Best age to bred giants ??

[kat70]

Anyone else got Giant buns?

What is the best age to breed.Im going to let them have one litter then get them both Neutered.

My buck is over a year , lovely and is from show stock , my Doe just over 3 month old - i know she is far too young yet.Both are Giants.Ive heard that Giants mature later ???

 

[BunnyLover]

Generally it is 3-4 months for the small breeds and 4-6 months for large breeds. But for GiantsI've heard you should wait till 8 or 9months but no later than a year. I'm afraid I know more about the smaller breeds than the larger ones. Hopefully someone with more knowledge of the Giants can give you a better idea of their sexual maturity age.

If you do decide to breed them I hope you have homes lined up before you put them together. It can take a long time to find homes for rabbits so I hope you have room to keep all the babies. Some Giants have between 5 and 10 kits in a litter. If you can't find homes for them before they reach sexual maturity you must separate them or you will have more litters to find homes for.

 

[kat70]

hi,

Usually it's 16 to a litter with Giants.

I have no probs with Homes for them.

 

[BunnyLover]

Wow I knew they could have big litters but I didn't realize it was that big. I think 12 is the biggest I've ever heard. But like I said I know more about the smaller breeds. Do you have a threadin the Bunny Blog section? I would love to check out some pictures of your cuties.

 

[Starlight Rabbitry]

BunnyLover wrote:

Generally it is 3-4 months for the small breeds and 4-6 months for large breeds. But for GiantsI've heard you should wait till 8 or 9months but no later than a year. I'm afraid I know more about the smaller breeds than the larger ones.

You should NEVER breed any rabbit at 3-4 months old because this can cause problems in labor. General rule is 5-6 months for the smaller breeds (less than 5 lbs) and for large breeds (9 lbs and up) wait until they are at least 9-10 months old. All others are in between 6-9 months. The larger the rabbit, the longer it takes for them to reach ideal breeding age.

Sharon

 

[BunnyLover]

Starlight Rabbitry wrote:

BunnyLover wrote:

Generally it is 3-4 months for the small breeds and 4-6 months for large breeds. But for GiantsI've heard you should wait till 8 or 9months but no later than a year. I'm afraid I know more about the smaller breeds than the larger ones.

You should NEVER breed any rabbit at 3-4 months old because this can cause problems in labor. General rule is 5-6 months for the smaller breeds (less than 5 lbs) and for large breeds (9 lbs and up) wait until they are at least 9-10 months old. All others are in between 6-9 months. The larger the rabbit, the longer it takes for them to reach ideal breeding age.

Sharon

Oops I put the ages they usually become sexually mature. Sorry about that.

 

[pamnock]

Rabbit Production (the "Bible" to rabbit breeders), recommends small breeds starting production at 4 months of age, medium breeds (New Zealands, for example) 4 1/2 to 5 1/2 months and giants at 6 to 7 months.

The text goes on to state that bucks should be put into service about a month later than does, as they are slower to sexually mature.

The individual growth rate and sexual maturity of the animal needs to also be taken into consideration.

Pam

 

[flemishr2cool]

Breed your doe at 8-9 months, expect anywhere from 5-10 kits, a good sized litter of Flemish Giants is 7, 7 just seems to be an easier number for them to handle, the kits all grow up large and uniform size. I have bred does at 7 months of age and I find that it takes them a little longer to get their mothering instincts down. DO NOT wait any longer than 12 months or let your doe put on excessive weight, or you may never get a litter. Flemish Giants tend to grow a lot of fat around their ovaries, which often prevents ovulation. At 9 months the does are usually large enough so that the litter will not affect their growth, they are better mothers, and they recover from the litters faster as well. Your doe will continue to grow until about 1 1/2 years of age.

Julia