How soon to rebreed after a lost litter?

[MamaMandy]

So my Holland doe lost her first litter of 7 kits! It took her 3 days to have them and each one of them was stillborn. I know it's not normal for them to take 3 days to have a litter but I do know Hollands tend to have difficulties. I obviously want to give her a break to fully recover from that trauma ( I even had to pull a very stuck baby out of her) but I'd like to get a live litter as soon as possible. When should I rebreed her?

 

[skysthelimit]

I rebred immediately and got a nice litter of 5. Someone posted a study about rebreeding and showed litter size increased the sooner the doe was bred back. And receptiveness as well. Neither of my holland does ever lifted for the buck for the prior two breedings, but they lifted sky high afterwards. The usual response is about 1-3 days if the whole litter is lost, and she looks ok.

 

[Secuono]

I wait a week. Did you breed her several times to get this litter?

 

[akane]

I give them 2-4 days to recover so they aren't sore but you don't want to wait too long because they come in to a strong heat for the first few days after a litter. Breeding is much easier and with larger litters than if you wait a week or more.

 

[Secuono]

Are you two both males? If I were a rabbit and lost a litter, I'd claw your face off if you tried to rebreed right away.
If popping out dollar bills isn't what you are needing, then give her a break, don't force it so much.

 

[skysthelimit]

Are you two both males? If I were a rabbit and lost a litter, I'd claw your face off if you tried to rebreed right away.
If popping out dollar bills isn't what you are needing, then give her a break, don't force it so much.

In nature, she would be rebred almost immediately. We as humans, do tend to forget that, as we like to bend nature to our will. As I said, mine never lifted before and I held the doe for each breeding. When the holland had the single kit and I rebred her, she lifted for the buck and he bred her several times, without my assistance. For the holland that lost the litter, I waited a day and she also lifted for the buck, which she had never done before, and produced a litter of 5. Let the doe be the deciding factor. My rexes would never accept a breeding when they are not ready, no matter how long I wait. My calendar says rebred, but the doe took 4 mos till she was ready.

I'm definitely not in it for dollar bills, as I I have yet to SELL A SINGLE RABBIT. But I am in it for the litters, and with hollands, especially my one which is three years old and never had a litter, if breeding back after the lost litter caused her to lift herself and gave me a nice sized litter, then that's what works.

What's being a man got to do with it? Working in a school, I could give you a list of women with kids who are barely 10 mos apart. Obviously she was ready to get back to it right after giving birth. Only the individual woman can decide, so only the doe can decide.

 

[MamaMandy]

Thanks for the responses! LOL at ChickensnBunnies about them being male. I do see your point! Haha! Actually, she only bred once and was not willing at all. It was more of a forced mating. If she has a larger litter if she's willing that would be crazy! :shock: How many kits can a Holland possibly have? I'm not in it for money either. I just enjoy them and actually have a couple friends and a niece that are wanting them as pets. My buck is getting older too and I'm hoping for a nice one to be a replacement for him. I don't want to wait too long either...if it takes another time or two to get a live litter, it could be late summer before it happens! I just hope next time she delivers them all in one day whether they're alive or not. That had to be hard on her with it taking 3 days. <br /><br />__________ Sun Jun 10, 2012 10:14 pm __________<br /><br />Thanks for the responses! LOL at ChickensnBunnies about them being male. I do see your point! Haha! Actually, she only bred once and was not willing at all. It was more of a forced mating. If she has a larger litter if she's willing that would be crazy! :shock: How many kits can a Holland possibly have? I'm not in it for money either. I just enjoy them and actually have a couple friends and a niece that are wanting them as pets. My buck is getting older too and I'm hoping for a nice one to be a replacement for him. I don't want to wait too long either...if it takes another time or two to get a live litter, it could be late summer before it happens! I just hope next time she delivers them all in one day whether they're alive or not. That had to be hard on her with it taking 3 days.

 

[skysthelimit]

Thanks for the responses! LOL at ChickensnBunnies about them being male. I do see your point! Haha! Actually, she only bred once and was not willing at all. It was more of a forced mating. If she has a larger litter if she's willing that would be crazy! :shock: How many kits can a Holland possibly have? I'm not in it for money either. I just enjoy them and actually have a couple friends and a niece that are wanting them as pets. My buck is getting older too and I'm hoping for a nice one to be a replacement for him. I don't want to wait too long either...if it takes another time or two to get a live litter, it could be late summer before it happens! I just hope next time she delivers them all in one day whether they're alive or not. That had to be hard on her with it taking 3 days.

__________ Sun Jun 10, 2012 10:14 pm __________

Thanks for the responses! LOL at ChickensnBunnies about them being male. I do see your point! Haha! Actually, she only bred once and was not willing at all. It was more of a forced mating. If she has a larger litter if she's willing that would be crazy! :shock: How many kits can a Holland possibly have? I'm not in it for money either. I just enjoy them and actually have a couple friends and a niece that are wanting them as pets. My buck is getting older too and I'm hoping for a nice one to be a replacement for him. I don't want to wait too long either...if it takes another time or two to get a live litter, it could be late summer before it happens! I just hope next time she delivers them all in one day whether they're alive or not. That had to be hard on her with it taking 3 days.

I'm not a male, at least not last time I checked, and I'm a bit too old for a visit from the SCF.

