Bucks wont breed

[dotson83]

We're new to breeding rabbits so please take it easy one me.

We have 2 NZ Red doe's and one NZ red buck. We also have one Holland Lop doe and one buck.

The problem we have is neither one of the bucks are interested in breeding. According to the pedigree's both are around 10 months old. The NZ Red has ZERO interest and the Holland Lop was interested at first and even tried to mate but then she started running around and he lost interest. We have tried half a dozen times to breed them at different parts of the day but they just wont do it.

In both breeds the doe's seem ready but the bucks aren't.

What are we doing wrong????

 

[Becky]

You aren't doing anything wrong! Some bucks are just shy at first. Mine at first was interested, but my doe was having none of it, and he gave up pretty quickly. I gave them both apple cider vinegar in their water, and black oil sunflower seeds. I switched their cages a few times, and also let them run around together (supervised) to get to know each other. Eventually, he decided the time was right, and bred her. I left them together for a couple hours (even though I know that's not generally recommended) and now, kits!
Fortunately, this was a one time ordeal. A couple weeks ago, I was thinking it was about time to breed my other doe. I checked her color, and she looked ready; so I decided to put her in with him, to see what happened. I wasn't really expecting him to breed her, but apparently he had finally figured out what his job was :lol:
Hopefully you have one of these, and not one that's shy forever

 

[dotson83]

Thank you for the tips! I will try this and let you know how it goes.

 

[Susie570]

Call me old fashioned, but I think it's kind of nice anyway, to let them get to know each other a bit, become friends even. Of course this isn't possible in a large operation, but small scale why not?

 

[michaels4gardens]

house your bucks away from the does next to each other, they will develop a competitive attitude with each other, then when they see a doe in with the other buck they think they are missing something and are much more likely to breed. All that said, some bucks are lazy, sometimes it is because they are too fat, too warm, or just inexperienced.

 

[RR MiniSatins]

I had that problem last fall, only one of my bucks seemed interested in the ladies at all. I had the does under lights but not the bucks. Someone suggested to put the bucks under lights as well and it worked like a charm. Lots of litters all through the winter. Shouldn't be a problem this time of year though?