A Very Eager Young Buck

[Duck Survivalist]

Good morning Rabbit folks,

I'm still kind of new to raising rabbits and have only 1 litter of kits with a different buck that i no longer breed.

My only and current buck is a 1/2 Californian, and 1/4 each of rex and Flemish. The 1st photo is of him and 2nd photo is my female that i have concerns and questions for.
He is barely 4 months old, i was planning to let him get older first but he seems VERY eager and interested in the does.
I open his cage and he will emedietly try to hop out because he wants a female, also he's friendly and likes people.
I've successfully bred him with 3 females who are over a year old, but if it's a successful breeding then ill get kits from one doe in a week and the other 2 does in 2 weeks.

The last one i bred which is the grey female Rex in the 2nd picture. And I've read in multiple places to breed multiple times within a short span of days to raise the odds of babies.
I bred them at night and saw 4 falloffs, next morning i saw 3 falloffs, and later that night i saw 2 falloffs.
All 3 sessions we're about 25 minutes within 2 days about 8-12hrs apart each.

I noticed the grey female when first introduced lifted and accepted him, after the 2nd falloff she was grunting and running away and he would chase and eventually get the other 2 falloffs that first breeding session, the other 2 sessions she was grunting and running away the entire time while he was eagerly chasing and still having successful falloffs another 4 times for a total of 9 falloffs within 2 days, now she's a little more scared of everything, as you can see she's sulking in the photo.
I noticed that my other 2 females would hop away grunting and he would still push himself on and breed successfully.


So what I'm wanting to know:
Is it an issue that the females are wanting to reject him but he still is able to do his business?
How well is it that i bred him 9 times to the grey doe?
Since he's only 4 months and how eager he is he's still pushing and doing stuff successfully, should i intervene somehow or accept that he's a really good breeding buck?

 

[RabbitsOfTheCreek]

Hang on, you bred a Buck when he was 3.5 months old?

 

[Alaska Satin]

Hang on, you bred a Buck when he was 3.5 months old?

Yeah, it happens; in my experience, dwarf breeds (like Mini Rex, Polish and Holland Lops) are especially "precocious." I've never done it intentionally, but I have had more than one 12-16 week-old buck accidentally become a sire. I've never seen any evidence that it hurt them at all.
The main reason I usually wait till 4-5 months of age to breed bucks is that sometimes less aggressive boys will get cowed by an overly enthusiastic doe, and end up kind of terrified and not so interested in breeding later. But it sounds like her buck was raring to go! (Whether or not he'll prove to be fertile at that age remains to be seen.)

 

[Alaska Satin]

Good morning Rabbit folks,

I'm still kind of new to raising rabbits and have only 1 litter of kits with a different buck that i no longer breed.

My only and current buck is a 1/2 Californian, and 1/4 each of rex and Flemish. The 1st photo is of him and 2nd photo is my female that i have concerns and questions for.
He is barely 4 months old, i was planning to let him get older first but he seems VERY eager and interested in the does.
I open his cage and he will emedietly try to hop out because he wants a female, also he's friendly and likes people.
I've successfully bred him with 3 females who are over a year old, but if it's a successful breeding then ill get kits from one doe in a week and the other 2 does in 2 weeks.

The last one i bred which is the grey female Rex in the 2nd picture. And I've read in multiple places to breed multiple times within a short span of days to raise the odds of babies.
I bred them at night and saw 4 falloffs, next morning i saw 3 falloffs, and later that night i saw 2 falloffs.
All 3 sessions we're about 25 minutes within 2 days about 8-12hrs apart each.

I noticed the grey female when first introduced lifted and accepted him, after the 2nd falloff she was grunting and running away and he would chase and eventually get the other 2 falloffs that first breeding session, the other 2 sessions she was grunting and running away the entire time while he was eagerly chasing and still having successful falloffs another 4 times for a total of 9 falloffs within 2 days, now she's a little more scared of everything, as you can see she's sulking in the photo.
I noticed that my other 2 females would hop away grunting and he would still push himself on and breed successfully.

