Need Advice -kits born outside the box.

[Preitler]

Hm, my breeding does have 1-2 (rarely 3) litters per year, and remain active up to 5-6 years, Fury even had her last litter at 7. Litter sizes got smaller with age, but I rather have smaller, but more litters.

I'm sure that depends on lines, mine are just random mutts.

 

[Scooter1A]

Hm, my breeding does have 1-2 (rarely 3) litters per year, and remain active up to 5-6 years, Fury even had her last litter at 7. Litter sizes got smaller with age, but I rather have smaller, but more litters.

I'm sure that depends on lines, mine are just random mutts.

Thank you. I'm giving her a long break and keeping 1 female. There decision made!! Sorry Lil Acorn for hoarding in on your post. I'm done now.

 

[Lil Acorn Acres Farm]

Thank you. I'm giving her a long break and keeping 1 female. There decision made!! Sorry Lil Acorn for hoarding in on your post. I'm done now.

This is great. I'm learning a lot.

 

[Lil Acorn Acres Farm]

Hm, my breeding does have 1-2 (rarely 3) litters per year, and remain active up to 5-6 years, Fury even had her last litter at 7. Litter sizes got smaller with age, but I rather have smaller, but more litters.

I'm sure that depends on lines, mine are just random mutts.

Since I am just starting out, I plan to breed more my first year. I want to get some in the freezer first. Then I can slow down. It kinda depends on litter size too. 6 is good, but I don't know how much I really need.

 

[Alaska Satin]

Thank you. I've decided to keep one doe. Just sexed them again with a woman who has had rabbits and she wasn't positive either but we're leaning on all does. They are 11 weeks yesterday. She said 4 to 5 kindles is all you will probably get from a doe. She is NZ/Rex cross, 1.5 yrs old.

I think how many litters you can expect depends on your rabbits' genetics and the way you manage them. Some of my brood does have 5-6 litters before I retire them, but others have far more than that. If a doe gives me outstanding bunnies I tend to rebreed her more times than does that produce fair-to-middling offspring. Black Star was one of my Champion-makers and she had nine litters. She was bred the first time at 8 months of age, and was still producing good-size litters at age 4 when her career ended suddenly as a result of a broken back. The graph below shows her production; most of the litters in which she kindled far more than she weaned were the result of my fostering some of her kits to does with smaller litters.

 

[Rabbit Tree Farm]

Thank you. I've decided to keep one doe. Just sexed them again with a woman who has had rabbits and she wasn't positive either but we're leaning on all does. They are 11 weeks yesterday. She said 4 to 5 kindles is all you will probably get from a doe. She is NZ/Rex cross, 1.5 yrs old.

Is this true? My 18 mo doe just kindled her fourth...this was with the summer off. She had 3 whole months to chill and she was the most cantankerous thing. Bred her back and she settles right into gestation...i swear shes only content when mothering. But I have not heard anything like a litter number expiration on rabbits. Id genuinely like to know if anyone holds this experience.

 

[Lil Acorn Acres Farm]

I think how many litters you can expect depends on your rabbits' genetics and the way you manage them. Some of my brood does have 5-6 litters before I retire them, but others have far more than that. If a doe gives me outstanding bunnies I tend to rebreed her more times than does that produce fair-to-middling offspring. Black Star was one of my Champion-makers and she had nine litters. She was bred the first time at 8 months of age, and was still producing good-size litters at age 4 when her career ended suddenly as a result of a broken back. The graph below shows her production; most of the litters in which she kindled far more than she weaned were the result of my fostering some of her kits to does with smaller litters.

View attachment 37330

Ok. Now you got me thinking. This graph shows me that quite a few litters do not have 100% success in making it to weaning. What factors played a part in those litters with so many losses? I'm not techy, but can you use this data to come up with a loss percentage? I may need to buy more rabbits.

 

[Preitler]

Sometimes things just go wrong, had a kit get stuck behind the nestbox, one got out and into a rat trap, and the trap was there because a rat killed 5 out of 6 in a litter once. Then there was the occasional runt that didn't make it, but overall I had not many losses. Imo you can't really plan for such things.

