Doe getting old?

[cereshill]

Curly, one of our foundation does had her litter today: 2 rather large kits. She was day 33 and they are furring already. Her prevous litters were 5, 6, 6, 4 and now 2. I am wondering if she is aged as all our younger does are having litters of 7-12. I do not know her age, but she came with juniors last summer when I started.

Thx,
CH

 

[ShadedNightRabbitry]

That; or she just wasn't feeling so hot this time around.
I have a 6 month (who's now about 1 1/2 years) who threw 5, 4, 1, 6, 6. I figure she just wasn't up to having a litter when that lone guy popped out... And she didn't keep him warm enough. (Even with being indoors... >.> She got rebred a week after he died, and kindled a litter of 6, which she raised 4 of. Now she's on a litter of 6, with 5 still alive. Oh. She's an ND, to boot. XD She just likes big litters, apparently.

 

[MaggieJ]

Hard to say. Litter size does tend to drop off as a doe ages, but it is really only this last litter that is small for her. I'd just see how she does over the next couple of kindlings.

 

[Brody]

23 kits in a year doesn't seem bad to me??
I don't know numbers though ...

 

[cereshill]

I suspect she was over a year when I got her; the strange thing is that she has hit good numbers since she came to us. I had one other doe drop to two then she exploded to 10 and 12....

No change in diet hence my inquiry.

She has been a gentle good mom, so I will let her be

 

[MaggieJ]

If you are getting erratic results with other does, you may want to track your bucks for how many they are siring per litter and also track your breedings... whether one, two or more sessions and how many "hits" per session. Bucks, as I'm sure you are aware, are not always consistent performers... heat, moulting, nutrient deficits etc. can all be factors. I'm not saying this is the problem, but I do think it is a good idea to consider it.

 

[cereshill]

I will watch--Claude has been getting them 2-3 goes, wait an hour then back at it.

He is in very good condition and a willing buck. When I changed feed earlier this year, litters virtually doubled at home and the farm. Our litters are averaging 10---up from 5-6 last year. We are weaning off full litters at 6 weeks and rebreeding at that time.

 

[harlanr31]

do you mind telling us what feed you were feeding and what you changed to

 

[cereshill]

was feeding dels 16% now xcel 16%

 

[Marian]

I thought one of my does was getting too old. Her last litters were 4, then 3 then 1 large DOA. I decided to breed her again because I was breeding another doe who was famous for have super big litters, 11 and 13, respectively. My older doe has proved to be an excellent foster mom. But that older doe had 6 lovely lively kits! All the litters were from the same buck.