sterile male question? And breeding age

[joybellfarm]

I bought a trio a while back. 2 young unproven does and a 1 yr old proven buck. I payed more for him even. Anyway i bred him to a proven doe my daughter had just bought and 1 of the young unproven does. Well there time came and went not prego . Know the other young unproven doe is due and im almost positive she also is not prego. So how many more shots should i give him before i decide he is sterile? Luckily ive made a rabbit friend and she gave my daughter a young proven buck and a young proven doe thats prego. So as the does due dates come and go ive been breeding them to the new buck. I think i will give my old buck 1 more shot and bred him to the proven prego doe after she has a litter. Then if nothing happens move him out. If i knew for sure the proven doe my daughter has was really proven then i may not give him more chances. Unfortunately this is hard on my daughter these are her 4-h project and so far her first 3 litters did not happen. And for a he has some awesome nice fur the softest bun in the barn. BTW these are all mini rex except for the older proven doe my daughter bought she is a Holland lop. The buck she bought with her is almost ready to bred so we are waiting for him to be of age. Which is my second question he will be 4 months on Nov 26th when should we first try to let him bred for the first time? should we wait tell mid December or try at his 4 month marker? Or could we try know? He is already showing interest in the breeding actions going on next door lol.

 

[jessie15273]

I have been having a lot of bad luck with my mini rex for the past coupel months! Let her know she isn't alone! Now usually my mini rex are the easiest to breed.

I have one 7 month old buck that has no interest in does, and a 4month old that just got his first doe last night!

 

[Dood]

My mini lop x's are frisky little guys and are fertile and ready to go by 4 months. My AmChins are slower to mature, but the mates usually start fighting by 3-4 weeks and they've dropped their testes so the hormones are there but the dont show interest in girls until 5-6 months.

I only put first time males with very eager females so she doesn't beat him up and traumatize him.

 

[skysthelimit]

You can let him try, I haven't had any success with a viable litter before 5-6 mos. They do the job alright, but the sperm must not be viable. It's worth a shot.

As for the buck with the zero batting average- try him a few more times, if he is worth keeping. I have a GC eligible buck, who has not produced anything within a year's time, and the does I bred him to have all had successful litters since. He is only here until he is registered, then I will give him away.

 

[MamaSheepdog]

He may have been sterile due to the heat if you tried him when the temps were high. He and the girls could also be deficient in Vitamin A and E if your feed was not very fresh. Those vitamins degrade very quickly in processed foods.

Copied from the thread linked below:

If you have a successful breeding resulting in no litter, or an unwilling pair, the buck and/or doe may be lacking sufficient levels of Vitamin A and E. Good sources of Vitamin A include Dandelion, Turnip greens, Mustard greens, Romaine lettuce, spinach, winter squash, sweet potato, and carrots. Vitamin E can be found in Sunflower seeds, dried apricots, basil, oregano, and spinach.


judging-a-doe-s-readiness-and-breeding-tips-t9869.html

 

[joybellfarm]

Thanks everyone as long as space is not a problem i will try to keep him a little longer. We are getting tight on cage space so that's why where trying to decide. I really think the trio i bought was keep in a hutch outside. The buck has sun spots so it could very well be heat stress. But i did not realize it could last so long. Our last hot day was in august and since ive had them they have not been panting or anything so i dint think its been hot here. They where given carrots of and on but ill go buy a bag of sunflowers to add to there feed mix.