Is this true? My 18 mo doe just kindled her fourth...this was with the summer off. She had 3 whole months to chill and she was the most cantankerous thing. Bred her back and she settles right into gestation...i swear shes only content when mothering. But I have not heard anything like a litter number expiration on rabbits. Id genuinely like to know if anyone holds this experience.

No, not as a general fact. If you consider a doe spent once her litters get a little smaller, or take longer to grow to butcher weight - well, that criteria could produce such a number. Definitly makes sense in a commercial setting.
My little Fury had at least 10-12 litters in 7 active years, didn't keep count, she too would have been too happy to just nonstop flood the premise with offspring back-to-back, but not all rabbits can keep that pace up for long and also feed etc. needs to be optimal so they don't lose condition.
After 2-3 years litter size dropped from 8-9 gradually to 6-4 over the years, but she always was an excellent mother.

 

[Rabbit Tree Farm]

She was my first and only doe last year, i now have added a couple more because i am in this to feed my family but i don't want to do it at the cost of a doe's health or well being. But she kept peak condition and i only bred her when she was at peak. She had 10 this latest litter and lost one...my fault. And they are thriving, as is she. She is the best mama.

Based on her condition i have bred her at anywhere from 4 weeks to 8 weeks post partum. We're at almost 3 now and im considering breeding her back because she hasnt missed a best with this litter.

 

[Scooter1A]

Us newbies have things to consider. I thought I would be able to just freezer camp babies for at least another year but now know I should keep one or two females back. And that's OK because their temperament so far is perfect. Good that we are all planning ahead with good advice.

 

[Alaska Satin]

Ok. Now you got me thinking. This graph shows me that quite a few litters do not have 100% success in making it to weaning. What factors played a part in those litters with so many losses? I'm not techy, but can you use this data to come up with a loss percentage? I may need to buy more rabbits.

Most of the litters in which she weaned less than she kindled were a result of my moving some of her kits to other does. Reasons for that include balancing litter numbers (I prefer 4-7 kits in each nest box if I can swing it), rearranging kits among boxes to achieve uniform colors/sizes in meat pens, and giving kits to boxes that don't have enough kits to keep them warm. Her actual losses were:
Litter #2: 1 stillborn (out of 11)
Litter #3: 1 stillborn, (out of 10), 2 popped out of the box and died (around this time I changed my nest box design)
Litter #4: 1 stillborn (out of 7)
Litter #5: 2 stillborn (out of 7), 1 died at about a week, 2 went missing
Litter #6: none died (4 fostered)
Litter #7: 1 died (3 fostered)
Litter #9: missed pregnancy
Litter #10: 1 stillborn (out of 9), 1 disappeared at about a week (2 fostered)

I'm not a techie, either: it maxed out my skills to get that graph out of my computer program and on to this site! I do keep records somewhat obsessively, and while I write everything on my wall calendar, I do love my record-keeping program, which is Rabbit Register from Evans Software. It is pretty easy even for me to figure out, and the guy that produces it is super patient and helpful with technologically-impaired persons.

She was my first and only doe last year, i now have added a couple more because i am in this to feed my family but i don't want to do it at the cost of a doe's health or well being. But she kept peak condition and i only bred her when she was at peak. She had 10 this latest litter and lost one...my fault. And they are thriving, as is she. She is the best mama.

Based on her condition i have bred her at anywhere from 4 weeks to 8 weeks post partum. We're at almost 3 now and im considering breeding her back because she hasnt missed a best with this litter.

My experience has been that meat rabbit breed does are happiest and healthiest when they're kept in production. Rabbits are really made for reproduction! Like you're doing, I monitor the doe's condition and only take her out of production if she looks like she's faltering. I find the same thing that @Rabbit Tree Farm and @Preitler do:

shes only content when mothering

she too would have been too happy to just nonstop flood the premise with offspring back-to-back