A couple more questions....

[bhoffman]

Hello Everyone!! I hope you are all doing good!! I have a couple questions reguarding my bunnies.

1. What is the earliest age that you would rehome your baby bunnies? I have always though and believed that 8 weeks was the minimum. But after doing research and checking out ads online, I have noticed that there are quite a few bunnies being sold to their new homes around 6 weeks of age! Is this too soon?? I have someone who would like to pick up their bunny near the end of September, which the bunnies will only be the 6 weeks. I dont want to let them go that soon if it wont be healthhy for the babies. But, if it will be okay.. then I will let them go!

2. They are four weeks old now, would it be too soon to breed my doe back to my buck again? Or would you wait until the kits are completely weaned?

Thanks for any answers you can give me!
Brianne

 

[KittyKatMe]

Six weeks is usually fine to rehome them. If they are eating and drinking without mom, it is okay. I usually wean the babies and give the doe a couple weeks as a break before rebreeding her, but she defenitly could at this point.

 

[bhoffman]

Thanks! I will keep an eye and see what is happening with the babies.

And, I will probably let her have her rest now anyways.. thinking about it.. if I bred her this week, the kits would be ready to go to their new homes early December.. and I dont want to have them go that close to Christmas.. Too much going on peoples lives during that time.

 

[woahlookitsme]

Most people separate babies at 6weeks for resale usually to pet stores. Most Breeders allow them to go at 8weeks but in the show world most aren't ready to go until completely evaluated for showing purposes. We keep our juniors with mom until 2mos of age (usually because we dont have enough cages at that time) and then sell them at 4-5months or even past that. I did specifically breed a doe for a youth exhibitor and delivered them to him at 6weeks old. One out of the two didnt make it. It was most likely because of the heat that we were having at that time but might have been avoided if they were in our care for longer (we take great care not to let our rabbits die because of heat issues and haven't had one loss to it yet, with that being the sole reason, *knocks on wood*)

In a strict breeding program does can be rebred once a litter is 4-5 weeks old but time to recover for the doe is essential depending on the does condition. We typically breed twice a year for brood does. That means waiting until the babies reach 4-5months old. Waiting 2 weeks after weaning is perfectly fine we just dont have enough space to have that many litters in a year

 

[ldoerr]

I agree with Sarah. My does would have a maximum of 2 litters a year. Normally one in the spring after shows and the other in the late summer to fall and sometimes winter. It all depended on when I needed babies. I would definetaly give the doe a break from raising a litter. Just a question, Why do you want to breed her again? Do you have homes already lined up for all the babies (at least 6)? Not saying that is any sort of a bad tone at all. Just cureous. (sorry can never learn how to spell that word).

 

[bhoffman]

Yes, I actually have a list of about 14 people right now who want a bunny!! This litter only had 4 and are already spoken for. I told the others that I probably wont have another litter for a while, but they all have opted to wait for my bunnies. Mine are all for pets (we do not have any shows around here that I know of.. and I coudlnt let them be used for meat!). I will be waiting to breed again until Spring anyways. Probably breed her after Easter sometime. Not exactly sure when yet though. I do not want to have any litters at Christmas time or easter time.. I know people have good intentions at these timmes and get their kids or whoever a pet as a gift and then it doesnt work out so well. I dont want htat to happen.

But thank you for your opinion! I really appreciate it! Glad I have a place to go to ask questions like this and get peoples' honest answers.

 

[bhoffman]

Ooh.. and I didnt take what you asked in any certain tone! I know you are just asking to make sure that it isnt just to breed for whatever. I have always said that Iwill breed my rabbits but ONLY if I have homes lined up in advance! My first litter was planned.. and I had homes lined up for them before they were even born! I also would like to keep one for sure out of the next litter. I wanted to out of this first litter, but I have so many people on the list that I just couldnt. I am thinking of getting another doe actually. My other doe just doesnt seem to want to accept the buck. I have tried numerous times, but she just gets mad. So I wont force her to.

 

[KittyKatMe]

Didn't you say you were getting another buck? Is there something I missed?

 

[Nancy McClelland]

Six weeks is a minimum figure--our vet said 8 weeks is better and 12 is best.

