NONE of my does are willing...is it my feed?

I just got my first rabbits the end of September and since then I've only been able to get four litters out of ten breeding age does. Two of the four litters were from the same doe, and the other two litters were force bred. I switched to Southern States 18% feed at the beginning of November (because that's the best feed I can get from my feed store) and I haven't had any successful breedings since. I bred three does 1 week after switching and two of them were willing (one was table bred) but none of them kindled. Now NONE of them are willing and I can't even get them table bred. The bucks have even lost interest. I've been putting the does in with the bucks nearly every day and they're just never receptive...I even tried housing a doe and buck together for a month and still nothing. I've tried breeding at different times of the day, ACV in the water, red raspberry tea, lots of greens, extra light, I even fed mostly fodder for a while and nothing seems to be working.

At first I thought the feed must be too high in protein, but some of my rabbits seem to be loosing weight while others are keeping good condition. So now I'm wondering if the feed is just not properly balanced or is lacking in something...do any of y'all feed Southern States?

I have a TSC about 45 mins away so I guess I could switch to Manna Pro next time I buy feed, I just hate feeding them all that soybean!

Any suggestions???

Check your does color on their vulvas before your attempt to breed. Hold her over and see what color it is. The reddish or purplish she is the more hormonally ready she will be to breed. You can force breed a doe but chances are if you just wait two or three more days she will be more willing. Force breeding can freak them out so bad they kind of go out on you. I have heard that organic vinegar in their water helps. Some of your problem can also be that the shorter days do not stimulate the rabbits pituitary and kind of shut them down this time of year. This year I put full specrtum lights in the rabbitry. We put it on a timer so it comes on about six am and goes off about 9 pm. I have had every doe I have bred this winter have kits.

It could be the feed. I switched to a cheaper feed over the summer and when it came time to breed this fall no one was willing. I switched back to my previous feed and within 3 weeks, my does started lifting again. I had never previously had problems with does not wanting to breed so, while it realistically could have been something else, it just seems like too big of a coincidence. I'm blaming the feed.

Have you tried worming them?
The weight loss on 18% feed would worry me a bit!

(Try pumpkin seeds are a natural wormer alternative if you are breeding)

I have a theory .........I think that mother nature is whispering to the mama rabbits, telling them that colder weather is coming and their bodies are listening and not cooperating with the silly humans that do not listen to mother nature any more.....

Sometimes, Mother Nature cannot be argued with.

SarniaTricia":20hsqnon said:

Have you tried worming them?
The weight loss on 18% feed would worry me a bit!

(Try pumpkin seeds are a natural wormer alternative if you are breeding)

I have a theory .........I think that mother nature is whispering to the mama rabbits, telling them that colder weather is coming and their bodies are listening and not cooperating with the silly humans that do not listen to mother nature any more.....

Sometimes, Mother Nature cannot be argued with.

Click to expand...

Well, unfortunately, that theory doesn't work for BeachBC and myself. Winter is our prime breeding time. Summer is just to dang hot.

alforddm":3ev7hzjj said:

SarniaTricia":3ev7hzjj said:

Have you tried worming them?
The weight loss on 18% feed would worry me a bit!

(Try pumpkin seeds are a natural wormer alternative if you are breeding)

I have a theory .........I think that mother nature is whispering to the mama rabbits, telling them that colder weather is coming and their bodies are listening and not cooperating with the silly humans that do not listen to mother nature any more.....

Sometimes, Mother Nature cannot be argued with.

Click to expand...

Well, unfortunately, that theory doesn't work for BeachBC and myself. Winter is our prime breeding time. Summer is just to dang hot.

Click to expand...

Good point... Didn't think of that...
I have a doe that is just not cooperating with the whole breeding thing and everyelse in the rabbitry seem to be a bit off around here too.....

Check your does color on their vulvas before your attempt to breed.

Click to expand...

I haven't been checking for color because my rabbits shred me every time I handle them so I try not to pick them up any more than I have to. Probably something I need to work on.

