Does driving me crazy

[tracie123]

My does are driving me crazy! I have tried the tea,car ride,wheat germ oil,putting them beside the buck, I feed them boss,oats,pellets,calf mana,and wheat germ oil, with hay. I still can not get them to come in heat???I was told to put a doe(1) in with a buck and leave her with himuntill she has kits, since she is a 1st timer. Any ideals on what else to do or try.
Tracie

 

[Secuono]

How old are they and are you checking their vulva?
Sometimes, if all else fails, you can force breed them and after their first litter, they usually get it.

 

[tracie123]

They were born in april 2012, yes i am checking them everyday. They are a light red and swollen but have yet to go a dark red or purple. I have had them beside the buck for 2 days now and still no change in color. Buck is a lil to spooky to force breed. All i know is that i have 10 does that i want/need to breed for my kids to have there meat pens for county show.cause I dont want to spend another 160.00 for another meat pen!!<br /><br />__________ Thu Sep 20, 2012 1:44 pm __________<br /><br />And they are new zealand blacks and brokens.

 

[Random Rabbit]

i'm gonna say that at 5 months... they 'might' be just a bit young to breed. Each rabbit is different as to when they would be ready and willing to breed. My vote is to give them a couple weeks. With cooler (?) weather coming... they might be more willing.

 

[MaggieJ]

I agree with Random Rabbit. They may be late bloomers as far as sexual maturity goes. I don't see any mention of increasing their Vitamin A with dark leafy greens such as dandelions or parsley. While you're waiting, you may as well add some to their diet. If they are not accustomed to greens, just give them a few leaves or sprigs at first and work it up.

 

[OneAcreFarm]

My does are driving me crazy! I have tried the tea,car ride,wheat germ oil,putting them beside the buck, I feed them boss,oats,pellets,calf mana,and wheat germ oil, with hay. I still can not get them to come in heat???I was told to put a doe(1) in with a buck and leave her with himuntill she has kits, since she is a 1st timer. Any ideals on what else to do or try.
Tracie

Tracie, don't leave the buck in the cage with her. They may fight and hurt each other. Either she accepts him or she doesn't. Rabbits don't "come into heat", they are induced ovulators, so they don't release any eggs until they are bred. They do have times when they are more receptive than others due to hormones, which is why we check their vent. Are they getting 14-16hrs of light each day? With the fall coming, there is less daylight so you may want to add some artificial light. Vit A and E also helps...You may be feeding them too much..."fluffy" does don't like to breed... Also, they may just not be ready...My Cals and NZW are bred for the first time between 4.5 months and 5.5 months usually.

And, on a side note, where are they charging $160 for a meat pen? Is that for 3 rabbits? Tell me it isn't..... :evil:

 

[tracie123]

OAF! Yes ma'am I was charged $160.00 for 3 lil rabbits, and I needed 4 pens, 2 pens for each kid.
That is the reason why I am doing this(rasing rabbits) for my kids. 1 lady wanted to charge me $220.00 for a pen of brokens that didnt look nothing alike. I did go out buy 3 broken does 1 broken buck. 4blk does and 1 blk doe and a set of white nz. Bought 7 cali does and 2 bucks. But not knowing untill I got on this site about how to breed them and it is hard work keeping up with whos who and all. Lol I wont leave them together. I fixed cages to where the buck is in the middle of 2 does and lets pray this will work.
I did add patio lights today to help with lights its going to look like im having a party in my back yard. I got the meat pens from a lady in richland tx. 1 pen each after that price, not many ppl around me raise good rabbits or healthy ones.
Tracie

 

[OneAcreFarm]

OAF! Yes ma'am I was charged $160.00 for 3 lil rabbits, and I needed 4 pens, 2 pens for each kid.
That is the reason why I am doing this(rasing rabbits) for my kids. 1 lady wanted to charge me $220.00 for a pen of brokens that didnt look nothing alike. I did go out buy 3 broken does 1 broken buck. 4blk does and 1 blk doe and a set of white nz. Bought 7 cali does and 2 bucks. But not knowing untill I got on this site about how to breed them and it is hard work keeping up with whos who and all. Lol I wont leave them together. I fixed cages to where the buck is in the middle of 2 does and lets pray this will work.
I did add patio lights today to help with lights its going to look like im having a party in my back yard. I got the meat pens from a lady in richland tx. 1 pen each after that price, not many ppl around me raise good rabbits or healthy ones.
Tracie

Grrr...that makes me so mad! :evil: I like to think I have pretty good rabbits and the most I charge for a meat pen of 3 is $95 and that is for fully pedigreed rabbits. That is just wrong....what part of Texas are you in?