She should be more receptive this time. Dogs have been known to delay the release of eggs, why not bunnies? Hollands usually have 3-5, but as you saw, seven is possible, and someone selling kits on another site said they got 10. I know most people don't breed in the heat of the summer, so I imagine like me, after a failed litter, you are anxious to get those kits. I would also like my kits ready by the November shows, so in order to keep that schedule, I bred back.

Generally, when it takes that long to kindle, the kits don't survive.

 

[akane]

If I were a rabbit and lost a litter, I'd claw your face off if you tried to rebreed right away.

Actually if you were a rabbit in my colony you'd have a buck on you before the kits had popped out. I can tell who's about to have kits by who Arinsu is chasing. They are bred same day unless they are overly stressed and then they do occasionally turn him away for a day or 2.

Plus also female. I just know rabbits are rabbits and that's how it works with them. I also rebreed my caged rabbits including small pet type breeds within a few days of a litter so long as they are in good condition and I have a use for them.

 

[Saiyuri]

I didn't venture to this forum till after my does where both nursing litters, before that I gave them a month(!?!) after a failed litter, was shocked at how receptive my does are once they have weaned, I'm looking forward to see how many I get this time (especially from my NZW doe that gave me just 4 last time)

 

[ladysown]

rabbits have no issues with immediately being rebred after a lost litter. Get the human emotions out of the picture.

 

[Secuono]

I'm sure one day there will be a study done that say's it's not a safe thing to do long term.
Just like how exercise is now not a safe thing for the heart if you do more than 1hr tread mill running a day or do marathon training.
Either way, it was just an opinion, no need to loose it.
I'd at least check her over physically and observe her behavior to make sure nothing is wrong with her before breeding again.

 

[skysthelimit]

I'm sure one day there will be a study done that say's it's not a safe thing to do long term.
Just like how exercise is now not a safe thing for the heart if you do more than 1hr tread mill running a day or do marathon training.
Either way, it was just an opinion, no need to loose it.
I'd at least check her over physically and observe her behavior to make sure nothing is wrong with her before breeding again.

I'm under the impression that they will refuse if they are not interested, that they have a way of breaking themselves.

As a psych major and education major, I know that they have studies that say all sorts of things, and they keep changing and recycling their views. I've learned to trust my animal (most of the time).

 

[akane]

Define long term. Few people breed their does beyond 4 years as even if you don't breed hard they drop off then. Most cull by then. We are on year 3 of breeding back to back with the does taking a break when they say while a buck is always present and my oldest doe has not slowed down. She just popped out her usual 8, 4 weeks from her last 9. I just sold my second oldest to start someone else's rabbitry. We have been breeding the checkereds back to back for a year and still get litters of 12,14,16... Maybe if we look at the entire lifespan of the rabbit and all the 10 or more years it could live we would see something but long term in a rabbitry is 4-6years and back to back breeding so long as they maintain condition does not seem to do any harm in that time span. If they get too stressed they'll refuse the buck for a few days or even a week after a litter to recover or they'll have smaller litters and the bucks go sterile every summer giving a natural 2month break.

 

[3mina]

I do my best to breed back soon, I waited too long last summer and got nothing until this spring
We're making up for lost time now though :-D

 

[MamaMandy]

Well, I rebred her today, and she was waaay more willing than the first time that resulted in the lost litter of 7. She lifted and let him breed twice in a row. We'll see what happens in a month! Hoping for at least a live one or two, but the whole litter would be awesome. Thanks for all the input!

 

[skysthelimit]

Define long term. Few people breed their does beyond 4 years as even if you don't breed hard they drop off then. Most cull by then. We are on year 3 of breeding back to back with the does taking a break when they say while a buck is always present and my oldest doe has not slowed down. She just popped out her usual 8, 4 weeks from her last 9. I just sold my second oldest to start someone else's rabbitry. We have been breeding the checkereds back to back for a year and still get litters of 12,14,16... Maybe if we look at the entire lifespan of the rabbit and all the 10 or more years it could live we would see something but long term in a rabbitry is 4-6years and back to back breeding so long as they maintain condition does not seem to do any harm in that time span. If they get too stressed they'll refuse the buck for a few days or even a week after a litter to recover or they'll have smaller litters and the bucks go sterile every summer giving a natural 2month break.

This I will have to try. I am considering breeding the hollands and then petting them out, that way I can move my program forward a lot faster, and not have to keep so many adults. Perhaps just keeping a year or two. I am on a 21-28 day breed back schedule. This is the first time I got more than one doe bred on the same day. Hoping this holland kindles ok on thursday. She's now three and a half, and this may be the last time I try to get something from her.

 

[mythistle]

Hi All, I joined this forum just to respond to this thread, although I see that it's pretty old. Hopefully this is helpful to some. A little background, I am 51 and have raised rabbits of various breeds since I was a teen. Presently we have purebred pedigreed New Zealand Whites. Yesterday one of my proven Does goofed up (she's never done this before), and her litter perished. It has always been our practice to allow a week or so, if there is an incident like this, to recover. After reading the conversation here I decided to try something different and return her to the buck immediately. WOW! She was more than willing! Other words like "eager" or "desperate" are more like it. This really surprised me - guess after all the years of doing things one way, I still have something to learn. I can't remember ever seeing a Doe this keen to breed. My advice going forward - rebreed right away!