Which one to cull, making space.

[TriumphTriple]

I have this horrible problem... too many rabbits. All 6 of my does are nursing between 2 days and 3 weeks. I am in the position now of having to get freezer a rabbit to make space in the grow out pen, one of the does is currently occupying the cage. Since I am just got started about 3-4 months ago and don't know which lines to keep or end, not sure which to get rid of. My only 2 males are NZ brothers both have produced litters and mate well for the most part. All the does have been good at nursing and taking care of their litters. All the rabbits are unrelated except for the White NZ female and her 2 NZ White brothers.

Doe 1:
I want to keep her since she is the only 100% NZ as far as I know. Her first litter is about 5 weeks now. 1st litter- 5 2nd litter- 1 but fostered to "Doe 6"

Male 1:
NZ- Brother of "Doe 1". Has produced several litters. Slightly bigger than "Male 2". A little aggressive when mating. More forceful than anything. Big head on him. Digs through pellets a little.

Male 2:
NZ- Brother of "Doe 1". Has produced several litters.

Doe 2:
Chinchilla NZ mix- She is about as big as "Doe 1", if not bigger. First litter 8, all died, she gave birth on the wire. 2nd litter- 8 about 2 days old.

Doe 3:
A NZ mix of some sort. About as big as "Doe 2". First litter- 8, all about 3-4 weeks old.

Doe 4:
Medium sized- 1st litter- 5 all about 3-4 weeks old.

Doe 5:
Larger mutt, she looks to be the biggest but more fat on her. 1st litter of 3, that were born pretty large and are 3-4 weeks old.

Doe 6:
Solid black mutt. She is the smallest rabbit I have. 1st litter- 10 which all died on the wire. 2nd litter and had 5 that are 2 days old.


I was thinking of getting rid of one of the males. Since it is too early i think to determine which doe to cull and more are not done nursing. I would think of getting rid of "Doe 6" but she just gave birth, poor planning on my part. Adding an additional cage to my setup is not really an option.

Also, on a side note. Considering it is winter and about 10-20 degrees outside. At what age would you transfer the kits to the grow out pen?

 

[Celice]

I would cull Buck 2. I have found that the size of kits depend on the size of the buck, if you want larger rabbits then stick with the larger male.

for does I would cull Doe 6. you can wait until she is done with her kits then do the deed.

 

[baefull.wolfbunnies]

I would cull Buck 2. I have found that the size of kits depend on the size of the buck, if you want larger rabbits then stick with the larger male.

for does I would cull Doe 6. you can wait until she is done with her kits then do the deed.

:yeahthat: good luck with your lines.

 

[Zass]

Depending on how intensively you want to breed, you can move the kits anytime between 4 and 12 weeks.

I usually move my kits between 7-9. By 9 they are always way too crowded to share a cage with a doe.
Actually, since last fall I've been eating them around 9 weeks, so I haven't really needed separate growout pens.

 

[TriumphTriple]

So far this is pretty intense breeding for me, maybe too much, but we will see. This has been a fun learning experience. Thank you for everyone's help.

We have over 30 kits and it is just my wife and myself, with our first one on the way. I plan on giving a little away at first to a couple friends and whatever my family wants. My parents own a horse farm, so they supply me with hay. My goal is to fill that freezer at least half way. We got a foodsaver and a completely empty full sized freezer.

The biggest obstacle are were facing is the feeding cost. We were going through much more in pellets than I thought we ever would. I built an automatic fodder system to help with the costs. At $8 for a 50lb bag of barley, I bought 250lbs.

I am a little concerned, so should I give the kits a good helping of fodder and still all the pellets they can eat? I of course want them to grow fast as possible. I give the males and non nursing does roughly 90% fodder and 10% pellets, the look like a good weight and very active.