How many breeder bucks and does do you have?

[3mina]

For overwintering my herd I cut back to 10 or less if I can but I'll be keeping a few more in future. Right this minute I have 3 bucks and 4 does, 5 of which are this years crop. I have one 2014 doe and one 2014 buck.
This isn't counting the ones I'm bringing back from Portland though. There's 7 of those-a trio of Rex and a trio of Satins.

 

[EnglishSpot]

Right now for the NZR business side of the rabbitry, I have three bucks and two NZR does. For my meat babies and my personal line, I have another doe, a 1/2 NZR. And I have a Mini Rex buck for a pet. And a mixed NZ-type doe which is my daughter's. So.... eight adults plus babies? And one more NZR buck that will go to a home in November.

 

[Ramjet]

Doesn't take long at all, most of the does IF they'd have litters (I've not bred them, health issues of my own so having multiple litters to handle/care for was out of the question) would make the adult numbers look small. Most of them will have 6-8 at one time, and the majority I keep are does at the moment. SO if I would actually breed all at once...I'd shortly pull my hair out lol. This is why I'm a bit particular in planning etc, want to have some idea of what I want to do way before I do it and what I really hope for in litters so I can plan for shows.

I can generally only breed two does at a time and breed another two a couple weeks after those have kindled because of cage space. Gives the first litters time to grow out while the second group goes thru pregnancy thru weaning , rinse repeat.
Because of this I really have to go into each pairing with a plan .... Or I just wont make much progress other than blind luck and if it weren't for bad luck , I wouldn't have any.
Having such limited genetics to work with doesn't make it any easier. Really wish I could expand to ~50ish (or more) holes but that's not in the cards at my current location .... in the suburbs of Houston.
I just have to stick with the plan and make good choices.

Edit: fixed quotes

 

[TF3]

I always find it interesting to read about other setups and choices people make that suit their space, lives and preferences!

I remember asking what people felt was the *right* number of rabbits and the answer is so individual.
And I think I have found my happy place/ number.
Our buns are on a back porch with large screens (plastic covered in winter), attached to the house (which I love for cold weather!).

My cages are various sizes and house various numbers based on age etc), so I don't really count 'holes'.
For overwintering, my herd should be:
Three breeding bucks, each purebred~ Royal, Prince Harry and Oberon (Californian, NZR (broken) and Standard Rex (lilac)).
\My meat mutt does: 2 seniors (Clover & Speedwell ~ mama and daughter) , 5 juniors (Charlotte (Clover daughter); Bluebell and Bitten; Hazel (Clover grand daughter) and Larkspur)~ at least one out of each buck above.
My daughter's pet Harlequin junior doe, Storm, and her senior buck pet, Half n' Half.
{they represent our meat program brood stock for ourselves and selling live and processed}
So, 12 rabbits.
(not counting our current 33 heading out for meat etc ASAP)

And then I have a breeding trio of Standard Rex~ Oberon (buck, listed above) and Moona and Raven.
That puts us at 14 for the winter, and what I think would be our maximum for adults/ keepers.

 

[MeadowfieldRabbitry]

I have 7 does (4 currently breeding) and 4 bucks (one arrives this Friday). All of mine are Rex.

 

[wamplercathy]

I have 3 does and 1 buck currently. Plan to keep a couple of bucks out of one litter just to see how they grow out. Then keep the best of the 2 and then invite the other one to dinner. :twisted: :dinner: Do plan to have more breeders in the future just need to build more cages. LOL There are never enough cages. :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[imajpm]

I'm small with a healthy number of freeloaders!

NZW: 1 buck, two does. Mostly retired
Satin: 2 bucks, one doe, oops! Mostly retired but I do use one buck (chocolate) to do color testing for my rew angoras.
Project rabbits: 2 satin/angora crosses. 1 buck, 1 doe
German Angoras: 3 bucks, 5 does.
Special needs pet bunny: 1 English/French angora doe. Retired.

 

[ottersatin]

At this time I now have:
Six Doe and two Bucks.
They are all Satin's, I have always had Satin's.
My Bucks are: Finn=Chinchilla and Mike=Copper.
They are named after the characters from "Breaking Bad".
The six Doe are: Boomer=Blue Otter, Ruby=Red, Penny=Copper,
Gnome=B/Chocolate, Happy=Red, Chance=B/Blue.
I am selling Loonie=Blue Otter ASAP! Anyone interested?
I cut back drastically for the winter, due to the intensity of last winter!
I have retained 12 Holes/cages. 4 have become holding cages.
I have quite a few cages for sale along with other Rabbit paraphernalia.
Email me if you would like to see/purchase some.
It would certainly help me to lighten my load! ldgeezer:
Ottersatin. ldtimer:

 

[Petlover500]

awesome, guys!!
After thinking about it more, my goal for next year is to upgrade to 3-4 does and 1 buck
super small rabbitry right here!!