Rebreed at 5 weeks....ween 2 weeks after?

I am raising meat rabbits. I read somewhere that you could realistically re-breed at 4 weeks and likely ween the current litter a couple weeks later.

Have any of you been successful at that?

The does need to be young, resilient and in good health to keep up with a breeding routine like that. Breed when her kits are four weeks, wean two weeks later (when kits are 6 weeks - keep them on your property another two weeks if you plan to sell them, since you cant sell kits under 8 weeks ), she gets a 2 week break, then has her next litter. I've not done it more than once in row, but it all depends on the line. See how your doe is looking at 4 weeks - if she is looking ragged and skinny still, might want to wait a bit. If you do end up breeding at 4 weeks, when the next litter reaches four weeks, if your doe is in worse condition than she was the first time, give her some times to rest before breeding again.
Note - I've done this with Himalayans only, not any meat breeds

This is our third year of raising meat rabbits. We take the doe out of the cage with the kits at 5 weeks and I think at that point she has already weaned them but am not sure. This spring we rebred the does when the kits were 4 to 5 weeks old. But then we didn't rebreed until the end of summer. Had no problem rebreeding that close but don't know how it would have been if we'd kept doing it. It just works best for us to have most of our litters in late winter and spring, then breed once again later for fall litters. Through the worst of the winter we're just carrying the breeding stock.

I have re-bred when the kits were 2 weeks old.... removed kits at 6 weeks from mom to a cage they can see her. This is very hard on the doe. I do not do this more than once in a row.... and I need to have a good reason to breed this hard.

This last time, I wanted all the does bread together, because I have a doe that is unpredictable on her mothering skills and a new mom... so I wanted two other successful moms, just in case I needed to foster.

The mom that was bread so quickly will get over a month of rest and extra treats while nursing. (pumpkin and sunflower seeds, mana and other higher calorie treats)

Also, I can't breed again for a couple of months due to my limited grow-out space.... :lol: :shock: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

I got this from the breeder that I bought my rabbits from at http://www.crossroadsrabbitry.com/

I hope this helps.


THERE ARE 3 BASIC RATES OF PRODUCTION:

EXTENSIVE: Most rabbit growers practice an Extensive reproduction rate. This is where the breeder fully utilizes the does’ maternal instincts by allowing them to nurse their young for 5 to 6 weeks and then re-breeding them after weaning; does then being serviced once every two and a half months. This rate should allow for 4 to 5 liters per year. If you are a small or backyard grower this may be the best practice for you.

SEMI-INTENSIVE: The does are serviced 10 to 20 days after kindling and the young are weaned at 4 to 5 weeks. There is no contrast between pregnancy and lactation. For 10 to 20 days the doe is newly pregnant while still nursing. Since these does never have a resting period they need a sufficient and well-balanced concentrate feed. This allows for 7 to 8 litters per year. This is the rate of production used at Crossroads Rabbitry.

INTENSIVE: The does are serviced 1 to 4 days after kindling, taking advantage of the fact that they are then on heat. Weaning should take place at 26 to 28 days. This allows for 9 to 10 litters per year. This allows for 35 days between litters; In our opinion, the results of this 35 day rate are economically disappointing because the rate of doe acceptance of being serviced 3 to 4 days after kindling is very low.

I think that a doe will live a lot longer, and be more healthy with a Extensive breeding program--
my program is even more relaxed than that sometimes-- [as production numbers are not my goal - just good healthy, productive, meat type rabbits and food for the family and a few others.]

I rebreed at 5 or 6 weeks depending on the doe's condition ,[ if she is a little bony- I feed her up for a while - until she is in good condition ]. I do not remove the kits from the doe until about 8 weeks, at that point I butcher, or put them in a grow-out pen with same sex rabbits.

I have does that are old and productive [by my noncommercial standards] I like to be able to keep a good doe producing for 5 to 8 years, so I have a good opportunity to evaluate offspring from different breedings, and then repeat those breedings to produce replacement stock. If I intensive breed my does- they burn out about the time their offspring are producing and I really wish I could get some more replacements from them. I like to keep replacement does from dams that have been productive for at least 3 years. Those long lived productive does are real economical to use as broodstock, compared to does who need to be replaced every other year.

I often back to back bred my meat does and the kits would be weaned at 4 weeks. Since we have both summer and winter extremes it would be a Mar,April,may,possibly June litters. No July, Aug, Sept. Some start to be born oct, Nov, lingering Dec litters and no Jan or Feb litters. I did have a few does that could breed through winter and one really hormonal doe I quit trying to give breaks to because she'd just stress out and destroy everything around her.

We are talking good meat producers though. I've had other breeds that couldn't come close. Some of my ND does took so long to recover that I'd only get 2 litters a year. Although I mostly culled until everything produced about 4 litters of at least 4.

Basically watch your rabbits, adjust their food, and breed what can stay in condition for the amount of kits you can handle.