Breeding Schedule?

[Susie570]

I'm trying to figure out the best timing for our litters.
I only have the one buck right now, who (as you know) is purely pet quality, but a sweet sweet boy and he did make kits with very pretty colors.

So, I have my buck (who may be a very lightly tinted opal, or chin... not sure which)
and then I have my harlequin mini lop doe, my very nice broken chestnut doe, the harlequin dutch he was bred to last time (accidentally) and his tri-color daughter I'm keeping from the litter.

River (the doe from the last breeding) was an EXCELLENT mother, but I'm not sure I feel comfortable breeding her again. She was given to me as a companion to Scarlet, not as a brood doe and although they made some pretty babies and a few of the kits did end up lopping, I feel they will be harder to sell.

Sprinkles, (the tri-color daughter of Scarlet and River) has just turned 3 months old. I'm curious to see what I would get with a breeding from her, but she won't be ready to breed until June 17th.

The two does I'm buying are close to the same age. I'll be getting them both on Monday the 4th (this coming!) but they will both be in isolation for a month, of course.

Chrissy - the broken chestnut, was born on Christmas day. She will turn 5months old on 5/14 and will be in isolation until 6/1

Harli (unnamed as of yet) was born January 5th, so she will turn 5 months on 5/25 and will also be in isolation until 6/1.

If I breed all three of them at the same time (not sure if that's a good idea or not... as I'll be swarmed with kits if I am blessed with healthy litters), they will all be due around the middle of July and ready to go around September 9th??

I'm not sure how to plan my breeding schedules yet. But that's what I've got figured out so far!

Those are my four, potential does to breed. I'm wondering if I should go ahead and breed all three of the young does at about the same time? And should it be as soon as possible (which would be around 6/17 since Sprinkles doesn't turn 5 months until then) or should I wait?

If I want to produce an Easter litter, I will need to breed right around the end of December. That would give the does almost a 4 month break between weaning their first litter and getting bred for the next one. Of course, in the meantime I would be selling off those litters.

 

[Marinea]

I can only speak for what I would do, and that is wait. I don't breed my does past the beginning of May. Breeding mid June would, of course, mean a mid July kindling, and it could be very hot by then. I don't take the chance.

I start up my breeding again around mid September and breed straight through the winter. However, if you have a way to regulate the temps for your breeding does (mine are all outside), then I see no reason to wait. I will add, however, that the breeders around here I talk to all say their demand peaks in spring and drops way off after that. I usually count on my fall breedings as food.

 

[Zass]

(who may be a very lightly tinted opal, or chin... not sure which)

Blow into the coat. If there is a tan ring, he's an opal.

If there is no tan or cream on him anywhere, chinchilla.

 

[Susie570]

(who may be a very lightly tinted opal, or chin... not sure which)

Blow into the coat. If there is a tan ring, he's an opal.

If there is no tan or cream on him anywhere, chinchilla.

Yeah, I don't see anything tan or cream, but in certain types of light, there is the faintest brownish cast to his coat. I haven't seen any cream in his rings. If it's there it's so light that I can't see it. He did produce a very clearly marked opal kit. Dood said he thought he saw some brownish tint to his collar, but it's really difficult for me to tell whether it's a trick of the light or not.

I think he's a very lightly shaded broken opal. I don't know if there is a special word for that or not, but there should be. <br /><br /> -- Fri May 01, 2015 9:38 am -- <br /><br /> Sorry if I'm kind of 'thinking out loud' here... feel free to chime in with any suggestions and such

What Marinea said got me thinking more about the timing of litters.

I would have to guess that any litters I produce to coincide with the Easter/Spring sales, just need to be pretty pet rabbits.

Tell me about kids who show for 4-H. I'm pretty sure we do have 4-H shows around here sometimes. We have an active 4-H community. Are they run like ARBA shows? Do they judge the kids more on breed standards or how well kept the rabbits are, or ??? In other words, two of the litters I would produce with my current buck would be, as far as I can tell, 'purebred' Mini Lops, but 99% likely not 'show quality', but what about for 4-H shows? If they would be ok for 4-H show stock, when do kids usually buy their 4-h show animals? What part of the year, I mean? Spring?

If I produce a fall litter, I think it needs to be a higher quality litter from a nice, pedigreed buck. Wouldn't you folks agree? If I only produce two sets of litters/year, is there any reason to think it would not be good for my does? I guess, *ideally*, it would make sense to time my litters to be ready around Easter and just before our WV State Fair (which is mid August). Does that make sense?

I may go ahead and breed these does when they are ready this ONE time... and consider it a 'test breeding', since all three will be young, first - time moms.

I've also been reading about the controversy of breeding does younger rather than waiting a bit. I want a little more input on that. It seems people are having fewer issues with first-time moms when they are bred at a younger age (right around 5 months) instead of waiting until they are older? If so, it might be a good strategy to do this, then plan for a Spring litter with one litter already under their belts.

