Does not taking

[Breanna113]

We purchased 2 nzw does, a nzb doe, and a nzw buck to start meat breedig on our homestead back in July. I waited until the rabbits were 7 months, and attempted breeding. I left a doe with the buck for about an hour, then placed her back in her hutch. 3 weeks later, we repeated with another doe. We got no kits from either do. Our buck got killed, and we purchased another along with a 9 month old silver fox doe. I waited until the buck was 7 months, and attempted breeding again. We've attempted breeding 5 times with this buck, and still no kits. I've even left a doe up to two days with him. Still, nothing. I've never seen him successfully mount a doe. Typically, I see him chase her, mounting unsuccessfully several times, then they stop and cuddle up together. I can't stay out in the colder weather for an hour, as I have two small children. I've confirmed the sexes of all 5 rabbits. What could be going wrong?

 

[ottersatin]

Hello Breanna113.
You may not be allowing your Buck to mature,
or with these extremely cold temperatures
he may be shooting blanks.
Another thought, when breeding your rabbits, the action
should take place within five minutes or less.
this is why I always say: Don't turn your head or look away or you may miss
the action. If you see the Buck fall off it is most likely that they have mated.
I always allow the Buck to service the Doe at least twice at this one meeting.
It is an unnecessary waste of time and energy to return the Doe for mating
hours later, it serves no purpose. You would better serve yourself and the Rabbits
by using the Buck on another Doe. If he is shooting blanks, the more you use him
the quicker the blanks will be gone.
At any rate it may be in your best interest to always place a nestbox
twenty-eight days after you believe they have bred.
An ounce of safety is worth a pound of cure.
We ALL hate to lose a litter!
Ottersatin. ldtimer:

 

[Silver Cloud]

You might read this post and see if it helps any. Just trying to help. doe-refuses-to-mate-t23770.html

 

[Breanna113]

Thanks for your help. My silver fox doe is on day 28, and she has become aggressive. This morning I stuck my hand in her box to feed and put in a nesting box, and she was chacing my hand, biting it. She's never been that way. I grabbed her to check her out, and she was kicking, which is also abnormal. I felt her abdomin lightly (just gently rubbing over it to check size) and it is distended. She absolutely did not want me touching it though. Also, I checked the hair under her chin, and although there is no hair in the pen, whatever I grabbed came out (I only checked with two fingers, not significantly enough to make her lose half her chest hair lol)
Could these be signs she is pregnant and getting close to time? The aggressive part is really what gets me. She's always been my best/easiest to handle. I Don't want to get excited over nothing. Lol I put in a nesting box, and since she's never had a littler before, added some hay myself to kind of give her a clue what it's for. She immediately hopped in and, although she nibbled on a few pieces, she was mostly squirming around in the box. I guess I'll check again this evening for hair in the box.
Also, it's not extremely cold here, or atleast it hasn't been. I'm in the southern states, and it's been around 60, even 70 some days, although we hit a cold snap this week. It's warm enough that all 9 of my hens are still laying daily.

 

[katiebear]

She sounds ready to delver to me..some, but not all, does get aggressive before kindling...she should start hay-staching (carrying around mouthfuls of hay) will build the nest then pull fur right before birthing..(not all does get it right,especially the first time..) Good Luck, you probably have a few more days as the average is 31 days.

Oh and ..welcome to rabbit talk...lots of friendly folks here, so ask anything you want..and read the care and kindling forum lots of information...

 

[MamaSheepdog]

Hi Breanna!

:welcomewagon:

My silver fox doe is on day 28, and she has become aggressive. This morning I stuck my hand in her box to feed and put in a nesting box, and she was chacing my hand, biting it. She's never been that way. Could these be signs she is pregnant and getting close to time? The aggressive part is really what gets me.

I haven't ever seen aggressive behavior in my does who are close to kindling- but I have seen them get grumpy and grumbly when they want to be bred. I would keep the nestbox in the cage just in case, but you may also want to try to breed her today.

Before you do that, though, I would recommend that you look at this thread to see if she is likely to be receptive:

judging-a-doe-s-readiness-and-breeding-tips-t9869.html

We've attempted breeding 5 times with this buck, and still no kits. I've even left a doe up to two days with him. Still, nothing. I've never seen him successfully mount a doe. Typically, I see him chase her, mounting unsuccessfully several times, then they stop and cuddle up together.

If the does aren't "ready" he wont be able to get the job done no matter how hard he tries.

 

[Breanna113]

Thanks everyone. I checked her again this evening. Checked "readiness for breedig" and her vulva is small and pale pink. Don't think that's it. She actually growled at me, which she'd never done before. My husband touched her at lunch and she showed no aggression. Turns out she's only doing it in one corner of the cage, where she has spread some of Cher hay to, but she's kinda spread it everywhere so I can't say she's building a nest there. When I walked out there, she was licking herself. I couldn't tell if she was licking her inner leg of culva though, as she stopped when she saw me. I tried to load some pictures on here and a video of her behavior but it says they are too big :/ <br /><br /> -- Sun Feb 22, 2015 6:36 pm -- <br /><br /> Well, she appears to be building a nest. I had the nesting box full of hay. Yesterday she was eating the hay and pooping in the box. Today, there's no poop in the box, and a hole in the hay that is obviously intentional. Awesome hopefully we will have babies soon!

 

[esaudio]

What happened? Did she get any babies?