 

[ldoerr]

I have herd of females giving birth at 12 weeks of age to babies that were sired by their brothers. What ever you do I would make sure that the males are seporated from the females by 8 weeks for sure.

 

[toocuteforyou]

i got my two new baby bunnys at 8 weeks old i think thats a healthy age to give them to. but you should start to separateing the babys and the mom at six weeks so they wont miss her when they are gone .

 

[OakRidgeRabbits]

1. The earliest age you can legally sell rabbits in the U.S. is 8 weeks (in most states). I'm not sure if Canada has similar laws regarding the sale of animals, but it's something to check on before you make decisions. In my opinion, 8 weeks is the earliest they should go anyway. In fact, most of the time, I don't even wean my kits until that age. Then I'll generally sell them closer to 10-12 weeks at the earliest.

2. How soon you breed back will really depend on what you're breeding for. In a commercial rabbitry, you would breed the does back sooner than in a hobby rabbitry for several reasons.

If you're breeding for pets or show, I would recommend waiting until a week or two after the kits are weaned, unless you have a particular reason to breed back sooner. But in any case, I'd say the earliest you would ever want to breed back in any situation is when the kits are 4 weeks old. Most of my breeding does average 2-3 litters a year.

ldoerr wrote:

Just a question, Why do you want to breed her again? Do you have homes already lined up for all the babies (at least 6)? Not saying that is any sort of a bad tone at all. Just cureous. (sorry can never learn how to spell that word).

It's actually fairly uncommon for people to have homes lined up for the babies before the breeding even takes place. But that doesn't mean the breeder is irresponsible.

In the case of show or breeding rabbits, the buyer will want to wait until the kits are close to 4-6 months before buying. This way, they have an idea of how the rabbit will turn out type-wise and whether it is worth adding to a production herd.

Although there aren't homes lined up, reputable breeders DO have a plan for "excess" kits. Some do offer them to pet homes. Others donate or sell them to other places for other purposes.

Whether we would personally choose the options above or not, the important thing is that breeders have a plan before breeding. Mass-producing without a plan is where the real problem can be.

 

[ldoerr]

OakRidgeRabbits wrote:

ldoerr wrote:

Just a question, Why do you want to breed her again? Do you have homes already lined up for all the babies (at least 6)? Not saying that is any sort of a bad tone at all. Just cureous. (sorry can never learn how to spell that word).

It's actually fairly uncommon for people to have homes lined up for the babies before the breeding even takes place. But that doesn't mean the breeder is irresponsible.

In the case of show or breeding rabbits, the buyer will want to wait until the kits are close to 4-6 months before buying. This way, they have an idea of how the rabbit will turn out type-wise and whether it is worth adding to a production herd.

Although there aren't homes lined up, reputable breeders DO have a plan for "excess" kits. Some do offer them to pet homes. Others donate or sell them to other places for other purposes.

Whether we would personally choose the options above or not, the important thing is that breeders have a plan before breeding. Mass-producing without a plan is where the real problem can be.

I actually was a breeder for 4 years. I breed for show rabbits. I normally sold the babies at 8 weeks of age. I only had a total of 13 cages for 2 breeds so could not hang onto very many extra babies for very long, even to see how they would turn out.

 

[OakRidgeRabbits]

I also raise show rabbits. I've been working with them since 2005 and dabbled in 4-H before that. I have a small rabbitry too, so I understand about the space! I'll often sell pet quality kits at around 10 weeks of age to free up some room for kits I'd like to keep my eye on.

Brood and show prospects take a big longer to decide on though. It is generally closer to 4 months of age until the kits start coming out of their "uglies" phase and nearly 6-8 months of age until they really start presenting their adult type. So 4 months is usually (though not always) the youngest that serious exhibitors will consider adding a new junior to their herd. Simply because if you get them too young, it's a total toss up as to how they'll mature in the end.

In that case, the breeder could make the mistake of selling a rabbit that turns out really nice. Or a buyer could end up with a fantastic 8-week-old that turns out pet quality as a senior.

I think we've all taken chances on a young junior at one time or another. I was just speaking in general terms, that usually, brood/show isn't offered directly after weaning.