By first breeding as a new rabbitry. Help?

[savannahg4]

I have a pair of mini lops. Doe and a buck of course. My doe has had one successful litter of 9 I believe so I know she is a good momma. My buck has not been bred before.
This is my plan:
---Breed tomorrow (15th) leave until 2 successful breedings in the morning, go back and breed again tomorrow night until I get 2 successful breedings again

---On the 12th put in the nest box (day 27 to be safe) and check every day for babies

---wean 2months after birth.

---babies to homes for Christmas time

So here are my questions
1. What is any advice you would give to a new breeder?
2. Does momma need special food?
3. My bunnies are in typical stacking breeder cages but they do get let out to run and play almost every day. Can I keep doing this with her or should I leave her be while she is pregnant?
4. When I wean the babies can I keep girls in one cage and boys in another until they are all sold or will they fight?

Thanks everyone!!! Feel free to critique if you want to!

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[Azerane]

I'm no breeder but I'll give some questions a go...
3. She may get territorial which may restrict you picking her up, I should think you may need to take it very easy when it comes to picking her up, especially in the last week of pregnancy as she will bemore sensitive and you don't want to risk hurting the kits bit she should be fine to run around still until towards the last week, you don't want to risk her kindling in the pen though, so when you put the nest box in you should leave her in too.
4. The kits should be fine together until around 12 weeks I think, beyond that you might need to start separating them.

 

[OakRidgeRabbits]

2. Does momma need special food?

No, not really. It's usually best to keep her on her regular food and rations. If you're using a pellet low in protein and calcium, it's best to switch her to a breeding/show pellet (16-18% protein). Her body requires more nutrients while she's raising a litter. But as long as they're on that already, nothing needs to be changed.

If she does have a large litter again, you may increase pellets a little bit after she kindles.

3. My bunnies are in typical stacking breeder cages but they do get let out to run and play almost every day. Can I keep doing this with her or should I leave her be while she is pregnant?

It's okay to let her out to play. Some does become aggressive (hormonal) during pregnancy. So you may find that she prefers to be let alone during this time. If so, it's okay if she doesn't leave her cage.

4. When I wean the babies can I keep girls in one cage and boys in another until they are all sold or will they fight?

Girls can usually stay together for quite awhile, even as long as 6 months before you notice hormonal behavior. Boys usually need to be separated by 12 weeks old. And obviously, it's best to keep boys and girls separate after weaning.

When you have babies living together, watch for chasing or mounting. If you see any of those behaviors, separate them immediately (even if they're of the same gender). That's the precursor to more serious fighting.

 

[majorv]

As Julie said, if she isn't already eating a higher protein pellet then it would be best to switch her when she kindles. You will probably find that her appetite increases while she's nursing, and make sure she always has water to drink. She may drink more during this time also.

Your breeding plan sounds fine. Don't leave the doe and buck unattended while they're together. I've had does accept the buck a couple of times and then they had enough and turn on the buck and attack him. Some try to run the bunny 500 and you may have to hold them so the buck can catch up :thumbup.

 

[mizclynn]

Hello I am actually a rabbit breeder. I have successfully bred four litters with my two separate sets of does and bucks. The things I can suggest is to make sure you handle the babies immediately so that they become friendly and used to people right away. Do this only after washing your hands you dont want to risk the babies getting sick and of course pet mommy first so she sees that you are no threat to her babies. Also you need to check them regularly i checked mine three times a day at least to make sure they have pudgey bellies. The mother will feed them only once a day and than she will spend her time away from them. This is normal because in the wild the mother will leave her babies and sit far away from them to draw predators off from the nest. They are the cutest thing in the world good luck with your new additions to the family

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[ladysown]

no need to breed 12 hours apart. One breeding with two services is enough for a litter to be conceived.

check babies twice a day from the day they are born.

Have you thought through what you will do if the babies don't sell?

 

[savannahg4]

They are going to one of my friends that owns a pet store.!

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[DogCatMom]

They are going to one of my friends that owns a pet store.!

I've been active in dog and cat rescue/rehome and a volunteer at two humane societies (dogs and cats) for many years.

"Pet stores" are a continuing concern for dog and cat rescues; my reading and visiting of two rabbit rescues indicates that the situation is similar for rabbits. Some of the specific health concerns for the puppies and kittens are:

--they're raised and rushed to pet stores while still too young to have fully developed immune systems, indeed, too young to have been naturally weaned;
--they're transported (puppies and kittens) everywhere in the U.S. from "animal factories" in the Midwest and even the East Coast in health-damaging trucks, without adequate food, water, ventilation, or temperature control (yes, many die on the journey);
--the mother and father dogs are bred and bred and bred until they have no more strength and simply collapse under the strain (no, they do not receive extra rations, vet care, or anything else we would consider "normal" for breeding animals); and
--they are direct contributors to pet overpopulation because they lead to impulse, rather than planned, pet acquisition.

In the case of rabbits, I'm sure yours will *not* be weaned too young, since you're concerned for the health of their mother and the babies themselves, and you're feeding everyone adequately. That's a sign of a concerned breeder. But to be a good breeder requires more; a good breeder promises lifelong homes to her animals if their initial homes don't work out. She (or he) is a source of information to the new families when perfectly normal behaviors seem "odd" or "strange" to the new pet-owning household.

But...you will have no way to provide this lifelong support to your kits in their new homes. You'll have absolutely no control over the kind of homes these sweet little bunnies end up in. "Babies to homes for Christmas time" is a very scary prospect; it's scary in the world of puppies and kittens, too. They're very likely to become impulse buys/holiday "gifts" ("Mommy, I want it!" followed by a meltdown in the store when Mom says No) and a burden to the mother in the family, who finally says, "You know; I never wanted this thing here anyway, and Johnny has too many after-school activities this year. Let's put it up on craigslist."

Take a look at CL sometime, just for personal information. You'll want to look in Pets and also in Farm/Garden. It's pretty hairy. About four to six weeks after Christmas, those dogs and cats show up (sorry, I wasn't monitoring for rabbits last January).

Now where is your wonderfully bred Mini-Lop?

I can tell you: Last night I looked through Petfinder for a couple of specific rabbit breeds I'd like to adopt. Very little luck (0 for Breed 1, 2 for Breed 2, and 4 for Breed 3), even when I expanded my search to the entire state of California. Shelters, humane societies, independent rescues....

But if I'd been looking for a Mini-Lop, I could've picked not only the color combination I wanted, but the placement of spots/patches on the rabbit. There were that many Mini-Lops! :shock: This Petfinder search, performed just now (Monday, September 16, 0955 PDT), shows 182 Mini-Lops looking for homes, and we're almost exactly halfway between Easter and Christmas. Who knows how many hundreds of them there will be six weeks after Christmas? Will your sweet little bunnies be among them?

Please, I ask you: reconsider your placement/adoption plan.

Thank you.

 

[savannahg4]

I live in a small town and the pet store is very picky about who buys from them. I am also putting it out there if for what ever reason they can't continue to care for their rabbit I will help them with new homes. I am not worried about that at all.

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