To breed or not to breed

[JessicaR]

I am contemplating on whether or not to breed my flemish giant doe soon. She will be 6 months old on May 4th, and is 12 pounds. I have read you shouldnt breed FG's until they are 8 months old or at least 14 pounds.

The problem is I was told to not breed FG's in the summer unless they are in an air conditioned building because they dont do well in the summer heat, so of course 8 months would put us in July. She is showing signs now of wanting to be bred, she is a deep purple color, she lifts when you pet her near the tail, and she keeps rubbing up against the bucks cage.

I do know the person that has her sister has already bred her, so I am thinking it shouldnt hurt anything if I breed her at 6 months?

 

[OneAcreFarm]

If she displays signs of readiness, then breed her. She knows her body better than we do!

 

[JessicaR]

Maybe I will let her and the buck run in the yard togather today :twisted:<br /><br />__________ Tue Apr 24, 2012 11:29 am __________<br /><br />Well the breeding went very well :lol:

As soon as I let him out of his cage Butterscotch proceeded to hump his head, EB then reciprocated that and humped her head :roll: After I gave him a little nudge in the right direction, he finally got it right! Next he took her out to a nice dinner of dandylions, which of course he demanded payment afterwards for such a fine dinner. At that point the 8 week old EE chicks became totally facinated with what was going on opcorn: and even started to peck at EB's tail :lol: Next they took their lovemaking to the porch steps, that didnt work out so well for EB since he ended up falling off the steps. Now they are happily chasing each other around the yard :bunnyhop:

 

[OneAcreFarm]

Hahahahah! Too funny! Good job, Butterscotch and EB!

 

[MamaSheepdog]

:rotfl:

I can picture him falling off the steps! Makes me wonder- do they always fall in the same direction? I'm going to have to watch for that in my bucks... :?

Well, it sounds like you'll have some popples in 30 days or so! Congratulations!

 

[JessicaR]

I decided to breed my mini rex today also since the only adult buck I have is leaving on Friday. She lifted so high that she was on her toes, then after the buck was done and fell off her, she fell on her side!! I have never seen a doe fall over, I was thinking oh crap she had a heart attack, when she got back up and lifted again waiting for the buck to come back over. rabbits can sure keep you in shock, cant they! :shock:

 

[MamaSheepdog]

I've never seen a doe fall, either! Scary! :x I bred some does yesterday also, and they lifted really high too. It sure is apparent when they are really "ready"! :mrgreen:

 

[ohiogoatgirl]

i have seen once or twice where one of the does would fall to the side with the buck because he pulled her over.

and as to you wondering if they always fall to the same side, i dont believe my bucks always fall to the same side. one will even go completely backwards sometimes. hahaha.

i'm thinking of how soon i should be breeding my young dutch and minirex does. they are about 4 months old and like 4 lbs to 4lbs 12 oz... i need to weigh them again. but depending on if certian things fall into place i will be goin on a little trip for a few days middle of july, so they would have to wait to be bred after that anyway.

lots to think about though

 

[Cattle Cait]

Lol! Too funny! Sounds like cute lover bunnies. Our bucks fall all over the place, and sometimes even barely fall at all.