meanest doe i've ever seen

SterlingSatin · Feb 10, 2012

bred two does yesterday, one newbie and one that will be on her 2nd litter if she took. my buck covered the newbie 4 times (she was super calm and lifted for him beautifully, but peed after 3 coverings so i let him cover one more time in case she peed it out). then i put the doe that already had a litter behind her in with the buck and she was a terror. she completely freaked and ran around manically for 5 minutes. she was practically gasping by the time my buck could even touch her. i tried to restrain her while he mounted but she gave me a really bad bite on my hand. i was fed up, took her back out, let her run around on the table for a while to blow of steam. she was vocalizing the WHOLE 20 minutes, at one point almost screaming. put her back in with the buck, he got one covering on her but she didn't really lift for him. i couldn't find any reason why she would be so distressed about breeding, there didn't seem to be anythign physically wrong with her. anyway, after that first covering she turned around and started chewing on teh buck so i took her out before she got past his fur and sank her teeth into his skin, can't say teh same for me though

can you think of any reason why she would be so unwilling to breed? any solutions? i doubt she took and she almost broke a leg when she snagged it in the door while running around. hoping that the newbie took at least

OneAcreFarm · Feb 10, 2012

Is it possible she is already bred?

akane · Feb 10, 2012

Sounds like she was really not ready to breed and you probably should have given up on it when she was dashing about avoiding the buck and getting all upset. You'll have to figure out why she's not in condition for breeding or possibly try a different buck if she for some reason hates that particular buck. I've had them screaming and running around because they hated the buck and then they sit there flagging their tail for or humping another buck.

MaggieJ · Feb 10, 2012

Rabbits are not breeding machines, in spite of the expression "breeding like rabbits". If a doe is really unwilling, there is a reason for it, even if we cannot figure it out. Next time you try to breed her, flip her over first and take a look at her vulva. It should be red to purplish for best response. Deep pink to red... maybe. Pale pink to whitish... don't waste your time.

ladysown · Feb 10, 2012

i have to admit...your title for your post was a bit off-putting. I thought you'd be talking about an aggressive rabbit that would jump out at you.

She was a doe who was freaked by being that close to a male.

One way to help them settle around males is to cage them next to the buck for a while. They get used to the scent and are easier then to introduce to the buck.

But as Maggie says... check her vulva first. it's good to do this anyways, check the buck, check the doe. Make sure neither has a disease, make sure both are healthy and therefore good breeding partners.

if she grabbed him and was humping him she was probably actually in the mood but just couldn't get herself to settle down for him. In that case generally if you touch or hold their head it seems to calm them down.

SterlingSatin · Feb 11, 2012

there is no way she was bred already. i did check her vulva, it looked good to me. and i did try to calm her down but she didn't really want any of that. i ended up getting attacked

unfortunately i don't have another buck i can breed her to, but we'll see what happens in a month i guess.

Lastfling · Feb 11, 2012

This kinda reminds me of a doe I've got. If you let her out for a little exercise and go to remove her from the exercise pen, she will literally lunge at you. I've seen her leap 4-5 feet straight at me grunting like a (pardon the expression) crasy woman. She would scare the bejeebers out of somebody not familiar with her antics. She's never bitten though just lunging and boxing. Breeding doesn't calm her down much either. Somedays she'll let you pet her, others, only if you hold her down.

MaggieJ · Feb 11, 2012

Supplementing her diet with a tablespoon of sunflower seeds (for vitamin E) and a small bunch of parsley or other dark leafy greens (for Vitamin A) may help. Also, add apple cider vinegar (1-2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar per gallon) to her drinking water. Sometimes reluctance to breed is a nutritional issue.

akane · Feb 11, 2012

Try housing her next to the buck for a week or put them in a neutral pen instead of the buck's cage and she may not freak so bad. We were discussing on the homesteading forum how sometimes a neutral pen works great for does who otherwise refuse to breed when put in the buck's cage. I would give her at least a week to forget about the event though and you can start giving her supplements in that time.

fuzzy9 · Feb 11, 2012

Sounds like my NZB doe, Pretty Girl. When she was new, and still in quarantine, we tried to breed her to one of the two bucks I had in quarantine at the time. She did the EXACT same thing whenever I tried her with that buck, though she never bit me or hubby. I tried her 3 times over the next couple days, and the same thing, she did everything she could to keep him away, and there was urine and fur flying everywhere! The last time I tried them together, I was afraid she was going to hurt him, so that was the last time I put them together. That same day I put her in with the other buck in quarantine, and she stood for him right away. She just did not like that other buck.