How can you tell when a doe is past her prime?

[rabbithappy]

Ok, I have a little update on the silver doe I bought last month, the one that will only eat 1/2 cup of pellets/day, but LOVES her hay. I addressed that in another post a couple weeks ago. I don't know if you all remember that or not. Anyway, I was away for 10 days to PA to attend a wedding & to visit friends. During that time, hubby took care of the rabbits. While I was gone, this rabbit had 1 single, huge baby, which died 2 days later. The birth was about 12 days ago. I thought I'd breed her back right away & tonight took her to the buck. She was already pale as q ghost in the genital area & so, of course was not receptive at all. Which REALLY surprised me. I thought if any time they are receptive, its right after giving birth! As you recall, I know nothing about this doe. I bought her at an auction about 6 weeks ago, so I have no clue as to her history, age,ect. She was just so dang pretty, my hand shot up & I bought her before I knew what I was doing! I am wondering, is this a sign that she is just plain too old? Or what else do you think could be up with her? I really like her color, but at this point, I'm seriously thinking of replacing her with a NZW doe. What do you all think?

[nancy237]

What if you keep checking her daily and try breeding her again.
I had a doe that ignored the first litter and then turned into a great mom.

[ladysown]

if she's pretty she deserves a second chance don't you think? Do you know what she was bred to? I'd cage her next to the buck, make sure she has sufficient light, and then keep checking her readiness to breed (every couple of days).

[MaggieJ]

Did you breed her or did she come to you bred? If the latter, I would definitely give her another chance. You don't know the quality of the buck and whether his fertility was up to par.

I'd wait until she is good and ready (check her genitals) and then make sure she is bred at least three times to a proven buck in two different sessions. What happens after that will give you a clearer picture of what she is capable of. In the meantime, if you want to, you could do the apple cider vinegar in the water thing (2 tablespoons per gallon), the dark leafy greens like dandelion and parsley for Vitamin A and a couple teaspoons of wheat germ over her food for Vitamin E. Wheat germ oil (5 - 6 drops) will also work fine.

[SFM in KY]

With no history, it's difficult to know what's going on. I have had younger does that only had 2 or 3 kits in a litter, but with the older does I've had, it seems that if they suddenly got difficult to breed and then had fewer kits in a litter, it was usually an indication they were having age-related problems. Without knowing her "record" though, you've got nothing to go by.

I'd probably continue to try to get her bred, maybe over the next month or so and see if you can get a good breeding, then see what happens.

[pookshollow]

I recently had a young first-time doe kindle with a single huge baby that died - so it's not necessarily age-related! Give her another chance.

[brody]

my BIG SINGLE DEAD popple this summer was from a very young mom who was breed to goodness knows what... as she wasn't a breed I want to work with she has been rehomed within my extended family and will probably be a pet but had I wanted to breed cute little dwarf anythings I would have certainly have given her at least two more chances to see what happened
sorry you had a whoops but I wouldn't write her off quite yet