Help....I can't get my doe to breed.

[Heavenlyhollands]

I have a 8 month old holland lop doe. She had one litter so far. It was a forced breeding pretty much.....she had 2 live kits that both died on day 5..I think one was a peanut and not sure what was wrong with the other...I have been trying g to breed her now for about a month with no luck....all she wants to do is ride the buck...I have tried to hold her down but she will not lift....I tried full moon breeding and apple cedar vinager......nothing is working.....please help

 

[a7736100]

If she and the buck don't fight, just let them live together until she gets a litter.

 

[golfyfan]

But with that method, how will you know when she's expecting a litter and when to put in nest box?

 

[MaggieJ]

We get this question of unwilling does a lot. Contrary to popular belief, they do not always breed like rabbits. There are so many factors in play and there are just as many tips to overcome this. This thread has many of them.
judging-a-doe-s-readiness-and-breeding-tips-t9869.html

Sometimes a doe is unwilling because of dietary deficiencies, especially of Vitamins A and E. Even though pellets are considered a "complete" diet, they may lose these vitamins during storage. If you are feeding only pellets, sometimes adding gradually some dark leafy greens for Vitamin A (dandelion greens, parsley etc.) and some BOSS or wheat germ for Vitamin E can make a difference. It all depends, of course on what is causing the unwillingness to breed.

 

[a7736100]

But with that method, how will you know when she's expecting a litter and when to put in nest box?

Sometimes you don't know but you have to depend on signs like grunting, aggressiveness, weight gain, shape and feel of her stomach.

 

[WhWRabbitry]

I came across this post and thought I'd add what I changed with my Mini Lop doe and saw a very big change.
I added a little apple cider vinegar to her water each day, gave her 1 TB of a combination of oats and black oil sunflower seeds (ratio 3:1) in the evening (she still got her normal Kent feed in the morning), gave her a very small amount of calf manna, and added a salt block to her cage.
Okay, I realize that is a lot of changes, (so who knows which ones didn't matter) but after doing this only a couple days I went from having a doe that had never cooperated breeding to a doe that lifted so high it was comical, multiple times!

 

[macksmom98]

Sometimes they just like a change of environment. I like to put mine together in an excercise pen on the ground. Seems to get them in the mood and they love chasing each other I agree I like ACV and the oats and BOSS.

 

[Heavenlyhollands]

Well now I'm really confused. I have tried to breed this doe for about 6 weeks now or more. She seems to be in the mood she mounts the buck every time. I have never seen him fall off. But the past week she has gotten cranky lunging and bit my boyfriend. Very unusual for her. Then yesterday she was thumping and running frantically around cage trying to get our attention. When I looked close she had a hay stache. So I gave her a nest box. She built a nest right away and pulled fur. This am I thought she was having them but no kits yet. I have no clue what is going on. Please help lol.

 

[FourRingCircus]

They can get pregnant without a visible fall off... I have had it happen in my rabbitry more than once. One time it was in a wire cage at chest level - easy to see what was going on underneath. Her tail was planted, firmly! He was flailing all around. Not once did he seem to hit the mark, but sure enough, she started hay staching with the rest of them 4 weeks later! A decent sized litter soon followed. Her unwillingness to breed could easily be from already being pregnant

That's why it's good to make note of any and all breeding attempts, even if they don't seem successful - you just never know!

 

[Heavenlyhollands]

Thanks for the info. She still hasn't had any kits. We will wait and see. <br /><br /> -- Tue Dec 06, 2016 8:57 am -- <br /><br /> She is messing up her nest now???? Yesterday when I thought she was in labor I checked her vent area to make sure there were no stuck kits. Her vent seemed swollen and sensitive? I'm so confused

 

[FourRingCircus]

Thanks for the info. She still hasn't had any kits. We will wait and see.

-- Tue Dec 06, 2016 8:57 am --

She is messing up her nest now???? Yesterday when I thought she was in labor I checked her vent area to make sure there were no stuck kits. Her vent seemed swollen and sensitive? I'm so confused

I have does that build and rebuild their nest for a couple of weeks, then others that wait until the absolute last minute - each one is different so it's hard to say! There is also a chance of a false pregnancy where she could possibly build a perfect nest, yet never have kits to fill it... give her some time and just wait, which seems to be the hardest thing to do

 

[MamaSheepdog]

Her vent seemed swollen and sensitive?

I once had a pen of growouts well past the age where I should have butchered that contained a buck as well as does. When I discovered this, I started flipping rabbits to check their sex and separate them accordingly. I also palpated the does so I could provide nest boxes to those that needed them.

One doe- which I had palpated and felt no kits- had an extremely swollen purple vent. It was about the size of a dime, and looked painful. I popped her into a cage and continued my work in the rabbitry, only to hear the squeaking of a newborn kit an hour or so later. Guess who was delivering on the wire?

 

[SarniaTricia]

now I need to check my doe....

I have one that just isn't interested in breeding and is making bucks frustrated and me too!!! She tucks tail, puts her bum in corners and overall rejects being bread...... maybe... after reading this... she is? (well not from the Oct 28th breeding obviously)

We tried again Nov 30th ..... but I think she is "done with that" Even with table "help" she is shifting to the side so the buck can't complete the action.... but??? who knows.

 

[alforddm]

I am now a firm believer that feed makes a huge difference. I have had rabbits for about 2.5 years. I always fed pen pals rabbit feed and my does lifted readily and had large litters (almost always 8+). This summer I switched to a local feed that was $2 a bag cheaper. When I got ready to start breeding after the summer break no one wanted to breed. Even my buck wasn't as interested as he normally would be. The few does that I did manage to get bred had small litters. One, who had 14 last time, only had 1. So I swapped back to pen pals. After about 3 weeks everyone was bred.

IMO the feed made the difference. I'm looking forward to the litters coming up.