how old is too old for a buck to breed?

[mommaofmany]

I have a 6 yr old mini rex buck, he is gorgeous but he is a sable. (When I purchased him the woman told me that sable was not recognized by ARBA, this may have changed)

I had purchased him with a female but she died in early Sept, she was 8.

I have never bred him, and I have two does that are almost 5 months old. Is he too old to be used next month or so?

Some people have said he is, and some have said he isn't, that it is purely up to the girls.

I have a broken black doe, a blue(?) charlie doe, a sable (chocolate?) buck and a chocolate otter buck, how would *you* mix them?

 

[akane]

I sold a 4year old mini rex buck to start his 3rd rabbitry with a 3 year old and 1 year old does. I'm sure they used him for at least a year. It may take several rounds of breeding before he produces good sperm after that long without use.

First you need to get more certain what colors you have and whether you have an outlet for rabbits who can't be shown. Oddly sable point and seal have passed but sable is still in progress so unless you have amazing sables most people aren't going to buy them. The first generation of breeding with a sable buck is unlikely to produce sables unless the does carry himi or rew. The problem is half the offspring will be carrying sable so when you start to breed your 2nd or 3rd generation you are going to start getting sables that will probably have to be sold as pets. The chocolate otter buck could be crossed with either doe for showable colors but the first generation with a chocolate is also unlikely to produce chocolates unless the does carry chocolate. You will probably get a bunch of black otters and possibly blacks, some or all in broken depending which doe. Mini rex tend to have rainbow pedigress though so you never know. I've found rew, nonextension (tort, sable point, red...), and dilute in most lines here and had one harlequin kit out of chocolates with 6 generation pedigress of only chocolate and black.

 

[mommaofmany]

I am currently trying to get some pics of them as I do my chore rounds. The woman I bought the otter from insisted that he is a black, and I am fairly certain he is a chocolate.

Here is the otter, also are his feet normal? the longer, lighter hairs? (sorry for the bad pics, he attacks for love as soon as I open the door and I don't have a place I could pose him readily available.

 

[CochinBrahmaLover]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe some one on here - name is escaping me - has an 8 year old pet buck whose still makin' babies. If it helps, the user posted it in response to a newer user having issues with a favorite doe not producing well, and they (owners of 8 year old buck) suggested their children get a pet buck. I could probably search it but I'm lazy, lol.

Far as I know, if the boy is still willing to do the deed and has viable sperm, then he's good. And really the only way to find that out is test him.


Edit;; Dood owns a 10 year old pet buck still producing litters of 12.

That should answer your question, lol

Beautiful rabbits!

 

[ckcs]

My main buck (used about 70% of the time) is over 6 years old. I didn't start using him until a year or so ago. He has only not impregnated a doe 1 time out of 12-15 litters. I have 2 young bucks 5-8 months old that I will be using more in the future but will continue to use my main buck on some level until he dies or becomes sterile.

What I love about my old buck is how different he does things then the younger bucks. The young ones chase the doe around the cage relentlessly until she stops, then they mount her. My old buck sits in the middle of the cage and doesn't chase them at all. He lets them tire themselves out and then walks over and mounts them.

 

[Dood]

What I love about my old buck is how different he does things then the younger bucks. The young ones chase the doe around the cage relentlessly until she stops, then they mount her. My old buck sits in the middle of the cage and doesn't chase them at all. He lets them tire themselves out and then walks over and mounts them.

LOL my old guy is the same, and actually the does prefer him to my younger buck, although now that he is 2 he is starting to clue in and not be so eager.

But back to the original question : bucks can be fertile for many years and I do have a 10 year old NZ x Flemish who is still fathering litters of 12 but not on a regular basis as he is getting pretty arthritic and just doesn't have the stamina so at most he only covers one doe a week.

As to who to breed to who a little more information is needed on what colours your rabbits are secretly carrying. I assume you have pedigrees so figuring out their genotypes (aa B_ cchl_ D_ E_ etc...) would help.

Your colours are all over the place so i dont know what your breeding goals are but all your rabbits are self (but technically not the tan) and as long as there are no chinchilla, shadeds, himilayan or REW in the does history I think breeding to the sable will give you blacks and not be too terrible.

 

[PSFAngoras]

The breeder that I prefer to get my angora stock from has several bucks well into the later years of their lives (8-10 y.o.) and she says they are still throwing grand champions at shows. My main buck is not quite there, but I bought him at two years old, and he's four now. I had a moment this fall where he kept breeding one of my does and it didn't take, and I had thought he went sterile, but as it turns out, it was the doe's fault, not his.

I was so relieved to find that out as he has the nicest build of all my rabbits. He's the only one who has a perfectly round, stocky set of hips where my other rabbits were bred primarily for fiber and aren't as well built over the hips. It sucks, but since they are great woolers already, it gives me something to work towards.

 

[skysthelimit]

I've had some older bucks, the sire of my original litter of Rex was 6 when he sired three of my first litters, that was nearly 4 years ago, and he had a litter as recent as June.
I do have one sterile Jersey Wooly, at 7 years old, very disappointing.

As for the otter, ticking and even half a white foot is normal.

 

[Peach]

One of my friends had one keep siring babies well into 9-10years.

 

[akane]

Kido, my sable netherland buck, is turning 4 and I use him to test does. If they are ready for breeding he'll go after them and I slip them out before he can breed. If they aren't ready he ignores them or just grooms them and then finds something else to do. I let him breed some does so he doesn't get frustrated. Mocha the mini rex I sold at about 4 was a wonderful breeder. He was still very eager and tried to breed anything. He'd keep going until he dropped if I didn't remove the doe.