At what age do the males and females have to be separated?

[garden lady]

I thought I read that the males have to be separated from the females by 8 weeks old, so my husband is building another hutch. The kits will be 6 weeks old Thursday and I do not see them being separated in their own cage in 2 weeks. They are still nursing and sleep in a pile and are babies. Do I just watch and see when Lulu has had enough of them and then put them in a new cage together and then watch to see how they get along and maybe divide the 5 into 2 groups and then on to their own. I just read "Bucks or male rabbits mature at at six to seven months. Bucks must be separated from does when they are six months old." This would explain why all the females did not get bred. Snickers and Cream would have just been turning 6 months old in August when Lulu was bred. I told my husband they could get even their mother pregnant at 8 weeks, this is not true is it? http://janyfarmer-rabbits.tripod.com/fl ... iants.html

 

[akane]

Somewhere around 3-4 months is best to be safe but most won't breed until 5-6months. It's more fighting you have to worry about when cage raising instead of colony raising since they'll start to get cramped. However I did have a litter from mini rex out of a 3 month old doe by her brother so they bred at 8weeks. I've had hundreds of rabbits together and only had this happen once though. Leaving them all together in colonies I've only butchered one doe who turned out to be pregnant and she was an adult. Something like 8 months on a small breed.

 

[garden lady]

Somewhere around 3-4 months is best to be safe but most won't breed until 5-6months. It's more fighting you have to worry about when cage raising instead of colony raising since they'll start to get cramped. However I did have a litter from mini rex out of a 3 month old doe by her brother so they bred at 8weeks. I've had hundreds of rabbits together and only had this happen once though. Leaving them all together in colonies I've only butchered one doe who turned out to be pregnant and she was an adult. Something like 8 months on a small breed.

Thank you. It makes sense. We will have the hutch ready and move then when ready. They are so big that it may be a room issue rather than fighting or breeding.

 

[ladysown]

rabbits CAN breed at 8 weeks, a lot depends on their size and maturity levels. Running them together until six months old is asking for pregnant rabbits...just as running them together until four months old is asking the same.

I separate mine at 8 weeks simply because it's easiest for me to do so. I run the girls together until they are sold or start to scuff at each other, and then I remove anything I'm not keeping to the freezer. the boys are run separately as well and are generally divided into sets of two by 10 weeks of age and culled to the freezer as I have time.

I would strongly advise separating them by 10 weeks of age.

 

[skysthelimit]

I have yet to have a Rex develop testicles before 5 1/2 mos old. My stuff just doesn't mature that fast. I've kept small litters together till 4 mos old, have yet to have a problem with anyone getting pregnant. Show kits are together (same gender) till 5 mos or they outgrow the space and need to be separated. I tried early breeding for my Rexes, and have not had a doe breed before six mos.

And as I say that, the breeder gave me a buck that bred his sister while they were in the same cage at the county fair, at 5 mos old and she had a litter. She's never had anyone mature that fast so she never thought anything of it. So I will see if that changes the age at which mine's mature.

The Jersey Woolies are 4 mos old and have all of their parts ! The hollands are 3 mos and the buck does not have parts.

 

[mystang89]

I separate them when I can tell whats a male and whats a female. So far that isn't at 4 weeks for me. Maybe next week.

 

[JessicaR]

My flemish buck stayed with mom until he was 3 months old. He wasnt even trying anything at that age, now at 4 months my buck was trying to breed! So I would say seperate by 3 months for the larger breeds.

 

[garden lady]

My flemish buck stayed with mom until he was 3 months old. He wasnt even trying anything at that age, now at 4 months my buck was trying to breed! So I would say seperate by 3 months for the larger breeds.

That is good information. I noticed these males when they were running loose starting to chase and try to mount the females at around 5 months. If they had been confined with less to do then they probably would have started earlier. At 6 months one of them got the job done.