In fact, it's easier to breed in the winter than it is in the dead of Summer, while Spring is the easiest of all. The Summer heat can cause bucks to go temporarily sterile, and the stress from the Summer sun can cause neither party to be willing to breed.
In the Summer months, you'll notice that the doe puts less work into tending to kits, and rarely has a lot of fur covering them in her nest. In the Winter months, it takes a lot of preparation and nest building on the doe's part. Never underestimate the time that she spends preparing for her litter. Make sure that your hutches are winterized when it is cold wrapping with plastic wrap or surrounding with straw and in the shade during the summer months. This will help make the weather less probable to interfere with your breedings.
If your rabbits are healthy, happy, and active, then sometimes it seems like nothing will help get them to breed properly. In which case, you can try adding Apple Cider Vinegar ACV to their water especially the does for a week before trying to breed again. Organic ACV is great for any livestock. We offer it to our chickens in their water in the Winter, Spring and Fall -- one tablespoon per gallon.
You can give it to your rabbits as well, as it helps their body become more alkaline -- it is also anti-bacterial, anti-fungal and anti-viral. So if something else is going on inside of your rabbit that you cannot see, this should help take care of that issue. Another thing you may consider is bringing the buck to the doe. In most breedings, we take our doe to our buck, otherwise our buck spends too much time sniffing the does cage rather than paying attention to the doe.
If the doe becomes hostile, remove the buck immediately. There's no need for anyone to get hurt. Otherwise, if everyone plays nice and the buck doesn't try breeding within the first 30 minutes, you can try separating them -- doe into the bucks cage, buck into the does cage for the evening. Once the doe is comfortable with the bucks scent by morning, bring the buck back to her and she will most likely be more willing to breed.
Whatever you do, don't over do it. If you are not standing there watching for the notorious "fall off" the entire time, then you won't know if your doe is bred or not. If you continuously keep trying to breed her, she can become pregnant with two litters at once, as many rabbits have two uterus'. This would be extremely difficult for her to handle, and will most likely result in losing one or both litters. We always watch for a fall off. If there isn't one, then we re-breed.
If there is a fall off, we wait 2 weeks and then palpate the doe. If we do not feel babies, we give it one more week and then palpate again. If there are still no babies, we re-breed. No matter what the outcome, patience is necessary when first getting started with rabbits. Often times people become frustrated because they have an idea of how it's "supposed" to work, but that assumption just isn't true with domesticated rabbits. After you get the hang of it which most likely won't be until your third or fourth litter , the successful breedings certainly do outweigh the unsuccessful ones.
The few that manage to survive for a while are eventually picked off by predators, hit by cars or succumb slowly to thirst, malnutrition and disease. Please remember that although you may understand that a rabbit is not a disposable plush toy, the vast majority of people buying them in pet stores have no idea about the commitment necessary to properly care for a rabbit.
Do you really want your beloved companion's babies to end up as discarded toys, sentenced to an early death? Many people who allow their rabbits to breed feel it's completely safe to sell or give the offspring to pet stores. They hope the babies will be sold to people who will care for them as lovingly as they care for their own rabbits. Although a well cared-for rabbit can live 10 to 12 years, an alarming number of each year's pet store purchases die before they reach their first birthday.
Some of these deaths are due to unscrupulous dealers' selling them before they are old enough to be weaned eight weeks , and others to their owners' lack of knowledge about rabbit care. Rabbits are delicate and have special health needs of which most of the general public is ignorant. A relatively small percentage of the rabbits sold in pet stores find safe, loving homes with people who know how to give them the proper care.
Most of the others will not. Pet stores do not check the intent of the purchaser, and if the rabbits are sold inexpensively as most hybrid rabbits are they may be sold as snake food. A terrifying death awaits these unfortunate rabbits. Rabbits who aren't sold as snake food or pets eventually outgrow their baby cuteness and many are given to "petting zoos" to be poked and prodded mercilessly or to breeders who are unlikely to use them for more breeding, since their heritage is unknown.
Breeding rabbits is a business. So, you have a good reason for breeding rabbits and now want more information on how to actually achieve your plan. Selecting the two rabbits is a procedure and needs to be fully understood.
