought a breeding trio in late May 2015 for the purpose of providing another meat source for us. We try to raise as much of our own food as possible. Anyway, my rabbits were 9 weeks old when I bought them. I've had 1 litter and that's it. No lost litters or anything, just one litter. I will say that this is more than likely due to my inexperience in knowing what to watch for when breeding and not breeding them often enough. I guess I'm just getting discouraged now. I'm hoping this year will be better as I have scoured this forum and have learned so much from everyone. Is it normal to have this hard of a time when you start out with rabbits? I really enjoy them and do not have any plans on getting out of them but I may have to if things don't start picking up. :(
 
If part of the problem is that you're not breeding them often enough, take a calendar and make a schedule. Long intervals between litters can sometimes make for difficulty conceiving due to the accumulation of fat in the body cavity. At just over a year, this should not be a big problem - YET - unless you overfeed them.

Do the does lift for the buck when he has mounted them? With a little practice you should be able to tell. Watch closely while they breed. Watch too for the buck falling off afterwards -- it usually indicates that he has completed the act. Mark your calendar and put the nest box in on Day 28. Most does kindle around 30-32 days after breeding, but leave the nest box in for another week after that because sometimes they go longer.

Lots of beginners experience problems of one type or another. Try to address them as they arise. Ignoring them will get you nowhere.

Some people start off with great success only to be landed with a major crisis down the road a little. On the whole, I'd rather have my problems at the beginning and then troubleshoot them.

Good luck! :good-luck:
 
MaggieJ":1fgzf99w said:
If part of the problem is that you're not breeding them often enough, take a calendar and make a schedule. Long intervals between litters can sometimes make for difficulty conceiving due to the accumulation of fat in the body cavity. At just over a year, this should not be a big problem - YET - unless you overfeed them.

I will be using a calendar going forward. It is too easy to forget what day you did what with whom. I actually started one with the last breeding on the two does. I didn't know about the long intervals making it harder to conceive. I learn something from here everyday. I believe that I was overfeeding them until three months ago. I didn't realize what a huge issue this was until then. They are now all on a measured food amount. Hopefully, it's not too late.

Do the does lift for the buck when he has mounted them? With a little practice you should be able to tell. Watch closely while they breed. Watch too for the buck falling off afterwards -- it usually indicates that he has completed the act. Mark your calendar and put the nest box in on Day 28. Most does kindle around 30-32 days after breeding, but leave the nest box in for another week after that because sometimes they go longer.

I will watch for the lifting on the next try. We have only had the buck fall off once that I can remember. I also read where you should keep them together (if everyone is civil) for about a half hour which might be part of the issue. We were taking the doe out after two mountings ( probably 5 -10 minutes) even though he wasn't falling off either time. It is now too hot here to breed so I will have to wait for cooler temps.

Lots of beginners experience problems of one type or another. Try to address them as they arise. Ignoring them will get you nowhere.

Yes, the maybe next time approach is not working out at all. :oops:

Some people start off with great success only to be landed with a major crisis down the road a little. On the whole, I'd rather have my problems at the beginning and then troubleshoot them.

Good luck! :good-luck:
Thank you

Thanks
 
Lots of beginners do experience problems. I had a buck that was not doing his job, but was just a beautiful color. I was stubborn and tried to will him to procreate, lol. I kept him way too long and went almost a year without a litter myself. Our goal is to have our rabbits paying for themselves, or at least their basic needs of hay, feed, and housing. Using a calendar is a great idea, and if your husband is financially minded like mine is, you may also try creating a budget and setting some goals that you put in writing, so that you define what you are working towards. This summer I am taking extra steps by allowing a doe to be brought inside after breeding, in order to get at least one litter this summer. We got a new buck at the end of May, and I just didnt want to take the chance that he might not work out like the last one. So we put him to work right away and this weekend we should find out (although I see those jerky little bunny kicks and am pretty sure we will have a good outcome). I not only learned from this forum but I you tubed a lot as well, and there are plenty of videos that show what successful breeding should look like and all kids of things. I think the trick is to balance things out. Try to do your research so you know what to look for but not so much to the point that you are trying sooooo hard its easy to become frustrated if things dont happen as you hope and plan. These are still animals, and I love that there is some guessing and what if's that keep life interesting:) Good luck! You can be sucessful! Even if you had to sell your stock and start over, or totally change your game plan, it's very possible to get where you want to be.
 
Thanks, macksmom98. That is my goal for the upcoming year too. I'm going to work harder at managing the breeding aspect of it. I'm also going to track the costs so I can at least compare and see what's going on. Congrats on your upcoming litter. :) Until the past 3 days it has been in the upper 80s to mid 90s here for a good while so my breeding is on hold until probably September. :( It was nice to hear from you again and thanks for the words of encouragement.
 
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