melodyjoycary
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Has anyone had this happen before? I had a doe deliver a single kit long after I thought she was due and it had fur. There’s a bit of a backstory. I’ll try to keep it brief.
My husband and I have just one doe that we kind of got on a whim with the intention of breeding her for meat rabbits. No idea how old she was/is. She had supposedly been bred 15 days before we got her, but that was either not true, or the pregnancy didn’t take. She was also thin and not in great shape when we got her, but she’s healthy now.
We decided to borrow a male from a neighbor to breed because I don’t want to keep a male when it’s just occasional breedings with one doe. So I don’t know anything about the male either except he also got healthier while we had him (for over a month, but that’s another story).
I was in another country when the buck was delivered and my husband was at work. My “wonderful” mother-in-law tossed him right in with our doe. Thankfully he survived without a scratch. That’s another LONG story. She reported having waited there “for a while” and “nothing happened.”
She’s never owned a rabbit so I don’t know if anything happened or not. My husband also kept an eye on them when he discovered he had arrived (the next morning) and never saw any copulation. They were housed together for almost a week before I arrived home and separated them.
A couple of weeks later, I tried them together again (his cage this time). She was sort of aggressive towards him, but he also wasn’t doing anything or showing any interest in her, so it made me wonder if he just sucked at being a buck.
I ended up not putting in a nesting box or materials because I didn’t think she was pregnant. Fast forward about 6 weeks after the initial arrival of the male and I came out to find a single dead kit with the placenta attached. Because of miscommunication and a crazy previous morning, she hadn’t been fed the day before, so I suspect it had been there since the day before as it was already dried out and the ants had gotten to it.
At the time, I was so devastated and guilty about having not properly cared for my doe that I just tossed the kit without wanting to think about it much more. But later my husband asked if it had fur, and my previous breeding experience (several years ago) finally kicked in...
The kit was much larger than it should have been and was in fact covered in fur. I wish I had taken pictures.
So now I’m wondering if she somehow held back the kit because of a lack of nesting area or she just went super late for some strange reason and the kit continued to develop inside her?
Any suggestions would be awesome because now I’m not sure if we should try to breed her again but keep a closer eye on her and assume she’s pregnant until proven otherwise or start with a new doe.
I’ll be 100% involved from the beginning this time so there will be more careful monitoring of the copulation part at least.
My husband and I have just one doe that we kind of got on a whim with the intention of breeding her for meat rabbits. No idea how old she was/is. She had supposedly been bred 15 days before we got her, but that was either not true, or the pregnancy didn’t take. She was also thin and not in great shape when we got her, but she’s healthy now.
We decided to borrow a male from a neighbor to breed because I don’t want to keep a male when it’s just occasional breedings with one doe. So I don’t know anything about the male either except he also got healthier while we had him (for over a month, but that’s another story).
I was in another country when the buck was delivered and my husband was at work. My “wonderful” mother-in-law tossed him right in with our doe. Thankfully he survived without a scratch. That’s another LONG story. She reported having waited there “for a while” and “nothing happened.”
She’s never owned a rabbit so I don’t know if anything happened or not. My husband also kept an eye on them when he discovered he had arrived (the next morning) and never saw any copulation. They were housed together for almost a week before I arrived home and separated them.
A couple of weeks later, I tried them together again (his cage this time). She was sort of aggressive towards him, but he also wasn’t doing anything or showing any interest in her, so it made me wonder if he just sucked at being a buck.
I ended up not putting in a nesting box or materials because I didn’t think she was pregnant. Fast forward about 6 weeks after the initial arrival of the male and I came out to find a single dead kit with the placenta attached. Because of miscommunication and a crazy previous morning, she hadn’t been fed the day before, so I suspect it had been there since the day before as it was already dried out and the ants had gotten to it.
At the time, I was so devastated and guilty about having not properly cared for my doe that I just tossed the kit without wanting to think about it much more. But later my husband asked if it had fur, and my previous breeding experience (several years ago) finally kicked in...
The kit was much larger than it should have been and was in fact covered in fur. I wish I had taken pictures.
So now I’m wondering if she somehow held back the kit because of a lack of nesting area or she just went super late for some strange reason and the kit continued to develop inside her?
Any suggestions would be awesome because now I’m not sure if we should try to breed her again but keep a closer eye on her and assume she’s pregnant until proven otherwise or start with a new doe.
I’ll be 100% involved from the beginning this time so there will be more careful monitoring of the copulation part at least.
