How soon is too soon to re-breed?

[SuburbanHomesteader]

I have a young doe (10 months old) that finally has a good litter. (First breeding, nothing. Second, one stillborn kit. Third time was a charm - 7 healthy kits.) Kits are all doing well and she's been doing a good job taking care of them.

So, when I go in her pen to feed her, check on kits, and scratch her behind the ears, she either flops down on her side or lifts her back end to point where she's almost standing on her head! (I know the signs. I'm just not her type!) Apparently, she's got this thing figured out and is ready to go!

So, kits were born on the 8th - 10 days ago. I don't figure they'll be ready to wean for another three or four weeks. I usually give a doe a week or two off AFTER I wean the litter. I know rabbits in the wild do what they do, and re-breed much sooner than what I usually do.

So, do I set her up for a date or tell her to take a cold shower?

 

[akane]

I breed them close when young if they didn't lose condition or pull excessive fur to baldness the last litter. It keeps them ready to breed and trimmer. Even a rabbit that looks fine on the outside can pack a bunch of fat around it's reproductive organs if it isn't being bred and is being fed a lot of pellets. I'll breed within a week of a litter being produced if it's not a problem for the doe. Then give them some time off with limited pellets after I get a 3 give or take 1 litters.

 

[MamaSheepdog]

Are the kits just for meat or do you intend to show some of them?

If you aren't planning on showing any of them, I would go ahead and rebreed her now. I think with her two prior fails, you had better try and keep her producing.

I personally wouldn't wean a show litter that early, in fear that I might stunt their growth- but in a meat production herd, the primary goal is to have does that can produce litters with greater frequency and have the kits grow to acceptable butcher weight in a reasonable time.

 

[Pipe Dreaming]

I'd like to rebreed my doe soon as well. She had a litter on March 1st. They will be 3 weeks old on Sunday. Can a rebreed her that soon? (Sunday?) I'm sort of new to rebreeding this quickly. Will she continue to care for her kits and feed them until they are weaned? They are Holland Lops.

 

[Zass]

You guys should re-breed whenever you want. I do not wean my kits that early, but there is nothing wrong with it, and as Akane mentioned, it's probably the easiest way to strip excess fat off a doe.

I personally wouldn't wean a show litter that early, in fear that I might stunt their growth-

My experiments with weaning 1/2 a litter at 6 weeks has led me to the conclusion that rabbits weaned later have the chance to grow faster, have stronger immune systems, and seem to also have increased parasite resistance.

 

[SuburbanHomesteader]

Well, I went ahead and re-bred her yesterday. Today, she's just as calm and as chummy as normal. Obviously, that got it out of her system - whatever it was.

I'll keep a close eye on the current litter and leave them with her as long as possible / practical.

We raise meat rabbits, so I really want her to succeed as a brood doe. We'll see how this works.

Thanks for all your input!

 

[grumpy]

With a 14 day breed-back, the doe begins to dry up at 21 days post partum.

Gestating is far easier on a doe than lactating. Rabbit milk is by far the most
expensive food in the rabbitry.

Grumpy

 

[michaels4gardens]

everyone has their own idea of weening age and re-breed age, what ever works for you is what is good., - I still like to rebreed at 5 weeks, and ween at 8 ,as I don't need a grow-out cage, - but-- if I were still a commercial producer [and I am not] - I might have a much more condensed schedule with grow-out cages.

 

[Truckinguy]

Rabbits rebreed right away in Nature because their life expectancy is so short. I read somewhere that the average life span of a wild rabbit is about one year and I'm sure that kit fatality is a lot higher too.

My rabbits rebreed right away in the colony and it doesn't seem to have any detrimental effect on the kits. They have access to pellets and will start eating them as soon as they can reach into the feeder.