I bred one of our does, Scarlett, 30 days ago but would have bet the farm that there would be no babies. I supervised the whole "date" and saw zero fall offs and wrote it off to still being in the heart of winter here and severely lacking much daylight. However, lo and behold today she's pulling fur and stashing hay in her nest box. I've read about false pregnancy when the does make a nest really early, but just out of curiosity, is it common to build a nest ON the due date for a false pregnancy? (and yes, I know I'll have my answer to her situation shortly, but I'm just curious!)
False Pregnancy?
- Thread starter jrpieper
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RabbitsOfTheCreek
Netherland Dwarf Breeder & Well-known Member
My Does' false pregnancies are usually two weeks in
Usually does with a false pregnancy in my barn build at about 18 days. I have had does make a nest at the right time when they were not pregnant, but it's only happened twice in about 20yrs, and they were both older does (3-4 yrs old) that had been bred. I'd definitely make sure your doe has a ready box and everything else she needs just in case, so you don't have a tragedy on your hands!
Confession: I was so convinced the breeding didn't take I didn't have a nest box in with her until my daughter came in from feeding her this afternoon and said she was pulling fur. I put the box in and 4 hours later we went out to check and there are babies squirming around! HUGE lesson learned for me and I'm SO thankful my 10 year old daughter was paying attention and noticed the fur. Very thankful I didn't have to learn the hard way, but I've definitely learned!
This same doe had a false pregnancy at two weeks in, so I went ahead and bred her, having read that does are pretty fertile right after a false pregnancy. And it appears to be true because there are babies in the nest box tonight! I was just coming down with that terrible flu going around when I bred her, so I must have been more out of it than I thought and missed some of the action.
RabbitsOfTheCreek
Netherland Dwarf Breeder & Well-known Member
Congrats!!!
Yay!
Don't you love it when you realize your kid has really learned, and built up those observation skills and ability to follow them to their conclusion? Good job, Mom! And nice job, daughter!
I can no longer count how many bunnies (and chickens, quail, goats, and yaks) have survived and thrived due to my kids knowing what they're looking at, and knowing when they should alert me (or do something themselves)! It's one of the reasons I am in such favor of putting kids and bunnies together!
But I have to admit, I've learned the hard way - more than once - to give a doe a box 28 days after any time they've been with a buck, no matter how long or if I've seen them breeding (even when they got out of their cages and I found the buck at one end of the barn and the doe at the other...
)!Congratulations on the nice "catch," and here's hoping they grow up beautifully for you.