You should not use two full sibling rabbits. The reason for this is that it causes in-breeding, where unwanted gene mutations can occur. There is a good chance that you might already have two rabbits at home, at these were likely siblings from the same litter.
If this is the case, you can use one of the rabbits, but I repeat, do not use both rabbits for breeding. It may seem a bit odd for us humans, but breeding a mother rabbit to a son, or a father rabbit to a daughter is perfectly acceptable. It happens naturally in the wild, so is fine to be replicated in a forced breeding situation.
Cousins can also be bred together. It might seem obvious, but only select healthy rabbits for breeding. If a rabbit is sick or has an abnormality, then it might have a defective gene. You do not want to pass on this condition. Choose healthy, strong rabbits as they will have the best chance of survival for future litters.
Many rabbits are bred because of their positive traits. The opposite is also true. This might not always be the case, but the more selective you are about which traits you want to success, the more it will happen through successive breeding.
People want rabbits that are of pure breed. Mixed-rabbits do not have much value. Furthermore, if too many purebred rabbits are mixed together, then the pool of acceptable bunnies to breed in the future will quickly become depleted. Take your time and find two rabbits that are the same breed for the best success. As with everything in nature, there is a time for everything. A male rabbit can become fertile at between 8 and 12 weeks. He should not be allowed to breed, however, until at least 6 months.
This is so he can fully mature and reach adulthood. Be sure to separate any rabbits by at least 4 weeks in case of premature breeding. If you have a male rabbit that you decide is not fit for breeding, then you will want to have him neutered.
While this can happen any time after 12 weeks, or once the testicles have descended. A female rabbit can become pregnant by 12 weeks, but this is not recommended. She should be allowed to reach full maturity to decrease any health risks, which is around 6 months.
For larger breeds, over 10 pounds, wait until she is 9 months old. The answer is no. While some animals, such as cats and dogs require the female to be in a sexual cycle, or ready to accept a male partner.
Rabbits do not have this period, and thus should be ready to be bred at any time of the year. Location is always important and with rabbits this is especially true. Male rabbits are very territorial. If you put them in a strange place, they will want to assert their dominance. If the mating can happen in his own territory, then the male rabbit will focus more on the task at hand. And with male rabbits, they are always ready.
Be prepared for the male rabbit to mount the female rabbit almost instantly. A precursor might be a bit of smelling or re-positioning, but essentially, once the male rabbit is comfortable, he will move around to the back of the female rabbit and mount her. The actual act will take but mere moments so pay close attention to ensure it has been done. After successful copulation, a most peculiar act happens.
The male rabbit will grunt and then fall off of the female rabbit. Why do rabbits fall off after mating? Unless the grunting and falling have happened, then copulation has not actually occurred.
Again, this is why you will want to pay attention once you place the two rabbits together. Much like other animals, the more you try, the better the odds. A second mating often leads to a higher chance of pregnancy as well as a larger litter size. Despite their habitual need to breed, not all rabbits are successful. Some rabbits will decide to play with each other instead of mating. Sometimes, while the male rabbit is interested, the female rabbit is not.
Moving the larger kits instead of the smaller kits to the new litter increases the chance of success. Does nurse only once or twice daily, and kits nurse for less than 3 minutes at a time. Kits are weaned around 4 to 5 weeks of age. Kits can be reared by hand, but the death rate is high.
They should be kept warm, dry, and quiet. If a lactating doe is not available to foster the kits, they can be given kitten milk replacer twice a day. Domestic rabbit kits are weaned at about 6 weeks old. Young does may kill and eat their young for a number of reasons, including nervousness, neglect failure to nurse , and severe cold. Dogs or predators entering a rabbitry often cause nervous does to kill and eat the young. Cannibalism of the dead young occurs as a natural nest-cleaning instinct.
If all management practices are proper and the doe kills 2 litters in a row, she should not be used for breeding. Also see professional content regarding management of rabbits Management of Rabbits Management of rabbits for meat, fur, or wool production is quite different from maintenance of a pet or house rabbit.
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