Winter Breeding Break //What do you do?

[TF3]

How boring! :lol: :lol:
I love having babies!
But we are taking a winter break until mid-January to avoid the darkest months (although not the coldest!)
and avoid having babies through the Christmas season, as we go away over the holiday and bunny care is going to be a challenge as it is.
We'll start again in January towards having stock to sell for spring.

But in the meantime, when you take a break, how do you spend the time with your herd?
Frankly it is too bloody cold to do much reno in the rabbitry.
I am thinking: lots of handling, grooming, show prep (we need to learn to pose etc).
We have lots of young does to tame!

 

[Cedar Point Rabbitry]

I will have to admit...my rabbitry is too cold to stay in there for longer then what chores take
But then again, that was "just" the past two winters, which were super, super cold. Like REALLY, really cold.
But it's looking up for this winter! So we'll have to see My does have a break for winter as well.

 

[Ramjet]

My does got their break over the summer .... I shut breeding down in May , last litters in June and fight the heat until .... October?!

Its Production Time for my herd .... Winters are relatively mild here , rarely freezing for more than a few hours.

 

[macksmom98]

Yep-me too. And we can't spend much time in the hot summers out with them. Just mornings to do chores and put their frozen water bottles in, but it gets miserable! They don't even excercise much in mid summer around here. I look forward to this time of year and will even drink my morning coffee out with the buns!

 

[Petlover500]

Winters and summers are both killer for rabbits here. But I will prefer to take breaks over the winter and have litters in spring summer and fall

 

[ladysown]

I do an almost two month break in the summer for MOST of my does. I'll breed one meat doe and one holland, but overall.. no kits over the summer. BUT then I sell most of my adults in the spring and keep growers over the summer.

Then I can focus on my juniors and not feed "non-working stock". Gives me time in the summer to focus on other things.

Means a bit more work in the winter, but I'm generally more quiet and sit around in the winter anyways so it's no biggie to bring in a nestbox here and there for five-eight nights, or to have the odd bunny chilling in the house if I'm uncertain of her mothering abilities. But overall they do just fine outside.

 

[Zass]

PA has a pretty ideal rabbit climate,
so I breed all year long, but not intensively.
I usually re-breed when the kits are in the 6-12 week range, depending on the doe and how many babies she had last, for about 4 litters/doe/year.

Bringing the nest boxes inside during winter has the added benefit of allowing us to play with the kits in comfort.

 

[Easy Ears]

Bringing the nest boxes inside during winter has the added benefit of allowing us to play with the kits in comfort.

Same. I do end up usually taking the kit inside because of hot or cold weather, but it is more enjoyable to have better access to the kits as well.
I've found 3 litters out of each doe a year works best for me, one in late winter/early spring (February is preferred), the second litter born in June, and third sometime in October. Although lately I haven't had much success breeding after the summer due to the bucks being sterile from heat....I may have to mix that up a bit....I will however be adding a new doe this year, and am excited at the prospect of having a back up doe to foster with incase one of them needs it.
I don't like breeding in mid winter, because it's just too high of a risk of loosing the newborns to the cold, plus my family and I usually head to a small family reunion sometime in Nov. for Thanksgiving and I don't like to leave kits for long periods of time...well, anytime for that matter. I don't breed during winter unless I'm willing to bring the doe inside the week she is due, so that the babies can be born inside.

 

[ottersatin]

I m ridding in Zass's boat on this one.
I have always bred year-round Stopping only if the Dam is out of shape from delivering an unusually large litter. Most often they are bred when liter reaches 6 to 8 weeks.
Ottersatin. ldtimer:

 

[Truckinguy]

Mine breed all year round out in the colony and seem to do fine in all weather. There is a bit higher kit loss in the winter but generally they do fine. I had a litter of two born in January two winters ago when the nights got to -25c and they did great. The doe built a nest so deep I had to reach in up to my elbow before I got to the little hot spot where the kits were. Sometimes I get back to back to back litters and sometimes no kits for a few weeks so I think the does regulate themselves.

It's a lot more hands off operation but unpredictable. It doesn't help that I have a couple of good meat customers that buy 8 or 10 from me at a time and now the buns have decided to take a break...oops!