[james dilley]

My N Z W doe I received her from A nieghbor At 3 weeks old. Back the first of March. ,I was going to have her bred, Except she is still Smaller than the Crossbred does I have. They are 2 months older than she is. So would it be Adviseable to wait till I have the other 3 rebred in 6 -8 weeks?? She may weigh 5 pounds right now..

 

[SILEIGH]

I'd wait ... then you have does to back you up in case you need to foster out the kits...espesially since its her first litter... she may not take to being mom the first time around...
and for me its easier to have all the does on the same schedual...the less i have to think about this rabbit , that rabbit and the other rabbit the better off i am :baby04:

 

[SquashNut]

Are you sure she only weighs 5 pounds? If so she may never get big enough to breed. She should easily weigh 7 or more pounds. I don't think I would breed her till later.

 

[james dilley]

I Am guessing As I don't have A scale.. She gets pleanty of feed and fresh water 3X A day. (the water) and then theres the greens they All get A few times A week. I may just be looking at her size compared to the Other 3 does. The Cali buck was Full grown when I got him. The grey buck was Small And still is Smaller than the Cali. He is almost as big/small as the N Z W doe. And he is A weighty little thing.. She might be big enough . But thats why she was NOT bred with the other 3 I wanted to give her A bit more time.. So she will be bred when the other 3 are rebred.

 

[Bernadette]

James, I think you're getting a feel for your rabbits. Your 'gut' or whatever you want to call it, told you she wasn't quite ready.

How close is she to the buck's cage? I'm not too sure how you have your cages set up (I know they're under a nice breezey shade tree) but if it's possible I'd move her cage (or the buck - whichever is easier) until her cage is near to the buck. Watch her behaviour. She'll tell you when she is ready.

So if she was three weeks old the beginning of March means she was born in early February. So, she's coming up on seven months and will be about eight months old when you're ready to re-breed the others. She will definitely be sexually mature then. I think it's an excellent plan to wait and breed them together.

 

[james dilley]

I often think that A lot of folks burn there Stock out by NOT watching them, Be it Rabbits hogs or what ever. The Animal will tell you when they are ready. I Am wanting to move All the cages to A differnt set of Mesquite trees. And set the cages into A tighter grouping. I picked her up A bit ago. And she has Heft to her. Within A pound of the older does. By the way the Does cages are being rebuilt. To be large enough for the Nest boxes.

 

[SILEIGH]

heres an unscientific "test" test that told me it was ok to breed my cali doe
i have no idea how old she is ...she was an escapee from a fair meat pen some one brought home...any way i did not want to breed her to early so i waited and waited.
one day i'm petting her and rubbing her butt well the hussy flattened out and the tail came up that quick....case closed ..
would i trust this on its own no but with my best guess at her age and weight i felt o.k.
i don't know if this will help... it sounds like you are on the right track already

 

[jil101ca]

I have a hand raised doe the same age as yours. I tried to breed a couple of times but she's not ready yet. Maybe next month, I guess some just mature slower than others.

 

[james dilley]

My brother went out into the Rabbit yard A bit ago. And he tells me that the N Z W doe is Almost the size of my Spotted doe. ,And asked if she was bred too. I said next breeding cycle. (he is footing the bills 100% right now) So I figure to breed her end of Sept.. first of October..