He has stopped trying to breed them, are they preggers???

[GBov]

So my Rex colony is going nicely, no fights and all is seemingly well but its about 8 weeks now and no kits.

But!

Captain Rex is no longer doing anything except groom, and be groomed by, his ladies.

Is that a good sign that they are all pregnant?

I gave the cage a really good clean out to start the potty training and there are now three nesting sites and I made a place to keep their eating hay nice and clean so lots of nesting materials available now for them too.

Each one (Captain Rex too :roll: ) have nice ROUND tummies.

They each get one cup of pellets a day that they have to climb up two steps to get to and free choice coastal hay. You would think they were STARVED the way they attack their pellets but no one is bony or feel fat over their bones so I think perhaps we have hit the proper amount for them, esp. as they have to work to reach it and they love to jump from tote to tote playing tag for excersize.

The does are Matron - she is five years old - and Asoaka and Nya are both 5 months old but they are mini rex while the other two are standard.

 

[Secuono]

Nope, at least not for me. Just tells me that the does refuse and he has decided to accept that...I'm now thinking of a way to keep bucks separate and put them in a breeding cage for breeding and then back into their colony or pen.

 

[Amy]

Can you explain the benefits of having the buck seperate?
I want to learn all I can about colonies...

 

[Secuono]

Well, you can have him breed when you want to, so no surprise litters that you have to rush to check over and such. Plus he will breed whenever a doe is put with him, rather than him taking his time or just never bothering when he has does galore to choose from.
My bucks were in with their does for months on end, about 4mo, only got one litter by the colony buck in just one colony. But when I moved the bucks out into a breeding cage and gave him a doe not from his colony, he got the job done right away, no dilly dallying.
I have one buck who is in with a doe and her 5wk kits, he's not the sire, but he is very peaceful with them and the doe. Short on space, he's staying with them. I see him try to breed her, but she has so much room to get away from him that it just never seems to happen and he just backs off instantly.
I had more issues with a pregnant doe picking a fight with other does. She had her litter, calmed down, but then another doe was pregnant and near due and the two started to fight and the soon to be mom also fought all the non-pregnant does as well. I never saw any rabbit other than the mother go into the nest, bucks sniffed and went on their way and so did the non-pregnant and pregnant other does.

I just want to know when kits are due. Mine are out in the open on the grass, so I have to make sure the nest is warm enough and I also have to move it from off the ground into a plastic nest with a cover on top. If I left them just on the ground under a hide out, rain would wash them out or flood them.

 

[GBov]

One kit has been born. Asoka the doe keeps the way into the tote stuffed with hay, have not seen her feed it but it has a nice full belly but not over full so her keeping it secret from Nya the other doe is working in its favor.

Cute little thing, very active and it feels so different to the other kits we have had, its our first rex kit so didnt know they feel so strange at this age.

 

[Heritage Homestead]

:congratulations:

Yay! A popple! May there be many more!

 

[akane]

Plus he will breed whenever a doe is put with him, rather than him taking his time or just never bothering when he has does galore to choose from.

I have not found this to be true. If a doe is ready a buck will pursue her whether in colony or in cage. If a doe is not ready or already bred he will not pursue her even in cage. I have a netherland buck in a cage I often use just to test the readiness of a doe because how nuts he goes or whether he just settles down to groom her tells me how ready she is. My american sable buck in a cage has made no move to breed the does who are not showing readiness when I was assured he was a strong breeder. I find cage or colony makes no difference. You just get to watch it in a cage.