Question on doe productivity.

[Easy Ears]

:fireworks1: YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I FINALLY GOT A BABY! ...ya...Just one. Haha. It's in very good condition. Kind of strange that it has fur and you can already see the Dutch pattern though....? ok, so my doe pulled fur during the night, and I found this little guy in the morning, warm and happy. My buck is directly below the second level where me doe resides, so I found him with some fresh blood on his face, which makes me think she had the baby recently last night, especially cause the baby was warm in the nest box.(The blood fell through the chicken wire corners and my buck must have had his face up in a corner. :roll: ) The thing is, I left the baby in the nest box, for about 10 minute while I took my buck inside to wash his face, and came outside to see the baby crawling around outside the next box. I stuck it back in, and flipped it around so it wouldn't be able to crawl out again. About a half hour to an hour later I went back to check on it and it was cold in the corner of the nest box, and had pushed away the fur and hay. I rushed it inside, and heated it up with warm water in a bag, and it "came back to life" (PRAISE GOD! ) I've been packing it around with me all day now to make sure "it"-- we named it "Pumpkin--, stays warm. Since it was then only one so far...is that why it was so developed? And it must have just been born right? Because how would it had stayed warm if I left it for about an hour, and it was so cold? I was also wondering.....will my doe have any more? Her last litter was a litter of 8....now it's one? :lol: She was bred to the same buck. She's a Dutch/mini rex cross, and this is her 3rd litter. (2nd with me)

 

[Susie570]

That's a cute, fat little piglet and it does seem to have more fuzz than a newborn should. Maybe it was a bit late? As for more popples, I doubt it. As far as I know, they kindle in the space of 15 minutes or less, unless she's retaining kits.

 

[Zass]

There is a good chance that one kit will not be able to keep itself warm in the nest by itself. You are probably going to need to keep it inside near a heat source and take it out to nurse, or else bring the doe and nest inside together.
Make sure that the kit has room to wiggle away from whatever you decide to use as a heat supplement to avoid overheating.

On another group I saw someone mention using a hot hands brand warmer tucked in the bottom of the nestbox in a situation like this. I've never used one, but I have a few thoughts...You would want to be very sure the kit couldn't contact it directly and fry. It would have to be watched carefully to make sure that the kit didn't chill when heat was lost, and I wouldn't place one where a doe could chew it.

 

[EnglishSpot]

Congrats on the uberbaby!!

 

[katiebear]

Cute little guy, looks like he was " in the oven " a little long.. sometimes when there are fewer they are born bigger. But that little one has a lot of fur..I would recheck the breed date . But anyway..Congrats!!! YEA BABY!!!! :lol:

 

[JenerationX]

/how cute!!!!!!!!! Congrats!

 

[Easy Ears]

Ok, so last night I put Pumpkin in a tall Tupperware and put a heat pad on half the container and set it to low. He did great, and is very active this morning! Since there are no other siblings to keep Pumpkin warm, I will probably be keeping him inside for the first week, until he gets some more hair. I brought momma in last night just in case she had anymore. There was some blood in her pee this morning, but no new babies.
So it's definite that she won't have any more at this point, right?
Isn't it weird she went from 8 babies in a litter to 1? What's that all about?
Also Pumpkin was born on the night of the 32 day, I am quite sure. I agree he's QUITE developed!
So since there was only one baby....I would like to have another litter soon, so would it be alright to breed her again on Wednesday? (It would be almost a week after having Pumpkin) :bunnyhop: It seems soon, but she did only have one popple. Her last litter was in July of 2014, I did breed her before that however, but with no results.

And thanks so much guys! Really excited to finally have another litter! (Even if it's just one baby. )

 

[Zass]

Re-breeding soon would be a good idea if you want more kits in the future. She may have had just one kit because she was getting plump between litters.

 

[Easy Ears]

Ok, thanks everyone! Just put her in with my buck. She's doing great! And so is the baby!

 

[Susie570]

Ok, thanks everyone! Just put her in with my buck. She's doing great! And so is the baby!

Glad to hear it! You should post another picture of Pumpkin

 

[Easy Ears]

I'll try posting more pics when I get the chance!

