I put my doe and buck together in a neutral 4 x 12 space or so. The buck somewhat casually chased the doe around for 5 minutes or so while they ate grass. Out of nowhere the buck finally mounted and had a fall off.
Then the doe laid sprawled on the grass with her tail flat against the grass for maybe 5 minutes.
Now they’re eating and running around like they were before.
Should I let them keep going until I get two more fall offs?
Pregnancy
can happen with one fall-off. Since rabbits are induced ovulators, many people suspect that a second or third mating is helpful in increasing both the probability of conception and the litter size.
Some of my does will permit one fall-off, then get very uncooperative. If I take them out of the buck's cage, wait a few minutes, and put them back in, they will cooperate again - once. If I want three fall-offs, I have to take them out and put them back in again. Does definitely come with their own personalities and idiosyncrasies!
A long-time judge and extremely successful Californian breeder told me there were studies that showed the highest conception rates and litter sizes were produced when rabbits were bred (one or more fall-offs), separated, then re-bred one hour later. This does make sense and anecdotally I've seen evidence in my rabbits that supports that claim, but I've been having a hard time finding the studies. The breeder has moved out of state so I haven't been able to ask him about it, but if I can't get hold of him before, I plan to ask when he's back this spring!
It should be a done deal by now, but if you want to give them more time together it wouldn't hurt. Usually, though, unless it's really soon after the first fall off, the doe won't lift for him again. Not sure exactly how long, but usually by the next day the doe won't lift again.
That's sometimes the case...but I've had a number does that would let bucks breed them at any point during pregnancy, even the day before kindling. That last episode happened because we thought the doe wasn't pregnant. On day 32 she still wasn't making a nest or giving any sign that she was pregnant, so we bred her again. She was perfectly happy to lift for the buck. Next day she had a nice healthy litter (in a nest she made
while she had the babies...?!).
There is a possible hazard in leaving a doe with a buck for too long, or breeding her over a period of too many days (meaning a week or more, not a few hours). Strangely enough, it's possible for her to conceive in one uterine horn at one time, then later in the other (and it's possible for her to be pregnant by more than one buck). She may deliver the first set of kits, leaving the other immature ones to die and possibly mummify inside her
which of course can make the doe very sick and/or sterile and/or kill her. Or she may deliver them all, in which case you get some live bunnies and some immature ones that are dead or dying at birth.
In the somewhat distant past I had does the were re-bred a couple weeks after an original breeding, experience the latter (deliver a combination of healthy developed kits and dead, very undeveloped ones). I don't know how often the former happens (mummification) but I do know one case in which it definitely did. It was not my doe, but the thought is unpleasant enough for me that I no longer breed does any later than 3 days after they've been bred the first time. I don't know how this plays out in colony situations; it might be hard to tell since so much of reproduction happens out of sight. It could be hard to tell it happened to a doe that becomes sterile or dies if she isn't opened up for examination (which is how the case I mention above was resolved).
