Now what!

[JessicaR]

I am just going to say it, the rabbits are driving me insane! :evil:

On the upside the 1 NZW is fine dodged the dreaded P. Now for the bad!! My son is in 4h, taking market rabbit project, for the meat pen the rabbits have to be around 70 days old. So today is the day we are supposed to breed the 2 does, since the 1 is fine I figured it would be ok to breed her, Well she would not lift. I check her out she is pink not purple, hopefully she will get in the mood within the next couple of days! The other NZW doe (4 y/o) I am trying to breed, also would not lift! CRAP! So I check her... dark purple! She should be lifting, but no she clamps her butt to the floor and huddles in the corner. So I then notice she is making some weird noises, not quite weezing,kind of a high pitch grunting. She only does it when the buck tries to mount her, so I remove her from his cage and look her over. No weezing, no snot she does however flinch a bit when I touch her stomach area. I dont know if it hurts or she just doesnt want to be touched. Also she is a bit thinner than I would like but she did just get done raising a litter of 8 that are now 7 weeks old, she is not super thin i can just feel her spine a little more than I can with the other doe. So I dont know if something is wrong with her or she is just being stubborn and refusing to breed?

So now if the other doe, who usually only has 4 in a litter, doesnt take we are in trouble, he will not have any rabbits for his meat pen!

 

[Demamma]

A county near me is having trouble getting meat pens. Their fair is a week after us. I have been getting calls for meat pens but after doing the math my rabbits will be 3 days too old. Some parents want some anyways. I won't put a fake birth date so I am not sure what they plan to do. A lot of the rabbit breeders in their county had rabbits not take or small litters. I I was contacted by a different counties FFA teacher and I breed two does for their fair and so far no kits. I let her know to start looking for a backup breeder. I feel so bad but I told them it was not a guarantee. I sure hope you can get them bred and the older doe is ok.

 

[Miss M]

Maybe you can hold them for the buck. I've had to do it a couple of times. Just hold the head down, and slide your other hand under the abdomen and lift. It isn't easy, and it won't work with a freakazoid doe. But I have gotten does bred that way. I just try to avoid it... but when you're on a schedule, that might be what you have to do.

 

[Demamma]

I had to hold 4 of the seven does I bred for fair. They wanted nothing to do with it. All but one got pregnant.

 

[OneAcreFarm]

Yep, sometimes they just want to be difficult. You may have to hold her.

 

[GypsyTinker]

It's a new moon. I know in the old days, that mattered... I think the rabbits still know about it.

It has just turned to waxing and I will be breeding a bunch of my does once it is more voluptuous yet still growing and on a cool day.

I've had luck with this strategy so far, but I've only had a few litters. I've had trouble on waning and new moons and ease on waxing to full.

 

[cudaman68]

I am just going to say it, the rabbits are driving me insane! :evil:

On the upside the 1 NZW is fine dodged the dreaded P. Now for the bad!! My son is in 4h, taking market rabbit project, for the meat pen the rabbits have to be around 70 days old. So today is the day we are supposed to breed the 2 does, since the 1 is fine I figured it would be ok to breed her, Well she would not lift. I check her out she is pink not purple, hopefully she will get in the mood within the next couple of days! The other NZW doe (4 y/o) I am trying to breed, also would not lift! CRAP! So I check her... dark purple! She should be lifting, but no she clamps her butt to the floor and huddles in the corner. So I then notice she is making some weird noises, not quite weezing,kind of a high pitch grunting. She only does it when the buck tries to mount her, so I remove her from his cage and look her over. No weezing, no snot she does however flinch a bit when I touch her stomach area. I dont know if it hurts or she just doesnt want to be touched. Also she is a bit thinner than I would like but she did just get done raising a litter of 8 that are now 7 weeks old, she is not super thin i can just feel her spine a little more than I can with the other doe. So I dont know if something is wrong with her or she is just being stubborn and refusing to breed?

So now if the other doe, who usually only has 4 in a litter, doesnt take we are in trouble, he will not have any rabbits for his meat pen!

Sorry to hear your having trouble with you doe I hope they they work out for you. Are your kits NZW that are 7 weeks old? And do they have pedigrees? I need a few NZW doe to add to my herd

 

[JessicaR]

the kits are NZW flemish giant crosses.

I will try again today and hold the doe if I have to<br /><br />__________ Mon Apr 15, 2013 9:10 am __________<br /><br />Tried all weekend to breed the 2 brats! Nothing at all except for some frustrated bucks!! I tried both the cali and the NZR, neither one worked. I tried holding both does, still didnt work! Maybe I should show them a bowl of rabbit noodle soup :mrgreen:

Looks like I am going to have to start looking for some NZW rabbits that will be born around May 12th so my son will have something to show in the meat pen class.

I think after fair time we are going to be doing some serious culling of the herd. I may get rid of all the meat rabbits except for the NZR buck, and try and get some younger does to work with.