Ok, so I was thinking, and I'm about 97% sure Pumpkin is a girl. (She is over 2 weeks now, and doing great!)
And I was considering keeping her to replace my old doe if she turns out to be a good mom, especially since I like her face structure better than Prins (her moms).
I would be breeding her back to the dad, (line breeding) not to a brother.
Her mom is about 2 yrs old now, so I was thinking....is that why she had only one this litter? Is she needing to be retired from breeding life? She is a mini rex/Dutch cross, and in good shape. How long do your guys' doe's usually keep producing?
And are most doe's good mothers? :?

 

[Susie570]

I hear folks talk about getting good production from their does for 6, 7, 8 years. My doe is 3 years old and she had a healthy litter of 9.

 

[katiebear]

My best momma only had three this time she always has from 6 to 11... :?: ...all I can figure is I waited to long between breedings, and she over ate..she is a big girl, Flemish Giant, so she didn't look fat..I am not going to wait so long next time...the only break she's going to get will be over the simmer.

 

[Easy Ears]

Hmm.... when do you guys usually first breed your new does? Some people say 6m some 8 months....so I was thinking 7? :roll:

And if I bred a doe at the end of August, waiting until May to breed again would be way too long right? :?

 

[katiebear]

I get my last litters the end of May, and don't breed again until October..but that is an Arizona summer. To hot for man or beast.I first start the does out at about 7 months..but they are large meat rabbits. Small pet rabbits may mature sooner.

 

[michaels4gardens]

I don't breed rabbits in the winter, when I have no cheap green feed available, so-- when i do start again some of the does have to be introduced to the buck each day for a week before they are "ready to lift" -- and if I let them get a little too plump , the first litters are small on some does, but when bred back next time they have big litters again. Not breeding for a few months can definitely cause some production problems.

 

[Easy Ears]

Ok, so I would like to keep Pumpkin to breed back to her dad, and replace her with her mother as a brood doe because
1. Her mother (my one brood doe) is getting older...
2. she isn't very pleasant to be around...
:roll: I like my rabbits tame, and she is just the opposite....a good mom though, but her last two litters has been, one, and then her most recent one (on the 4th) was a litter of two....why is that? She doesn't seem to be getting fat to me? (Her first litter was 8 babies!)

I know line breeding can pull out both good and bad genes from the breeding pair, so would line breeding a daughter to a father make any difference for just this one baby? Meaning, I wouldn't take any of Pumpkins babies and breed them back to the father. Could there be any problems breeding Pumpkin back to her father, once she is 7 months old?

Also, my parents would rather not have me breeding my rabbits during the school year which is like 8 or more months....that is way to long to wait between breeding periods for the doe to stay productive...right? Would it be ok to breed like every 4 months? What are your guys' breeding programs like?

Pics of the new little ones soon!

 

[michaels4gardens]

The whole line breeding / in breeding / out crossing thing can only be productively discussed when we know what the genetics are like that you plan on using, If you have not had these rabbits for at least a few generations, it can not even be guessed what the outcome would be. If I were you I would just do what ever you want, and keep good records of the outcome. Just know -that many of us feel that almost all traits, [including aggression] are genetic to a certain point. -- so-- my advise is-- always breed your best to your best, and cull the rest. - AND KEEP GOOD RECORDS - then start worrying about line/ in/ or out-cross breedings to concentrate certain qualities . -- if you don't let your rabbits get fat - breeding every 4 months will work, but-- there is often a drop in production [JMHO] when you go more then 8 or 9 weeks between breedings.

 

[Susie570]

This is an interesting topic to me as well, since I am thinking I should only produce 2-3 litters/yr from each doe (small operation!!! SMALL DANGIT!!)

When have you folks found it best to do your breedings? Obviously the Spring litter works out well, coinciding with Easter and all that. I really liked the timing of this litter because, by the time Easter rolled around, the babies were just over 9 weeks old, not 'little tiny fluffy bunnies' and the folks who have taken them have SEEMED to be responsible, caring people (not just impulse buyers).

So, this litter would have been bred around... well close to christmas I guess? (born 1/28/15)

Then when should I, ideally, plan to have other litters?

I just bought a nice doe, she's just over 3 months old right now, and I will not be getting her until early May, then isolation time of course... so a Fall litter will likely be in the works (and she will be a first time mother, so not sure how that will pan out).

Anyway, yeah... I have the same questions of how long a person can/should, practically speaking, go between breedings?

 

[Easy Ears]

And how much is too much when breeding one doe? Will breeding one doe more than 3 times a year have an effect in overall production?