Unwilling for tips? : Meat Rabbits

[Chubbybunnies]

Well, the headline says it all I suppose....

Any ideas to make them more willing?

What’s everyone’s thoughts on forced breeding? Holding the doe in place?

[MeadowView]

Lighting is everything. If you can leave lights on for an extended period of time, do. I’m talking 24-48 hours or until every doe you own wants to get it.
Cut her feed back, if she’s even a little on the chunky side you’ll have issues.
You can try holding her in place, but I’ve never had this work.

[michaels4gardens]

If you have a little enclosed grassy place outdoors, to let "them" run for a few minutes it often works.
When rabbits escape their cage, and a doe can get with a buck, breeding usually happens right away, .. many people have surprise litters this way, as they think "they were only loose for a couple of minutes"...

[LittleFluffyBunnies]

Does can be very picky about weather, mine are never in a good mood on overcast days.
They also prefer early morning, or evening(dusk).

Sometimes breeding in a neutral area instead of the buck's can helps.

Try supplementing the doe's diet with spinach. A lack of vitamin A(and one other vitamin I just can't remember ) can cause unwillingness to breed.

Forced breeding rarely leads to pregnancy in my experience.

[dfr1973]

Try supplementing the doe's diet with spinach. A lack of vitamin A(and one other vitamin I just can't remember ) can cause unwillingness to breed

Vitamin E, which isn't shelf-stable in pellet form, but is in BOSS. Along with spinach you can also treat her with kale or parsley. Just don't go overboard or you'll end up giving her diarrhea.

[Chubbybunnies]

Thank you all for the responses.

I will try the BOSS. She is not the friendliest doe. She growls, thumps, and runs away and lays flat, but she’s a great mom. Not really the temperature I want, she is kind of standoffish, but I will sacrifice that for now for a good mom starting up.

Also, I tried to breed a new buck I got today, and noticed after he mounted the doe, there was a small amount of blood on the female. He mounted both sides and both sides had blood, that’s what tells me it is the buck.

Any ideas? I may make it another post that way more people see it.

[ladysown]

i have never found that light makes a difference.

health and season is what matters I find.

[Chubbybunnies]

i have never found that light makes a difference.

health and season is what matters I find.

They are outside rabbits, so I don’t think the light is an issue.

She has not been the friendliest bunny ever since we got her (maybe the reason someone was getting rid of her lol) but when she has kits, she takes extremely good care of them. At the stage I am right now, that will have to outweigh temperament for the time being.

[GBov]

I had about 50/50 success with a bit of feed bag string tied to the does tail and run up past her shoulders. As I held her facing me in the bucks cage and the buck mounted, I would pull the string gently forward which would lift the tail for him to have access.

It takes a VERY confident buck and a doe you can at least position and hold and even then, only about 6 of the 12 times I tried it did it work.

AND does learn the trick fast and press harder down to prevent him breeding.

I have also put my hand under her belly with a finger on either side of her tail and lifted some that way but usually, if they are not lifting, they are just not in the mood.

Much more successful for me is to have a really big cage and the buck can live with the doe. That way he is right there when she is in the mood.

It is not without its risks and frustrations as well but then, that rabbits for you, ups and downs all the time.

[Chubbybunnies]

I had about 50/50 success with a bit of feed bag string tied to the does tail and run up past her shoulders. As I held her facing me in the bucks cage and the buck mounted, I would pull the string gently forward which would lift the tail for him to have access.

It takes a VERY confident buck and a doe you can at least position and hold and even then, only about 6 of the 12 times I tried it did it work.

AND does learn the trick fast and press harder down to prevent him breeding.

I have also put my hand under her belly with a finger on either side of her tail and lifted some that way but usually, if they are not lifting, they are just not in the mood.

Much more successful for me is to have a really big cage and the buck can live with the doe. That way he is right there when she is in the mood.

It is not without its risks and frustrations as well but then, that rabbits for you, ups and downs all the time.

I tried the hand under the belly truck. It seemed to work for this particular doe. The buck is very confident, the does just seem a little bit stand offish! Both of the does that I have producing right now have the biggest temperament issues!

None of them are mean, they just don’t want to be messed with, and will make a growling noise. They don’t like to be touched, let alone picking them up to take them to the buck, that’s always fun. Somehow, both of them came to me prebred, unbeknownst to me, but it works out!

[GBov]

Welding gloves/gauntlets with the fingers cut off are your friends! I gave mine away and I miss them soooooooo badly. The buns really do not wish to hurt me but both my hands are tor up from moving the five youngsters yesterday. Each one managed to scratch a different part of my hands.

Glad you have a good buck and managed to get one doe bred at least.

[Chubbybunnies]

Welding gloves/gauntlets with the fingers cut off are your friends! I gave mine away and I miss them soooooooo badly. The buns really do not wish to hurt me but both my hands are tor up from moving the five youngsters yesterday. Each one managed to scratch a different part of my hands.

Glad you have a good buck and managed to get one doe bred at least.

They’re not really mean, they just don’t want to be touch. They don’t really kick, scratch, or bite. They just run from being pet and touched.

If they drew blood, they’d be in a pie! Sorry.

I have a doe that it’s pulling a ton of fur and making a wonderful next, but shouldn’t be due until May 6th. Any ideas?

[GBov]

Welding gloves/gauntlets with the fingers cut off are your friends! I gave mine away and I miss them soooooooo badly. The buns really do not wish to hurt me but both my hands are tor up from moving the five youngsters yesterday. Each one managed to scratch a different part of my hands.

Glad you have a good buck and managed to get one doe bred at least.

They’re not really mean, they just don’t want to be touch. They don’t really kick, scratch, or bite. They just run from being pet and touched.

If they drew blood, they’d be in a pie! Sorry.

I have a doe that it’s pulling a ton of fur and making a wonderful next, but shouldn’t be due until May 6th. Any ideas? :need-comments:

Give her a nest box and cross your fingers? That is what I do.

None of my rabbits are mean (other than grumpy doe) and are, in fact, in your face friendly BUT as I do not pick them up very often they almost always struggle. It is natural for them to do it and usually there is no blood drawn because I put a long sleeved shirt on. The kits though were only 5 weeks old so when they struggled they got my hands, too small for a football hold.

All my cage doors open twards the ground so I have to brace the door against my belly to prevent them falling out as they charge forward to be petted. NEVER have I had such friendly rabbits.

[Chubbybunnies]

This is totally weird! I rebred her 2 weeks after giving birth to her first litter. It was about three weeks ago. She was in an iso hutch with her other 3 kits, so there is no way she could have rebred herself. She gave birth last night to 4 happy healthy huge kits!

[GBov]

This is totally weird! I rebred her 2 weeks after giving birth to her first litter. It was about three weeks ago. She was in an iso hutch with her other 3 kits, so there is no way she could have rebred herself. She gave birth last night to 4 happy healthy huge kits!

I gave up long ago trying to figure out how some does manage to get preggers with no help from me, I just call them gifts from the rabbit gods and move on.