Did the Heat Last Summer Affect my Rabbits?

[lobanz]

I bread my Californian buck to two New Zealand does in early February. One doe had only 1 kit which was dead. The other doe had only 3 kits, all of which which were living. In the past, litters have been in the 6-10 range.

It was REAL hot in North Alabama last summer. Over 110 sometimes. I kept fans and misters on them to keep them cool. They are in a barn stall out of the sun and with good East/West ventilation.

Do you think the heat damaged the buck or the does?

 

[Dood]

No.
Heat sterility only affects males and is temporary, like 48 hours, before viable sperm replace the heat damaged ones.

Does get pregnant but absorb embryos in heat.

A more likely cause is fat deposits around your does reproductive organs that inhibits the successful maturation of ova and their migration to the uterus.

Do you free feed your rabbits?

Do they seem a bit 'plump'? If so I would re-bred right away and limit the feed the does get.

 

[3mina]

Probably not. How old are the does? Are they a bit chunky? How old is the buck? Has their feed been changed?

 

[TerriG]

Probably not the heat. Maybe the light though? How much daylight are you getting? Are you supplementing daylight?

 

[StormbergFarms]

We've been having a lot of problems similar to this. Many times our does are not getting pregnant, when they produced fine in the past. Of the litters we have had, the moms have killed many kits, and we have also had whole litters that seemed fine one day, and were dead the next. Other rabbitries in the area have had similar struggles, some even going out of business. It seems to have started after the hot summer. Anyone with any advice?

 

[curlysue]

I have had heat sterility last a few months.never had it affect does.I always save a junior buck the heat will not affect them.one hot summer only babies i got from junior bucks.

 

[Dood]

Heat sterility will last as long as the heat does, but after 2 days of temps in the 70's the bucks should be fertile again. However, even if a doe gets pregnant during a cool spell, if the temp goes up again during the pregnancy and she is heat stressed she will loose the embryos.