Terrible rabbit owner :(

[deleur2]

Somehow, someway my doe has had another litter!! I feel so terrible and so stupid. There are 6 or 7 this time. They seem very small in comparison to when the others were born. Will the new kits be ok with the others around in the same cage? They keep seeming to want to go into the best box. Either I mhad the singletons bday wrong or it sexually matured way faster than I thought. This is just terrible. Sorry to carry on but idk what to do. Now these buns are inbred I think. I'm so upset with myself

 

[akane]

Separate males by 8 weeks. Often they can't breed until 3-4 months but not always. Especially if you have a smaller breed. You should remove all the kits from previous litters into same gender groups to avoid more breeding. The doe may also attack her previous litter. If there's a new litter the others are weaned no matter their age.

 

[Zass]

:yeahthat:
It's best to separate the older kits from the doe to allow her to focus on the new babies.

 

[Dood]

The older kits may try and guzzle all the milk, I'd put them in their own cage.

 

[deleur2]

I moved the doe and new kits back to old hutch so they are alone together. I thought I had a girl with Surry. I looked three times to sex "him" evidently. also, initially I figured he would be 8 weeks now. I must have been wrong somehow. Or maybe the buck managed to get at her through the fencing. :-/. Thank you all.

 

[Zass]

Some members on here have actually seen their rabbits breed through cage wire.

 

[Miss M]

I feel so terrible and so stupid.... I'm so upset with myself

Don't worry... most of us have been there, and those that haven't been, will be.

In fact, I'm there right now. I had a litter of growouts still in with their mom, I let them get a bit older than I should have, and suddenly, a little doe was trying very hard to make a nest! We ended up with five litters from the mother and four daughters out of all this. :roll:

Either I mhad the singletons bday wrong or it sexually matured way faster than I thought.

That's what happened with ours... we never had them breed that young before!

Now these buns are inbred I think.

That isn't necessarily a bad thing with rabbits. If you have good rabbits, you can actually improve a line rapidly that way.

This is just terrible.

You're not a terrible rabbit owner, you were just caught off guard. Now you know some more about rabbits, and you can get through this. :grouphug: Now you know that she bred through the wire, or that singleton is precocious. Are his testicles descended? If so, he might have been able to do the deed. If not, she probably bred through the wire.

 

[3mina]

Almost all of my breeding stock is sibling sets. I have a trio of black otter siblings, also a pair of black otter sibs from one of the above does and an unrelated buck.
I breed everybunny to everybunny based on type and minimizing faults.

 

[deleur2]

The singletons testicles aren't visible. In fact, before I noticed the nest I was trying to check Surry again to see if it was male or female. This time I thought female. It's not easy to determine, I have no experience in that area. And then I looked over into the next cage and my heart dropped when I saw the pile of fur. I wish I had other rabbit folks near me to ask if they could come help me with that. LOL I was thinking of calling a local vet to see if i could take them in just to see if they are male/female. :? Because I can't have that happen with the one month olds! I think I should keep momma bun WAY away from the others, in the house with me maybe! (kidding about in the house)

 

[katiebear]

Hi, I just wanted to say don't give up...check the threads on sexing there is lots of good pictures.I had trouble at first too. It takes practice but once you look at several little hoo-hoos you get pretty good at it.Make sure you are pressing firmly,with two fingers one on each side, the guy I got my first buns from said "taco,girl,hot dog boy"lol.A bit of advice I got from the threads is to look at the space between the organ and the anus opening more space is boy. I think unplanned litters happen to almost everyone.For that reason I put my breeders in separate rows, boys in one row girls in two other rows. That breeding through the wire thing scares me.I get large litters so I must plan, Hubby wants to keep too many,so I guess the rabbitosis exposure took :lol:

 

[Miss M]

Yeah, I have about two inches of space between my cages, to prevent the wire breeding bit. It's a little inconvenient, since the cages swing a little, but I do have the advantage of being able to remove an individual cage.

No visible testicles, I'd think that singleton is too young, if it's even a boy.

 

[deleur2]

Here's a bad pic of the new little ones. 2 black, 3 gray and 1 one so far as I can tell.

 

[Bandits Bunny Farm]

looks like theres a broken (or charlie) black or blue.

the "grey" kits are probably blue too

 

[deleur2]

One of the black kits has one white leg. I'm excited to see them grow out. Since I separated the one month old kits from momma early due to these kits is it ok to give them to their new owners early? I have most of them spoken for and was just wondering about that. I would of course send them with a starter kit of food they are used to and what not. :?:

 

[SuburbanHomesteader]

The singletons testicles aren't visible.

I'd think he'd be too young, then.

I was thinking of calling a local vet to see if i could take them in just to see if they are male/female.

If you do, please share a photo of the look on that vet's face!! :lol: Seriously, you'll get better at sexing rabbits over time. When in doubt, 1) assume you're wrong, and 2) wait a week then check again.

I separate does and bucks within a week after weaning. In the grow pens, I don't house bucks next to does. For breeding stock, the bucks are in a different area from the does - with at least 12 feet of open space between them. I know - most folks don't have that much room. But just know that solid barriers, large open spaces, and good, strong door latches will go a long way toward keeping the boys and girls apart. :mrgreen: