Non-receptive doe

fuzzy9 · Sep 6, 2011

I have a doe that we are trying to breed back, and she hasn't been receptive, even though her vulva area was showing she should be receptive. She was showing dark red/purple. She has kits that are out of the nestbox, and eating/drinking on their own. We breed back at day 21, which was 2 days ago, but she's not receptive at all. She grunts, and cowers in the corner. Have tried her with different bucks, but she's non-receptive with either.

I noticed when we first checked her, that she was kind of sloppy and dirty down around her vulva area. It just dawned on me, and I'm wondering, could this be one of the signs of infection?

MaggieJ · Sep 6, 2011

Hard to say. I'd say give her a butt bath so you know if there is an ongoing problem. If she gets dirty again after that, try to figure out the source. Is the soiling from feces or something else?

Sometimes does are not receptive while they still have their kits with them. You may find it easier in a couple of weeks, with the kits fully weaned. You could also give her some dark leafy greens for extra Vitamin A and some BOSS for Vitamin E daily for a week or two. Both these vitamins are important for reproduction and I have known a number of cases where stepping up these vitamins helped. Pelleted feed contains Vitamins A and E, but they are both vulnerable to heat and long-term storage. With the summer we've been having, the vitamin levels could easily be less than at point of manufacture.

fuzzy9 · Sep 6, 2011

Thanks Maggie.

It's not from feces, it's not a color that would lead me to believe so anyway, and her cage is always clean, so there is no feces on the cage floor. I am going to add the greens, and some boss, so we'll see what makes a difference I guess.

Thank you!

MaggieJ · Sep 6, 2011

Is there a bad odour? Infections sometimes result in a noticeable odour... or so I've read. Never actually had to deal with this issue, so I hope someone else will chime in on this.