Breeding problems - bucks just have no clue!

[Barnes19]

Alright I'm embarrassed to admit this, but I'm the one person whose rabbits simply will not procreate. Lol. Its bizarre.

To all I can tell, the bucks (who are young) simply don't know what to do. One is content to sniff, the other (please excuse me but how else do I say it?) well he humps away enthusiastically, but doesn't connect. :shock:

I've had flemish for some years, but my bloodline got to close, and my buck got too old, so I kept a new buck, and bought a new buck and doe of the Californian breed.

Now I have a pair of Flemish and a pair of Calis. Both bucks are a year old. The Flemish doe is 2 years old, the Cali is now 1 year old.

I have been trying to breed these pairs for some time. The flemish I first tried about 5 months ago, the young Calis about 3 months ago.

It appears that the males simply have no idea what to do. I first put the Cali buck with the older flemish doe with the idea of 'education' ... but she didn't seem that keen.

... over the several attempts with him, I eventually tried holding her for him, even elevating her rear end, but although he jumps enthusiastically, he obviously doesn't get anywhere, doesn't seem to know that he should, no connection is made. Odd.

I've tried him with the young Cali doe too, when she reached breeding age, with similar lack of success. He doesn't lack enthusiasm, but just doesn't "get anywhere". She is now just on 12 months old and I'm becoming concerned about how to get her bred before she gets any older.

I put the flemish pair together twice with no success. This young buck just wanders around after the doe and is perfectly happy to look at her. So I've actually left this pair together, figuring "one day they will work it out, surely?".

My intention is to do the same with the pair of young Calis, but as the doe is frightened by being in with the buck (even though she lives next door to him through a mesh divide) I feel a bit mean ...

I've tried holding the does, I've tried leaving them together overnight, and now as I said I've got the flemish pair living together. They seem happy enough, they've been together for a month now, no kits, no nesting, and I palpated the doe yesterday and she is still empty.

What can I do? I've never seen this happen before, my first rabbits just did it naturally, and every other young rabbit since has done so too. How do you give a rabbit the 'birds and the bees' talk?

 

[wamplercathy]

No your not the only one. :lol: Rabbits don't actually breed like rabbits.

How old are the bucks? Some mature sooner then other too. I have a buck that was 7 months old before he got interested in does. But I also have one who at only 4 months old throws a fit because the ladies pass him by. The accepted breeding age is normally 6 months old. Or that is what I have taken from my reading.

First the doe has to be ready. Check her color, she should be dark read to purple.
Then put her with the buck.
Make sure she doesn't mount or attack him. If that happens he'll get doe shy. Kind of like gun shy. :x :lol: :lol:

Hope this helps,
Cathy

 

[powellanimals]

Some people say to put them in a cage and take them for a car ride. It seems to get everyone in the mood.

 

[Zass]

Could your bucks be overweight?

 

[CaffeinatedBunnies]

My buck was similar to your disinterested guy; 'sniff, sniff' :shrug: "What do you want me to do with this?" Tuns out the doe wasn't ready and he knew it, I was just getting the timing wrong. The chemistry :cauldron: wasn't there so he wasn't going to waste his energy!

After following MSDs excellent tips in http://rabbittalk.com/judging-a-doe-s-readiness-and-breeding-tips-t9869.html things smoothed out nicely. Maybe you're having a similar situation?

 

[Dwc77]

I think that some bucks just aren't very aggressive and some are just plain lazy. Tho if your does fight him that just makes things that much harder. I don't ever check my does for color most times they bred easily. If not I try her again in a few days. I do have one doe that seems to always put up a fight. And my buck just isn't a fighter :lol: that being said I'm still looking for better buck maybe. He has had the winter off and is going to be two this fall so I hope he will be better. I'm wanting a dang GLADIATOR buck you know one that always wins :duel: hope things get better Barnes19! If not get a new buck!

 

[Barnes19]

The bucks are now 12 months old so I sure hope they are old enough Lol!