 

[LopLover]

For our fair the rabbits SHOULD be purebreds as our fair judges them based on the ARBA standards. A lot of kids like to wait until right before the deadline to get theirs. Our deadline is May 15 to get your rabbits and I have had a bunch of calls as of late. As for Juniors for 4-H, the lops will do the best when they are right at 5-5.5 months old.

 

[sunrise]

I've had good luck with breeding my does around 5-6 months unless they're still showing. Breeding this time when they're ready seems to be a good plan as first litters are always "iffy". As far as 4-H goes, I've been involved with them for years and it's very important for the kids to get the best show quality rabbits available. I try to be very careful about the show quality I sell to 4-H, they are our future rabbit breeders and the more successful they are, the more likely they will be to continue with rabbits. Timing will need to coincide with whenever your county fair is, you can find out from the agricultural extension office in your area. Talk to the local 4-H leader for small stock, they will be able to give you all the information you need about what the kids are looking for.

 

[Susie570]

That's all great information! Thanks It really helps me to plan things out (can you tell I'm a big planner??) :lol:

I thought this was true, but I just checked to make sure.

We don't HAVE a 'county fair'... the WV State Fair is the big fair each year. Everyone just goes to it

 

[Ramjet]

I like to breed two does at once , just in case something happens to one or the other during kindling the other can foster if need be.
When breeding first timers I make sure the other is an experienced doe as some first timers are just clueless ....

That doesn't help with your scheduling and might complicate matters .... but it can save you a litter if things go wrong.

 

[Susie570]

I like to breed two does at once , just in case something happens to one or the other during kindling the other can foster if need be.
When breeding first timers I make sure the other is an experienced doe as some first timers are just clueless ....

That doesn't help with your scheduling and might complicate matters .... but it can save you a litter if things go wrong.

Yeah, I'm tempted to breed River with them since she was such a great mom... but she also had a large litter, so I'm not sure how much help it would be!

 

[Ramjet]

I like to breed two does at once , just in case something happens to one or the other during kindling the other can foster if need be.
When breeding first timers I make sure the other is an experienced doe as some first timers are just clueless ....

That doesn't help with your scheduling and might complicate matters .... but it can save you a litter if things go wrong.

Yeah, I'm tempted to breed River with them since she was such a great mom... but she also had a large litter, so I'm not sure how much help it would be!

I have limited space , only 11 total holes , two of those being grow out space and no room for expansion. Because of that , have to stay on a pretty tight schedule. I can have two litters in grow out , two in the nest box and two pregnant a couple weeks after the last litters were born.

What I would do if your situation is similar is to breed the experienced doe and only one of the first timers , then another pair of does , again one first timer & one experienced until each of them has had their first litter , then you can breed any two.

It's easy to get beyond your capacity or run into unforeseen problems without careful planning.

 

[Susie570]

What I would do if your situation is similar is to breed the experienced doe and only one of the first timers , then another pair of does , again one first timer & one experienced until each of them has had their first litter , then you can breed any two.

It's easy to get beyond your capacity or run into unforeseen problems without careful planning.

That's a good idea. I may do that River really wants another litter... She keeps building nests LOL

 

[Zass]

As far as first litters being iffy...that hasn't been my experience at all. (I've yet to lose an entire litters to a first time doe. I did have one small litter of only 4 kits once..)

On other sites I see people losing litters to first time moms CONSTANTLY.

The same sites have members who loudly declare that rabbits should never be bred before 8 months.. so...

 

[Susie570]

As far as first litters being iffy...that hasn't been my experience at all.

But on other sites I see people losing litters to first time moms CONSTANTLY.

The same sites have members who loudly declare that rabbits should never be bred before 8 months so...

Yeah, that's kind of what concerns me. I don't want to wait too long to breed the does for the first time, but I also don't want to be overrun with kits. I guess if I wait a little longer to breed them, I will have 'christmas bunnies'. :roll:

 

[Ramjet]

As far as first litters being iffy...that hasn't been my experience at all. (I've yet to lose an entire litters to a first time doe. I did have one small litter of only 4 kits once..)

On other sites I see people losing litters to first time moms CONSTANTLY.

The same sites have members who loudly declare that rabbits should never be bred before 8 months.. so...

I've only had one first timer have problems ... It was something more than just not knowing as she had them a week or more premature.

What can go wrong will go wrong ... so I try to have a backup plan.

 

[sunrise]

I've had great first timers and bad ones, seems to run in lines. Ramjet is right, helps to have a backup plan.

 

[Susie570]

Thanks, all.

 

[Zass]

Hope for the best, but be prepared for the worst.

With all those litters at once...you would probably find sending them to freezer camp easier than just one litter you have had time to get very close to.

 

[Susie570]

Hope for the best, but be prepared for the worst.

With all those litters at once...you would probably find sending them to freezer camp easier than just one litter you have had time to get very close to.

That's very true, Zass! Might make for some great winter harvest.
If I keep that in mind,it's win-win as long as my brood does come through it in good shape!