Adoption of of different breed pregnant does

[Welshy]

I took three weeks ago two 12 week old Standard Rex does and a 6 months old Californian doe on from a lady who could not cope any longer with all the rabbits she had. The lady told me that she was not sure if they were pregnant as her British Giant buck had escaped and had maybe "mingled" with all the does in her free pen.

Well, One of the does gave birth only a few days later to eight kits and the second doe looks very much like she is due to kindle. The Californian doe looks bigger than my other Calis, so I reckon she will kindle soon, too.

The Standard Rex doe and her kits are doing fine, the kits are massive and I really was amazed at the doe still being alive.

The other Rex is doing ok but is a little smaller than her sister and I wonder if she will survive the birth.

The Californian is gone off her pellet food altogether now and will only eat hay and does not like any fruit or vegetables like all my other rabbits.
Even though she looks fine I do wonder howelse I can entice her to eat more as I am sure she is not far off her kindling time, too, as she burries herself deeply into the straw area and there is fur everywhere.

I have got about 20 rabbits myself and breed mainly for meat consumption, but none of them are Standard Rexes, so not sure what I will do with them yet.

Now my questions are:

Whatelse can I feed the Californian doe or will hay suffice?

Does the Standard Rex belong to the meat rabbit category?

Any help would be appreciated, thanks.

 

[MamaSheepdog]

I raise Standard Rex, and they are a dual-purpose breed- meat and fur.

I bought one of my does bred, and her first litter the kits were HUGE too- they were easily the size of big newborn kittens. Not sure how many she had, found parts of some, and if I recall only 3 dead-on-the-wire kits. The kits in her current litter are maybe 1/3 the size of those original ones.

Have you tried giving wheat bread to the Cali? Or oats, barley, etc.? Maybe she's a hay and grains kinda gal.

 

[Welshy]

Thanks for letting me know about the Rexes which makes my decisions much easier what to do with them.

I will try giving the Cali a little oats, barley, etc, must admit she is the first one who takes no fancy to veggies or fruits, fingers crossed she will be alright.

Thanks again for your helpful answers

 

[MaggieJ]

Welcome to RabbitTalk, Welshy! :hi:

Quite often a doe close to kindling will go off her feed and only want hay. Unless the situation continues for more than a few days, I would not be concerned. If you have legume hay - clover or alfalfa (lucerne) - it will give her plenty of nutrition for the short term.

Hope the kindlings go well! Sounds like the big boy made the most of his opportunity with the ladies! :mrgreen:

 

[Welshy]

Thanks for your reply.

Well when I saw the "Big Boy" who was nearly as big as my bulldog I thought lets hope the girls are not pregnant as they surely will die but thankfully one of them made it, the others I will have to wait my time and fingers crossed they will be ok, too.

I never breed my does before they are 6 months old but the Standard Rex does I took on were only 3 months old at the time, so I am not sure how often they could be bred afterwards as I don't want to wear them out.

All my other Cali and NZ does only get bred four times a year each, that way it keeps our freezer filled continuously and the does don't get worn out

 

[MaggieJ]

That is NOT a good situation... immature does being bred by a huge buck. Fingers crossed that they didn't take or that all goes smoothly in spite of the size difference.