where do i look now?

[pastelsummer]

ok i have ONE large male but he throws 10 litter kits on the mamas even if i only let him cover once or twice. and then the mamas get stressed so i want a different male but all i can find are cheap mutts that look like crap and no one knows or has ever tried to breed them so i dont trust them to breed to my females. I was so looking forward to showing this year with my males my mini rex and i wanted to see about the meat mutts for my harlie and now they are gone and i CANNOT find any other harlequin marked males in this area i looked!

 

[akane]

I've found the does determine the kits a whole lot more than the buck. My champagne buck throws an average of 5 kits on my champagne doe and 8-10kits on my creme doe. My chocolate mini rex buck had 3 litters of 1-3 kits with one doe, 2 litters of 3-5 with another doe, and a litter of 7 with a 3rd doe. The first doe had a litter of 1 with another buck and the last doe had a litter of 8 with that other buck. Getting a new buck probably won't alter your numbers much unless he has something wrong with him and then you will just have genetic problems to deal with.

 

[pastelsummer]

oh well then how do i keep the numbers down since they get so stressed from the big litters? And where can i find a good harlie!!

 

[KatzNetherlands]

What about looking at the rabbit shows? See if anyone there breeds or knows someone who breeds them?

 

[MaggieJ]

Could you explain what you mean by "stressed" from the large litters?

 

[Thundrr]

i dont mean to offend anyone by making this suggestion... but i have seen people post on forums that say they cull down the litter to a manageable size for their does... again... dont hate me for this one

 

[KatzNetherlands]

Or breed multiple does so that they can be evened out amongst each other..

 

[pastelsummer]

by stressed i mean they kill the bigger litters. a small one they just uncover on a reg basis but a big litter they actually kill. i feel like culling everything and starting over with mamas that i can buy that have proven to be good mamas

 

[MaggieJ]

It does sound as though your does lack good mothering skills. You'd probably be happier with proven does who enjoy raising kits.

 

[pastelsummer]

i know that my harlie and my broken were first time mamas so i tried my broken again and she fed them and did everything but keep them covered. i just have no one to rebreed my harlie to right now to see

 

[Jessykah]

Maybe buy another doe or 2 that usually have small litters....then breed them at the same time as your other does, and foster some to them from the big litters. Of course you will have more kits born is way, but the other does with big litters don't have to be stressed, and you don't have to cull anything then.

 

[Anntann]

i dont mean to offend anyone by making this suggestion... but i have seen people post on forums that say they cull down the litter to a manageable size for their does... again... dont hate me for this one

Thundrr, it's a valid solution, no one is going to hate you Often the problem is solved by having 3 or 4 does kindle at the same time...then dividing the kits up between them...but if the doe is having trouble with the large numbers of kits, you need to do SOMETHING because she'll either kill them herself or they'll go through the whole "death by starvation"

I've started breeding Fat Little Bunny or Chocolate Bunny at the same time as other does. They tend to only throw 4 or 5 kits, but have enough milk for a dozen. And since they're in a colony, it's easy to just slip in a few kits.

 

[sammysue63]

We have the opposite problem with our buck. We have had our G buck since we started in January and we had 6 does miss, 1 doe had 1 kit born dead, a doe had 1 live kit, another had a litter of 2 and another a litter of 6 which is the most he has fathered. So we did a test since our D buck seemed to be getting litters of 9 and up we tested 2 of the does that had good litters with our D buck. The doe that had 9 with D had 3 with G. The doe that had 11 with D also had 3 with G. The one that had 2 with G had 12 with D. We are most certain our problem is with the buck.
This is just what we experienced, although it may not be the norm. <br /><br />__________ Thu Jun 02, 2011 3:08 pm __________<br /><br />We have the opposite problem with our buck. We have had our G buck since we started in January and we had 6 does miss, 1 doe had 1 kit born dead, a doe had 1 live kit, another had a litter of 2 and another a litter of 6 which is the most he has fathered. So we did a test since our D buck seemed to be getting litters of 9 and up we tested 2 of the does that had good litters with our D buck. The doe that had 9 with D had 3 with G. The doe that had 11 with D also had 3 with G. The one that had 2 with G had 12 with D. We are most certain our problem is with the buck.
This is just what we experienced, although it may not be the norm.

 

[OneAcreFarm]

I did not think 10 was an especially big litter for rabbits....maybe your does just aren't good moms. Some just aren't and you will find some more that have great mothering skills.