Have you tried worming them?
The weight loss on 18% feed would worry me a bit!

Click to expand...

It's a couple of the bucks that have lost weight so maybe I just wasn't feeding them enough, but I'll try the pumpkin seeds just to make sure.

I really appreciate the feedback y'all and can't wait to try all these suggestions along with switching their feed...hopefully I'll get this worked out in time to get a few litters before it's too hot!

I'm curious about feed as well. I was using what seemed to be a really good feed, then the place that sold it went out of business. The guy that took a lot of their stock was going to start stocking it, but never did so I switched over to TSC's feed (green and tan bag, totally blanking on the name - Producers Pride maybe?). They like it, don't cull it as far as eating it goes, but no breeding happening at all. Haven't had a successful litter in months (lost two - no fall offs with either - one from a doe that has only had one successful litter with me, another chilled on the wire (I was out of town, in the rush to get out the door I forgot to tell DH to put a nest box in JIC - he didn't realize what hay staching was and the kids weren't with him to tell him what was going on... he thought she was just really hungry :lol: ).

Does not interested, bucks barely, whereas before I had two of them succeed before my hands were off of the doe and out of the door! :roll: They were rip roarin', ready to go! I bought the cheap back of salt/mineral things for them and they actually have been licking on them whereas before they went totally untouched. Hmmmm... went out tonight and actually had a willing doe and a fall off from the buck - FINALLY! I think feed/nutrients might play a bigger role than many realize. I need to remember to try some ACV as well, can't hurt. I never remember to grab it on my way out the door though. I need to figure out how to chunk up the himalayan block for them since I think that would be better all around.

^ I just bought the salt on a rope they have for horses and had a good ol' cathartic time throwing it against the driveway for a few minutes we gathered up the pieces that were about the size i wanted, then drilled a small hole in them with a power drill and string wire through it and tied them to the sides of the cages. it's working pretty well so far and there's tons of salt left over once the humidity wipes the current chunks out. not sure if they're really using them or not, but hey, it's there if they need it.


i don't have much advice for the actual issue however. i went through the past year having litter issues - totally non-cooperating does, etc. finally got two litters in december, i'm wondering if it wasn't my feed too. i switched from a soy-free feed to purina over the summer to save money, and when i started trying for litters in september or so they actually started lifting when they hadn't before on the 'better' feed. i guess even if the ingredients aren't quite the same quality, the nutrients are better balanced, which leads to more willing rabbits. and mine still look really nice and shiny and healthy. i guess those feeds have stuck around so long for a reason.

I've had major breeding problems in the past with NZ mixes and Cali mixes, Champagnes and Americans. They were so bad at times that I had to keep twice as many does as expected, simply to keep something in the pipeline. And I was using nothing but TS feed (Producers Pride).

Now, I have all NZWs with no breeding problems at all. In fact, I have to hold them back or I'll run out of cages. By the way, I'm still using nothing but Producers Pride from TS.

So, feed could be an issue in your case. But my problem was entirely genetic. If you want heavy production, start with a line from heavy production. I wasted so many years trying to fix bad genetics.

Another issue with feed that I experienced several years ago was in bad handling! Heat can deplete the vitamins and you won't even know until nobody is willing to breed. I complained to the feed store, but it was out of their hands and all they could do was to complain to their rep. Well, two weeks later it came from the rep that one of their delivery contractors was allowing the pallet of feed to sit in the sun on a dock for two days while they were breaking down the pallet and how many bags did they need to send to the consumer with the complaint. Talk about customer service!!!!

It may also be weather related. I have 3 pairs in 3 cages. No litters then all of them had litters on the wire within few days of each other.

So I switched back to Manna Pro and within a week was able to get one of my does bred...and she was actually willing! :clap: (Same doe that had to be force bred last litter)

Going to try to breed a couple more today, but I'm pretty sure now that it was a feed issue.