No they are not overweight ... nor underweight ... in fact I check their weight almost obsessively and if it seems a little off give them a little more or less feed, so they are always perfect.

They are on a natural diet, mixed weeds and forage, I've researched the analysis of my major weeds around here and it is a very good blend, particularly for protein. I wondered if there could be something missing causing their problems, but the thing is I've had rabbits on this diet for 6 years and never had an issue before.

I now have the Cali pair together as well, this time they actually seem happy, instead of being scared the little girl is quite happy, but still not inclined to really raise her rear and the boy doesn't know that anything else should happen ... but they are good friends.

It doesn't seem to make much difference if I hold her and elevate her rear, he still doesn't connect although he doesn't lack enthusiasm he just doesn't do the job.

I will try checking the colour this morning. Both pairs are currently together, and I'm thinking of leaving them together as they are not fighting, to give them some time to get to know each other and figure it out.

Do you think that is a good idea, or would it be better to separate and continue putting them together regularly to keep it interesting?

I know they can be opinionated, I had a doe once that would only breed with one buck and never any others, but these pairs seem friendly, just having a doe that isn't interested and a buck that has no clue is not a good combo!

 

[Preitler]

Do you think that is a good idea, or would it be better to separate and continue putting them together regularly to keep it interesting?

I think that's a good idea. That's always my plan B if it doesn't work out right away.
No point in starting the same resultless proceedure many times.

Had some problems of that kind last year.

 

[Zass]

You checked their boy bits to ensure everything is in order?

 

[imajpm]

I've had success by putting doe and buck in a roomy outdoor "playpen" for the afternoon. This is my last resort when I get a doe who wont have anything to do with a buck that is not really pushy. So far so good

 

[wamplercathy]

Personally I wouldn't leave them alone. Ever. My poor buck got his "a" handed to him and I got bit pulling them apart. Not all rabbits are like that but you never know. With those two: one day she's trying to castrate him and a couple days later they were cuddling and playing nice.

It took a few months but Cumin finally got his swagger back. :wr_bcdance: Now when I place a doe in with him, he's on them like white on rice.

Just a though,
Cathy

 

[Barnes19]

I think they are OK together ... at least I know the flemish pair are, they've been together for 31 days now (no pregnancy though of course), the Calis have been together for a day and I've been treating that situation with a healthy dose of paranoia Lol ... the cage is only just outside my window and I'm up every time I hear a bang ... but although last time she ran away, this time they started out cuddling ... but that is all.

They do live together (just the other side of the mesh) anyway. Actually I think this pair is better suited than the other ... this pair sleeps together ... the others are always apart and alert, although with no signs of marital strife.

I'm mainly concerned about possible attitude changes after breeding eventually takes place ... if he starts pestering her and she's been bred ...

Yes I have checked the boy bits (my first thought was perhaps 'he' was a 'she', but clearly 'he' is a perfectly healthy and complete 'he').

Eventually they must figure it out, right? I mean people's pet rabbits do by accident ...! Only I hope he hurries up about it because Olivia is nearly 12 months old ... <br /><br /> __________ Wed Jan 27, 2016 8:52 pm __________ <br /><br /> Another thing that happened.

The first time I put the two Calis together, when the little girl was quite scared, and the buck was not connecting, I tried holding her, calming her and helping elevate her rear.
Funny thing was, young master Benji reacted to that by moving to her face and nuzzling and licking. Every so often he would wander around the back, but if she looked at all freaked out (which she did every time), he would give up and return to chatting her up. The same thing happened when she was loose and ran away too fast.

I told him he was just too much of a gentleman Lol. He's just too nice ... apparently I have a rabbit with ethics ...

It is no longer a problem ... after a few visits the young Cali stopped being so scared, and behaves pretty normally. Lets him catch her, isn't alarmed, even follows after him. But she doesn't really elevate and he enthusiastically thinks he's doing the right thing but just never does the whole job.