winter breeding

[gardenbunny]

this may be a stupid question but can i breed my rabbits when its snowing? the buck lives outside and the doe lives in my basement for now.

 

[Jessykah]

There are no stupid questions, just stupid answers (sometimes). If I were you, I would go ahead and breed, but if you feel that it is too much for you to take care of a doe and her litter in your basement, or that it would smell too much, then it may be best to wait. Waiting a little may be a blessing. You need to decide what you can handle right now. I wish you the best!

 

[gardenbunny]

thank you, i appreciate the response, I think I will wait until april, march has been insane here.

 

[BrianRme]

To continue this line of questioning. Can you breed in winter if you house all of your rabbits outside or in an unheated outdoor building or coverall?

What temperature is it safe to breed rabbits at? Is there a low and high range of temperatures that successful breeding could be done at?

 

[Schipperkesue]

I find that my rabbits do not 'take' if bred during cold weather/not enough light. Usually I don't breed until mid March. They are either in unheated buildings or outside.

 

[Schipperkesue]

Sorry...double post!

 

[Dood]

I have litters all year but my breeders are in a lighted barn that is heated to just above freezing so the does have enough water to nurse their kits, licking ice won't be enough and you'll loose kits or limit growth rate.

The cold, and more often the heat, can cause temporary male sterility so production often tapers off in the winter and summer.

Temperatures over 80'F (30'C) can cause does to abort litters and heat stroke in all ages of rabbits.

 

[3mina]

Housed outdoors with no supplemental light I can breed six months a year, March through August. If I'm lucky I can start breeding mid February and get my last litters bred the middle of September but I don't have very good luck with that. The last time I tried I lost two of three litters, twenty kits in all.
Lots of other breeders seem to be able to get winter litters up here but not me so far

 

[SuburbanHomesteader]

Like Dood, our breeders are in a heated barn kept around 40 degrees. That's done to keep water from freezing and really for our comfort more than the rabbits'. (We take our time with our chores if we're not outdoors freezing cold with snow up to our knees.) Anyway, we breed year-round and usually always get more litters in winter than in summer.

We're in Kansas. Temps below zero during winter and above 100 in the summer. Heat is more of an issue than the cold is. Temporary sterility and does just not in the mood because of heat.

But the question is breeding in winter. I've read and my experience has shown that it's more an issue of how much light the rabbits get during the winter. 10 to 12 hours of light will keep things normal. Hope that helps.

 

[gardenbunny]

these replies are so helpful thank you all!!!

I love hearing all the different set ups and experiences.

I think its so funny when my mother in law says rabbits can't live outside in the winter, I always show her the rabbit tracks in her yard and say I think the rabbits in your yard are surviving.

my buck came with a heated water dish so he was fine all winter.

seems like they are similar to quail( which I also plan to start this year) they can live in cold but won't really breed in low light times.

thanks again!

 

[skysthelimit]

To continue this line of questioning. Can you breed in winter if you house all of your rabbits outside or in an unheated outdoor building or coverall?

What temperature is it safe to breed rabbits at? Is there a low and high range of temperatures that successful breeding could be done at?

All my rabbits are outside in an unheated building 5 miles from Lake Erie. It gets cold here.

It's not the cold but the light. I do control the lighting, sometimes, but there is nothing like natural light. Some does just won't breed until Feb. when the day light hour change is really noticeable. Then breeding really picks up again.

 

[Truckinguy]

Mine are outside in an open, unheated colony and they breed all year round. Just had a litter of eight born sometime last night (two didn't make it). I leave the buck and the doe together all year and they breed as they like. I get litters all year round. Sometimes there can be an extra couple of weeks between litters so I don't know if the does body tells her to take a break for a while. I still need to put the addition on the colony to add another doe to give her a break... said that last year...lol!

This has been a brutal winter here in Ontario (and everywhere else!) and they've bred through the winter no problem. I change the water out a few times a day when I'm home but when I"m out they have to wait until I get back. They seem to be fine with that.

 

[gardenbunny]

i'm glad there is people from my region( i'm in southwestern ontario) answering this question. thank you everyone

 

[Zass]

We had -10 degree days sporadically all winter. Somehow, I had better luck breeding midwinter than I did in fall.

I had two does kindle outside in an unheated structure, really just a plastic covered frame sufficient to keep the wind off. (with lots of straw to cozy up with)

I waited for nice days to breed them. I watched REALLY close to make sure the does pulled enough hair, took care of the nest, and didn't miss the nestbox when kindling.

I lost one kit who wandered out of the nestbox and was unable to climb back in.
On the coldest days I had to change water bottles or fill crocks 3+ times.

 

[MamaSheepdog]

It is nowhere near as cold here as it is for so many that have replied, but we do get freezing temperatures periodically.

My rabbits don't get supplemental heat or light and I have had litters all winter long.

 

[akane]

Some rabbits breed fine down in to subzero temps and some won't make it below freezing. It depends on litter size and nest quality as well as their milk coming in on time so the kits don't freeze waiting for their first feeding. Some does can take a day or 2 before they finish the nest and feed. Those will just produce popsicles. Netherlands and many other small breeds don't do well because they don't have enough offspring to keep warm. Most of my meat breeds had at least 1 doe that could breed through winter in a building. Out in the open they won't withstand as cold of temps because of the wind. A good meat breed should still handle a little below freezing with some wind block like tarps around a few sides of the cages and you might want to use a fully enclosed box that fits the doe as well instead of the typical type of nestbox.

 

[BusterHill]

Both my litters were born on -10 nights, lost one kit from the first, and 2 from the second, once they furred out they were even better, growing fast, i do have a smoky cali kit, but the others are normal, so they couldnt have been too cold I lost chickens in the beg. of winter when it was sooooo cold, bunnies did great though I have mine in a colony in the upstairs of the barn so less light than ideal

 

[kaye]

Is there any effect on litter size if it's colder? My doe just had three and i'm wondering if temperature effects litter size before I judge this doe as a breeder.

 

[Zass]

My litter sizes were consistent for what I expect from my girls. The doe who always makes 9 made 9.
The one who made 6 during the fall made 7 during the winter.
The one who always made 10-12 kits made me 11 (born inside though)

 

[MamaSheepdog]

Is there any effect on litter size if it's colder?

It's possible, though I haven't seen it here. Warmer weather brings more forage so an animal getting pregnant in the colder months might have a smaller litter because there is not as much feed available. Rabbits are not so fully domesticated that they are hard wired to know that the amount of feed they are given depends on their owner and not nature.