 

[tracie123]

I live in Jefferson Tx., none of these have pedigrees either. I am sure glad to know that you do meat pens, if I cant these does breed I will be getting in touch with you to get meat pens.
Thanks
Tracie

 

[Demamma]

Around here meat pens are going for $75. on up. :money: the only problem is not enough rabbits for all the kids who want to show. One of the big producers of meat pens in a few counties over wont sell to our county or another. He was a judge and a lot of kids were coming to him for his rabbits and winning. :judges: The parents got mad said he was showing favoritism and bashed him online and by mouth. rotest: I was lucky he chose to go ahead and sell to me some breeders. From what he told me is my county has a lot of people who just get rabbits to breed for meat pens and don't go for the best. :roll: It will be interesting to see what happens next year when my kids come with their rabbits. They will have Creme deArgents, Californians, Satins, and New Zealand Whites. I got my Satin's from him and my New Zealand does from him. The Californians are from local and the Creme deArgents are my Nearby city shelter find. It is wrong to take advantage and hike up the prices like you say Tracie. :evil: With 4 of my kids taking meat pens I don't know if we will be having any extra to sell. If we do I will sell at a fair price.

 

[Piper]

I am in Waco, Texas -- and just realized -- I need to find out more about meat pens!!!!

 

[OneAcreFarm]

I am in Waco, Texas -- and just realized -- I need to find out more about meat pens!!!!

What did you need to know, Piper?

 

[Piper]

I think, I know some of these questions, but... and if I am going to support someone, going for 4H, FAA - I guess (it would help) if I knew these answers. Would this qualify as a sticky? Many of these words are so common, that the site search engine, will not register them.
1) do the rabbits need to be registered, or just good representations of the the breed?
2) Do you need the to bring the buck and doe, or just a few of the babies?
3) Do you get better points, if they look and weigh, almost the same?
4) How do I get a SOP (Standard of Perfection)?
5) Do I have to have a 4H club near me, or can I join, and register my points, over the internet?
6) How old do I have to be?
7) Do any rabbit shows, count?
8) Can I show other animals, too?
9) Where is the best place to find out about shows? Websites 4H, vender websites- that give their show schedule
10) How far ahead of the show, should I order a meat pen?
11) What other things, do I need to know, about showing a meat pen?
-- I suddenly have sympathy for a 4H/FAA parent! OAF - may I copy your answers, to my website, giving full credit to you/with your website address?
--- I just looked at this and it has a smiley, that I did not put in there!???? Where is that from?

 

[MamaSheepdog]

--- I just looked at this and it has a smiley, that I did not put in there!???? Where is that from?

You typed the code for it- the number eight followed by a parentheses.

 

[tracie123]

For our county shows
Rabbits can not be over 12 weeks.
Can either show ONLY calis or nz ARBA appoved colors only no cod
A meat pen is 3 rabbits most ppl buy 4 incase something happens to 1 of the 3 then they can replace with the 4th and still have a meat pen.
Meat pen can be bucks and does mixed.
4-H is for any student 18 and younger.
Must own the meat pen for 30 days before show. And have proof of purchase unless you raise them your self, and then you have to have a photo copy of the nest with your name by the nest.
I dont know what else to tell you.
OAF~ May help you out way more than I can! I just started all of this..
Tracie

 

[OneAcreFarm]

1) do the rabbits need to be registered, or just good representations of the the breed?
No, they do not have to be registered. Rabbits cannot be registered until the age of 6mos. Meat Pens are usually only about 8-10wks old. They don't usually even have to be fully pedigreed.

2) Do you need the to bring the buck and doe, or just a few of the babies?
You only bring the kits that are part of the meat pen.

3) Do you get better points, if they look and weigh, almost the same?
Yes, that is the idea. You want them to be as identical in size, shape, coloration and weight as possible.

4) How do I get a SOP (Standard of Perfection)?
www.ARBA.net

10) How far ahead of the show, should I order a meat pen?
The breeder usually needs to know at least 100 - 110 day ahead of time.

For the rest of the questions, try this site, find your local club and they should be able to tell you... http://www.4-h.org/get-involved/find-4- ... -programs/
5) Do I have to have a 4H club near me, or can I join, and register my points, over the internet?
6) How old do I have to be?
7) Do any rabbit shows, count?
8) Can I show other animals, too?
9) Where is the best place to find out about shows? Websites 4H, vender websites- that give their show schedule
11) What other things, do I need to know, about showing a meat pen?
-- I suddenly have sympathy for a 4H/FAA parent! OAF - may I copy your answers, to my website, giving full credit to you/with your website address?
--- I just looked at this and it has a smiley, that I did not put in there!???? Where is that from?[/quote]

You may copy this post all you want. The smiley happened when you typed "8)"...that is a smiley shortcut...