[Guest]

All of a sudden my does don't want to breed. They just sit in the corner of the cage. The buck tries, but no luck.
These does are good, produce good litters, when they have them. They are only 1 to 2 years old. Been trying for over a month now...any ideas...I raised these does from babys so I know everything about them.

Bill

 

[bumpus]

Are they already bread ?

 

[Guest]

No they are not bred. I've been raising them for over 20 years. Just wondering if any one knew what the problem was. Never had this happen for this lenth of time.

Tiller

 

[Hotel Californian]

Did you give them the summer off? It has happened to me before when I let them rest over the heat of the summer and tried to restart production.

Have they become fat?

Have you tried breeding in the early AM before you feed them?

 

[Robin Pundzak]

Bill,
I've been having the same problem for about 1 1/2 months. I have good, normally willing, experienced does, that just hunker down and won't co-operate. I've started leaving the does with the bucks for several days, and will see if that helps. I won't know until the end of the month, though, so I can't give you any data until then. I'm just going to put the nestbox in counting from the 1st day they were together. I haven't had any problems with fighting or aggression between the bucks and does, just a lot of miserable looking does!
Robin

 

[Tango]

It happens here once in a while. I think it is tied to nutrition. Even with a good commercial pellet (I feed Manna Pro), the does breeding and lactating at a non-stop cycle need a boost, imo. I just remembered last time it happened that I hadn't supplemented with alfalfa or bermude in a while. I saw mineral spools cheap at the feed store so I purchased one for each doe. Problem solved. Another thing I've noticed is that it happens in groups. It is never just one or two but several at a time that refuse. If you are on filtered well water like we are, your water probably lacks minerals and the feed may keep them at borderline levels- as feed ingredients naturally fluctuate during the year, sometimes may be less than borderline. Just my 2 cents.

 

[Hotel Californian]

It happens here once in a while. I think it is tied to nutrition. Even with a good commercial pellet (I feed Manna Pro), the does breeding and lactating at a non-stop cycle need a boost, imo. I just remembered last time it happened that I hadn't supplemented with alfalfa or bermude in a while. I saw mineral spools cheap at the feed store so I purchased one for each doe. Problem solved. Another thing I've noticed is that it happens in groups. It is never just one or two but several at a time that refuse. If you are on filtered well water like we are, your water probably lacks minerals and the feed may keep them at borderline levels- as feed ingredients naturally fluctuate during the year, sometimes may be less than borderline. Just my 2 cents.

I think Marcia's suggestions are good too. The stress of summer is hard on most of my animals. It's definitely something you want to consider and the fix is simple enough. Instead of hanging spools I give all my animals a tablespoon of high quality horse feed once a day. The high quality horse feed I use is primarily oats and barley (no corn) with a small pellet mixed containing the nutritional additives. To about a gallon container of this I add about a teaspoon of my own powder mix of vitamin mix and ground (pounded up mineral block) minerals. The horse feed I use has a very minimal amount of molassas but enough for the powder to stick distributing it evenly in the mix. This sounds complicated but it isn't. You'll notice a difference in your animal's coat and enthusiasm.

 

[Robin Pundzak]

Larry,
Do you have a problem with the does scrabbling feed to get to the mix?
Robin

 

[Hotel Californian]

Do you have a problem with the does scrabbling feed to get to the mix?
Robin

Robin,

No. I limit feed my rabbits. They get just enough regular feed in the evening to last them until morning. I go out in the morning to empty feeders and give them their mix. After chores I usually make another round and add regular feed to cages with juniors, litters, and others.