I have a buck rabbit that wants nothing to do with the does, he's 1 1/2 years old and is in good health. When I first got him he was all over the does, now all he does is sit in front of the feed tray wanting feed. He is a large red rabbit and I feed him 6 to 7 oz. of feed a day with a piece of apple and some hay. I feed the does the same. When I put the does in with him now they want to breed, they are all over him, but he just looks in his feed tray and acts like the does aren't there. He's not loosing wt. looks fine, no cold, no sore feet, no ear mites. Just wants nothing to do with the does. He started acting like this last summer. I hate to feed him more, any ideas?? Plow Boy
>Now, most will disagree with me as the standard is to breed the doe, remove from cage and then rebreed 12 hours later.< Heck, I never did do that! With a large herd, who has time to go back and do it, again? I just left the doe in with the buck, as he would usually recuperate within 3 minutes (or less) and be ready to go, again! Tried keeping the doe in with the buck overnight, but ran into problems with that... the doe either got tired of being pestered by the buck and would injure him, or when it came time to remove her, both the buck and doe would bite me to fend me off! :haha: Pat Lamar President Professional Rabbit Meat Association http://www.prma.org/
Having a similiar problem with the crew...when the buck's raring to go, the does aren't interested and vice vera. The feed is good (18% protien), the does are in good shape, not obese, and supplementing lighting for a total of 16 hours with the sun. The does and the buck are about 18 months old and have successfully bred before. (from the same breeder but different bloodlines - they aren't related) I'm using an incandescent light as the weather in the northeast is still a bit cold for florescent tubes to start up reliably. I've been checking the does daily for the past two weeks but they haven't shown any signs of being receptive. I can't even call it breeding lately as it resembles more of like two wallflowers at a Saturday night dance. They each get 6-8 ounces of feed per day plus a handful of hay or a piece of carrot 2-3x / week. I've heard that some have had success giving the doe water with two tablespoons of cider vinegar per gallon. Not sure if this works but I'm willing to try anything right now. Heck, I'd even considered candlelight, soft music, and flowers... Also considered using a vitamin supplement...probably not a bad idea anyway as it was a tough winter. The weather has been mild lately so I was hoping that would put them in the mood. This is getting embarrassing...can't even get rabbits to breed. Any ideas / thoughts would be sincerely appreciated. Thanks!
Cowboy Joe, Try the apple cider vineger, wont hurt. Also you can switch your doe to the bucks cage and the buck to the does cage for a couple days. Sometimes this will work, so I am told, never tried it. If it were my rabbits, again not the norm, if the doe and buck are getting along in the same cage, leave them for a couple days. Just because you dont see the deed doesnt mean it isnt happening. Just remeber to keep good records as if you count the first day you put the doe in and after day 35 take out nest box you might end up with kits on the wire i9f they bred a couple days later so leave the nest box in a few extra days. Sounds like you are doing everything right.
Thanks for the advice and support Tracy. I may be doing things right but maybe somebody needs to tell that to the rabbits! I'll give the apple cider vinegar a try starting this weekend. Hoping a turn in the weather spurs some interest.
Joe, Just got all my does bred. My big red buck didn't want to breed so I went out and bought a NZW buck. The next day I put a doe in with the NZW buck, after they rubbed on each other, AND BEFORE HE BRED HER, I took her out had put her in with the big red buck. Withen 10 sec. the big red buck got her, I let him breed 3 times then took her out. The next three days the big red bred my other three does. Now, did this NZW buck have any thing to do with this? Maybe the sent of another male made the red buck take action? I don't know, but it worked for me. Plow Boy
Hi Joe.. Boy sometimes rabbits can be onery little cusses can't they? Makes you wonder if that saying about "Breeding like rabbits" has any truth to it! :haha: I've re-read this post from beginning to end and hit the archives where we've discussed this before and the one thing I noticed we didn't touch on was the vent ripeness of the female--and the only reason that comes to mind is because I finally remembered to check my does before trying to breed them...and viola..success...bunnies due in a few days...(I did have one oopsie prior to getting the majority of my does bred...didn't think the buck did his thing...he did...five babies I didn't expect! ) Anyway..This is the information from my Angora breeder's guidebook.. Stage 1: Small in size, light pink, dull surface color; Usually not receptive; Conception rate-usually less than 10% if the doe shows any interest at all. Stage2: Small, light pink, Glistening surface; About 50% receptiveness; Conception rate Fair--usually about 50-70% Stage 3: Small to slightly enlarged, Bright pink to red, very glistenining appearance; 70-90% receptiveness, Conception rate, Good usually 60-80% Stage 4: Very, large to reddish-purple, very dull in apperance. Receptiveness of the doe is generally 100% BUT the conception rate is 30% or less. I bred my rabbits while they were in stages 2 and 3, and I have very preganant females...Does it work all the time? I don't know. I know checking vents worked for me this go 'round. I do use the apple cider vinegar and I give them a few drops of wheat germ oil in their food prior to breeding....all that vim and vigor for the task ahead stuff... Just as a side note...There seems to be something in the air this year...A number of people in the various rabbit groups I belong to on Yahoo have been reporting large litters from proven does who generally only have 5-6 kits per litter...SO...I'll be keeping my fingers crossed for you and hope you get a passal of kits for all your efforts! Suzi
Hey Suzi, Great thought...I've been watching the vents on the various does for the past few weeks but they haven't moved off of stage 1. I started the cider vinegar on Friday and as of this morning (Sunday) at least one of the does has moved into stage 2. I'll give it a few more days to see if any of the other does respond in the same way. I don't know if there is a correlation between the vinegar and the progression. If nothing else, the rabbits really seemed to enjoy the taste of the vinegar in the water. Every rabbit bellied up to their waterer and drank their fill! I'll let you know how this goes....thanks again.
Hey, this is i4gvn in Alabama. Just back off the feed for a day or two and I can guarantee he will start with his side of the business. A hungry buck is a more than willing buck, if you understand what I'm saying. Just make sure he has plenty of water while you are slimming-up on his rations. It wouldn't hurt to do the same with the does, too. If they are well fed, then breeding won't be on their minds too much. Sounds also like to me that he might not have enough salt in his diet.
