First breeding 2y/o doe

[ohiogoatgirl]

Hey yall, been ages! I've been so busy with things and I've just been taking care of this one doe all this time. Her mom was dutch and the dad was 3/4 lop 1/4 Flemish (the bigger lop breed, whichever that is). She might actually be going on 3, I was putting all the births etc in my phone calendar and that's all lost to the old dead phone. :|

She was the only one I kept and the last litter. I had a mini rex doe for a while too but she somehow got out of the cage and I found her dead in the sheep pasture in front of the barn where the cages are. So I don't know if the sheep chased her or coons or what. That was sad, she was really nice. Anyhow. I've been meaning to get a buck and I've just been busy focusing on the sheep and things have been a bit crazy. I'm going to the auction Monday to take ram lambs and I'm going to have a look if any nice rabbits are there. I have a friend who got into florida whites and I'll definitely be seeing if she has a buck for sale.

So Dottie the doe is a bit of an old maid for a rabbit. She's never been overfed, she's in good condition. I feed pellets but long as the weather is decent I feed her big handfuls of grass and forage.

If I get a buck I still wouldn't breed until probably Aug 1, kindle end of Aug, then the babies would grow up in Sept and it'll be cooling off. I'm thinking she is healthy and unless something is wrong that I can't see then she should be fine to breed. Just want to say it aloud here, see if I haven't got rusty in my time off :roll:

 

[Zass]

I've settled into only japanese harlequins. However, my sweetheart and I just bought a new property, with a barn and most of an acre, zoned agricultural 8) It's not all the land I wanted, but it is enough room to have all the bunnies I could ever hope for. <3

 

[ohiogoatgirl]

Yay Zass that's great!

 

[hotzcatz]

Your doe may or may not be fertile. I used to wait until a doe was fully adult and several years old before their first mating and a lot of them had trouble conceiving. They didn't have trouble giving birth - which is what everyone had told me could be a problem, but they had quite a bit of trouble with conception.

Now, when there's a doe I want to keep as a breeder, she's bred between 6 to 9 months old. Since breeding a doe for the first time at a young age has become a rule around here, a lot more litters show up when expected. I think there's a reason why folks will use the term 'proven doe'.

 

[ohiogoatgirl]

Noted hotzcatz. I wasn't planning on taking a break from breeding and it just kind of happened. I was also doing first breeding does at 6-9 months old when I was keeping back. Just have to see how this doe does. <br /><br /> __________ Wed Jul 22, 2020 9:46 pm __________ <br /><br /> There was only a few rabbits at the auction and nothing worth taking more than a glance at. I've messaged my friend who has florida whites so fingers crossed she has a buck for sale.

Also I'm an idiot and had bought a bag of pellets because we had been in town.. Even though my bin was full. It only holds one 50# bag, but with one rabbit it lasts a while. But with all the crazy going on I got it because who knew what the heck was going on. Well I opened it up and it was moldy! :evil: Argh! So now I'm upping fresh forage trying to ration out the pellets I have left until I can get a new bag. :roll: