Rabbit's not breeding !!!

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becky7464897

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Hiya All,

I've got 2 english rabbits and they won't breed :bigtears:

The doe is up for it but the buck is just not interested, as anyone come across a similar problem?

As i've run out of ideas to try :pullhair:.



:thanks:Becky
 
Okay I just copy and pasted this from a previous post from someone who couldn't get their rabbits to breed,

"1. Take her to a show.
2. wait until spring, this is the season that rabbits naturally "go into heat" for breeding
3. Put doe in with buck, than an hour later put her back in. It takesabout an hour for the doe to release an egg so the first initialmounting causes the does body to release hormones, so an hour lateryour doe may be receptive, but the buck has already left the cage.
4. A trick I had to try for my older larger flemish does, I have totake them out onto a table put my hand under their pelvis and actuallylift for them. This is really really hard to do for small rabbitsbecause you tend to acutually get in the way but sometimes it helps to"force breed" the doe, then an hour later she will hopefully be morereceptive and lift for the buck.
5. Increase the time the lights are on in your barn, its nottemperature that causes rabbits to go into "heat" otherwise there wouldbe no such thing as arctic hares, its the increase in the duration oflight, rabbits sense it is spring because the day is getting longer.
6. apple cider vinegar is said to increase fertility
7. Try housing her next to bucks, or if she already is, house her far away from bucks.
8. Try taking her on a short car ride on bumpy roads before breeding,the jolting is said to stimulate the hormonal release, that and itssaid a little fear causes animals and people to do things they wouldn'tbefore, Even if it is breeding.
9. Try other herbs that are said to increase fertility.
10. If there is another breeder, try housing her at their place for a week and then try breeding her.
11. It is also said moon breeding works on rabbits.
12. Try breeding at dusk or dawn, when rabbits would normally breed


Hmm thats all I can think of for now, I'm starting to think I shouldwrite a book on the subject, breeding a breed that is notorious for notwanting to breed has taught me a few tricks.
If all else fails and she doesn't want to breed in the spring somethingmay of happened with her last litter, she may no longer be able toreproduce. The most important thing is to not give up. Also you did notsay how old she is, rabbits tend to be breeders until they are 3-4 butafter that it becomes harder for them to actually become fertile andraise a litter. Hope this help!

Julia"

 
Thanks for that Julia was very interesting. Mydoe is already but it's the buck that's not interested. This will beher first litter she is about 10 months old.



Thanks Becky
 
Flemishr2cool, I raise Flemish, I hadn't heardthat they were notorious for being hard to breed. I have actually hadmore trouble with my Mini Rex, LOL! Could the lines mine come from makea difference, do you think?
 
Becky,

We have a number of "English" breeds here in the US (English Angora,English Spots, and English Lop). Do you have English Spots?



There can be many reasons for breeding problems. I've foundthat older bucks often lack stamina and sometimes show a lack ofinterest.

Young bucks that havebeen bullied and intimidated by a doecan sometimes be permanently ruined for breeding and will refuse tomount a doe. In some cases, the buck simply is a "latebloomer". I did have one case of a Tan buck that never didshow an interest in does :(

Health problems, over weightor stress due to molt can also be deterents.

Continue to expose the buck to the doe daily, and cross your fingers that he will begin to show interest.



Pam
 
gentle giants wrote:
Flemishr2cool, I raise Flemish, I hadn't heard that theywere notorious for being hard to breed. I have actually had moretrouble with my Mini Rex, LOL! Could the lines mine come from make adifference, do you think?


They are difficult to breed because the does start to grow a lot of fataround their ovaries at a young age, This fat makes it difficult forthem to ovulate. So they must be bred at a young age or they may neverreproduce, the problem with breeding them young is they often have ahard time caring for litters. A general rule, if you haven't had aFlemish doe yet that hasn't been sterile...you haven't been breedinglong enough, lol. When we did an exploratory surgery on one of mybreeding does this summer, who had one litter before, I could notbelieve how much fat was in the abdomen.
 
Oh, I knew about that. I guess I just haven'thad much problem with it yet. You're right, I haven't been breedingvery long yet, about three years. I usually only have a couple oflitters a year, because of space issues. My brood cage is six feet longand something like 36" wide, so of course I only have room for one ofthose cages, so I can really only have one litter at a time. I have haddoes have litters in the single cages before, and it was so darncrowded when the kits started getting up and around that I just feltreally bad for them. The big cage works so much better. Although it hasa solid floor, and it is really amamzing how much poo a dozen rabbitscan make! LOL
 
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