So what I'm wanting to know:
Is it an issue that the females are wanting to reject him but he still is able to do his business?
How well is it that i bred him 9 times to the grey doe?
Since he's only 4 months and how eager he is he's still pushing and doing stuff successfully, should i intervene somehow or accept that he's a really good breeding buck?

I usually put the buck and doe together for a few fall-offs, then ideally I'll wait an hour and do it a second time. Sometimes does are already "done" by the second round, while others will let the buck breed them again. I'm not inclined to push things any further than that because, especially if the does are getting irritated about it, your chance of seeing injuries increases, and stressing the doe can be kind of counter-productive if you want her to conceive.

The reason you may see advice to breed multiple times is that rabbits are believed to be induced ovulators, meaning that the attentions of the buck trigger ovulation. The theory is that those matings that happen after the first attempts are more likely to catch more eggs descending through the doe's system. However, a single fall-off is usually enough to get the job done quite well. Over the years I've had several does that only ever allowed one fall-off, and they had healthy litters of normal size (7-10 kits).

There was a study (that so far, I cannot find in print or online) which indicated that breeding on that one-hour-delay schedule produced the highest rates of conception and litter sizes in commercial rabbits. That's probably evidence that induced ovulation peaks at about one hour post-mating. Breeding for several more days probably doesn't increase the odds of conception or litter size unless the first matings weren't actually completed.

I don't think you need to "do" anything about your buck. Sounds like you have a keeper, but he doesn't actually need to breed to be healthy, no matter how interested he is. (If that were the case, I have some Polish and Holland Lop bucks that would have been dead a long time ago! )

 

[ladysown]

I used to worry about the number of falloffs but have learned once and done. I do not find the more breedings equates with more kits. if the doe is eager and the buck is doing his job it's all good. If they want to do it more than once, I'm fine with that too. I just don't fuss if they don't do it more than once.

I've had rabbits of all sizes breed early. From meat rabbits down to dwarf bunnies. I let them work when they want to, and if they are slow I match them with an easy-going doe for the first time, or if they are REALLY show let them live with an easy-going YOUNG doe for a while.

 

[Scooter1A]

I think the California bucks are sweet, at least mine is. Hopefully you will have some babies today. Does she have room to move around, as others have said do you see or feel anything moving? A doe knows when she is pregnant and won't want to breed after she is. My buck usually stops trying knowing she is. I'm waiting until spring to breed again and hope that is OK and doesn't keep her from having babies in the spring. Time will tell.

 

[Duck Survivalist]

Alright that's good to know, ill be more careful with my does because i don't want them terrified of my male buck for the next breeding.
I didn't see any pulled fur in the cage so i know they didn't fight except the female being scared and knowing that the young buck is dominant.

I've heard of through gate breeding, is that possible with a 1"x.5" wire mesh?
its the only layer between the 2 rabbits, i feel like its small enough where there shouldn't be any business getting done.

I guess my other pics didn't make it to the post. So here is the photo of my male and the wire mesh between the 2 cages that i built.
I will make a post later today just to show my entire setup with photos.

 

[Scooter1A]

Alright that's good to know, ill be more careful with my does because i don't want them terrified of my male buck for the next breeding.
I didn't see any pulled fur in the cage so i know they didn't fight except the female being scared and knowing that the young buck is dominant.

I've heard of through gate breeding, is that possible with a 1"x.5" wire mesh?
its the only layer between the 2 rabbits, i feel like its small enough where there shouldn't be any business getting done.

I guess my other pics didn't make it to the post. So here is the photo of my male and the wire mesh between the 2 cages that i built.
I will make a post later today just to show my entire setup with photos.
View attachment 37833View attachment 37834

Hi. My buck is right next to his doe with 1 x .5 wire and no accidents. You are safe there.

 

[Duck Survivalist]

Thank you