When to to breed doe after first litter, how to wean?
- Thread starter Newrabbit
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Newrabbit":2jt6o05w said:
opinions vary... for "commercial Meat Rabbits" some re-breed after the first two weeks [some even earlier. Breed stock burns out fast, and rarely lasts more than a year and a half after heavy production starts. I prefer to raise rabbits at a more relaxed pace.. I re-breed at 5 weeks, wean at 8 weeks -and butcher [usually] at 8 weeks, when the rabbits are taken from the doe's cage. With that program I don't need a bunch of "grow-out" cages. My does usually last 4 or 5 years, some almost twice that. So- in answer to your question-- It depends on your reason for raising rabbits, your breed stock, and of course.. the breed of rabbit. If you wean earlier.. more care needs to be taken to make sure kits are "stable" and ready to move onto strictly solid feed. weaning is usually done by just removing the kits. I have heard of some small time producers who take the kits away for 2 days, then put them back for a day, then remove them again-- I suppose this is to "transition" both kits and doe.. A large producer could not be bothered with this extra step...
Thanks for the reply that was pretty much my plan, rebreed at 5 weeks. I will breed some and butcher some. But either way they should be ready to be separated at 8 weeks correct? Also they are 2 weeks old and dont seem to be using nesting box anymore. Is it time to pull it?
There is a range of answers to these questions that I've seen here over the years. We wean at 5 weeks, removing the doe from the cage allows us to free feed the kits without having the doe get overly fat.
We remove the nest box as soon as the kits are getting out of it consistently, especially in warm weather. If it is cold, then we may leave it longer but after 2 weeks the nest easily becomes wet/soiled and it seems better to remove it.
We remove the nest box as soon as the kits are getting out of it consistently, especially in warm weather. If it is cold, then we may leave it longer but after 2 weeks the nest easily becomes wet/soiled and it seems better to remove it.
Re-breeding does not seem to negatively affect milk production. My does are usually still feeding kits until 6 of 7 weeks, but nursing is usually ended by the doe- she starts weaning, when she gets tired of them- I have some does who have "weaned" at 5 weeks. [about the time i re-breed. ]Newrabbit":rf1kme9k said:
