How many times to breed per year???

[jimmywalt]

We have a nice variety of female rabbits and are wondering what is the frequency that we should breed them so that they remain able to have kits. Our bunnies are for pets or 4-H. They are Holland Lops, Lionheads and Mini-Rex's.

To word this a different way, we have 14 does, and it would work great for us if we only bred each one only ONE time per year, then we would only have 14 litters. But I believe I read somewhere on this website that to maintain their breeding capability (once mature) they should be bred at least 2 (or possibly 3) times a year.

So if we go 12 months between each breeding is that too long? What is optimal?

Thank you!

 

[Comet007]

I'm sure you will get a variety of answers on this one! From what I've read, does who are out of production can become more difficult to breed. It seems that if you just want one litter a year you might just have to be patient with reluctant does and does who don't take and have to be re-bred. Also you have to be careful that they don't become overweight when they are dry. I'm sure there are others on here who do what you are planning, so they will likely be able to give you a better idea based on their experience.

Of course, a doe can be bred the day she gives birth - in an intensive commercial breeding program they might breed back at 3-7 days after kindling, which of course would shorten the time that a doe can keep up production.

We have our does on a 25 day breed back schedule, so would expect six litters per year. I believe this is considered a moderate breeding schedule, and because they are still nursing when they are bred again, they are sort of on a roll and so are more willing to be bred. For what it's worth, we started with newbie does this year and have had four successful sets of litters on our schedule. Even round four, when we added a doe held back from round one, so far we haven't had a doe miss and they've always had decent sized litters.

 

[jimmywalt]

So sort of like that lady on "19 kids and counting....."??? Keep 'em coming or they will stop. :lol:

Yet with 14 does there's no way we want 6 sets of kits from each per year. If each Doe had 5 kits that would equal 420 kits a year. Way more than we can handle or the "pet" buyers in our area.......... yet I wouldn't mind the revenue from that quantity. LOL!

Before we ended up with so many (we are bunny lovers - i.e. hoarders) we would re-breed a couple weeks after the kits were weaned (total of about 8 weeks between birth and re-breeding). So the does would then have 3 to 4 litters per year........ that's good if we only had 2 or 3 does, but somehow we now have 14 beautiful does.

Not to worry. We are at MAXIMUM capacity (floor space and cages) so we won't be adding any more does to our family.

So is twice per year enough to keep them "in production"?

 

[akane]

Depends on the doe. One line of netherlands I have really gets wiped out by a litter. They are quite scrawny looking by weaning time so I only breed them 2-3 times a year. They often take an extra month after weaning to regain condition. The other netherlands are not as bad and I can breed them 4 times a year but they also do fine if I don't breed that often. The mini rex I had were all over the chart. Some were near impossible to keep the weight off without frequent breeding and some it didn't matter. My meat production breeds I bred back pretty much right after giving birth. They handle litters well and get fat easy. They are "easy" keepers.

 

[Comet007]

It's so interesting how the different breeds handle kindling! Our NZ's seem to just go with the flow, and we've never seen any loss of condition even right after kindling. It makes sense that the smaller breeds might struggle more and need more recovery time.

 

[Zass]

I only ask about 3-4 litters per year from my does.
Basically, I'll have a litter stay with a doe until processing age of 9 weeks, and then re-breed her. It allows her have a month to just be pregnant, with no kits to nurse.
It's teetering on barely enough sometimes, especially with my fatty pellets. I've been working on feeding more grass hay and forage, and less pellets to offset the more relaxed breeding schedule.

 

[Rainey]

For what it's worth, when we started this past spring we got 2 NZW does, a 1 yr old that had kindled once and a 2 yr old that had kindled twice. Beign new to all this we only gave them a week to settle in before putting them with the buck and both kindled. Maybe it helped that it was spring? Anyway it sounds as if it wouldn't be a huge problem if a some didn't take first try since you are at capacity with the rabbits you now have.

 

[dangerbunny]

I breed a doe 2-3 times a year, usually, you have to pay attention to the doe's condition. It can be hard to get a doe to take if she has been sitting for a long time, a diet can help but not always. You might consider cutting down on the amount of does, if you are at max capacity where are you going to grow out kits? what if the kits don't sell? With slower growing breeds you often have to grow them out for months to see if they will make it as show animals. In building a herd it is best to have a smaller number of nice animals.

edited to add, I have a small barn so every rabbit needs to contributing towards my goal. It doesn't make sense to me to feed a doe for a year and only breed her once, that is not moving my program forward. For example for my regular Hollands I currently have 3 producing does, 4 purchased JR does I am growing out and one older doe I am trying to convince to have one more litter. I am planning on getting to some shows next year so of the babies I produce this winter I will keep the most promising for showing and then breeding. Ultimately I want to be producing offspring that are better then their parents, in which case I would move the parents out to make space for their babies. Then you can buy in rabbits from other lines to help with traits you need. Of course there are some rabbits that steal your heart and are permanent members of the herd