What breed should I get Yves as his mate?

[TinyRaptorDodos]

I have a free range bunny(he thinks he’s a chicken now) and his name is Yves, he is a flemish giant (mom) and some dwarf(dad) he won’t be very big, he might even be done growing, so average sized or even smaller then average bunny. I want to get him a mate so he won’t be lonely all through winter or sleep alone anymore and maybe will stop scaring my chickens by sneaking up on them even though it’s so fun to watch him to join the flock runs.
What breed should I get as his mate? It needs to be an Alaskan tolerant breed, so cold tolerant. Any ideas? He’s a very very sweet boy

The white one we no longer have, she was a bit bitey and his sister, didn’t want to risk inbreeding

 

[IvysAnimals]

You can pretty much get him any rabbit breed as a friend. Just make sure to socialize them properly. If you want to breed them, that's a lot more tricky. I would say go with a larger breed since he has some flemish in him so it doesn't affect a smaller female. Although I am not a fan of breeding rabbits, just make sure to do it properly and with safety precautions. That is if you're breeding them, though. With rabbits, they're all very sensitive to the cold so they do need proper housing and large areas safe and good for them to roam on and not get pests or hurt by predators. Since they're prey animals and even scarring them can kill them, they need to be kept very safe. Rabbits can breed with siblings, mothers, fathers, or their own children...etc... After the 2nd batch of breeding the relatives together, that's when problems will start happening. You'll have to socialize them plenty or they may get nippy and they shouldn't have to be given up because of this reason if the owner doesn't like that. (If you're selling them ) They need lots of water ( bowls are better because bottles actually dehydrate them ), TONS of hay, hiding areas, a lot of room to roam, a moderate amount of veggies and fruits, plenty of rabbit pellets, and toys are a great way to socialize them. Rabbits breed VERY quickly, as early as 4 months of age( females can become pregnant sooner by older males ), and should be weaned around 8 weeks old. Rabbits are given up, dumped, or put in shelters a lot, so be careful and track who you want to breed and whos pregnant for colors, behavior, and good genetics/health. Overbreeding is definitely not something you want to happen, especially in rabbits.

 

[TinyRaptorDodos]

You can pretty much get him any rabbit breed as a friend. Just make sure to socialize them properly. If you want to breed them, that's a lot more tricky. I would say go with a larger breed since he has some flemish in him so it doesn't affect a smaller female. Although I am not a fan of breeding rabbits, just make sure to do it properly and with safety precautions. That is if you're breeding them, though. With rabbits, they're all very sensitive to the cold so they do need proper housing and large areas safe and good for them to roam on and not get pests or hurt by predators. Since they're prey animals and even scarring them can kill them, they need to be kept very safe. Rabbits can breed with siblings, mothers, fathers, or their own children...etc... After the 2nd batch of breeding the relatives together, that's when problems will start happening.

I’ve heard from breeders inbreeding rabbits will cause deformity’s or bad health. I would get him a male friend but he’s scared of male rabbits and spaying/neutering them here is 400$. I do plan to sell the babies at swap and meets or on Alaska list.
He has a barn he stays in when it doesn’t want to go out with food and water and he will occasionally go in the coop if he gets lonely luckily we only have village cats around here since it’s quite populated and the cat that likes the stay in our barn only goes after young chickens, Yves loves cats, our indoor cat would groom and cuddle him. Yoda is the one staying in the barn and he doesn’t care for my animals thankfully, he might be eating the rabbit or chicken food but it’s better then my chickens and he’s just looking for a warm place to sleep so I’ll allow it.

The main reason I want to breed him is because unless I fix him or he gets a mate he won’t live as long and he occasionally attempts to mate with my chicken but is thankfully too short so he eventually stopped and now just marks the tip of her tail which he can just barely reach

 

[SilverBirds]

If they're free range bunnies, how and why do you want to breed them?

 

[TinyRaptorDodos]

If they're free range bunnies, how and why do you want to breed them?

Added that to the other reply but it’s because not breeding him or not fixing him will make his life shorter by a couple years and he’s been trying to get my chicken Elephant but is too short.

I’m going to just get him a female friend, I don’t plan to breed them breed them but let them do as they please then once the babies are old enough round them up and sell them

 

[IvysAnimals]

I’ve heard from breeders inbreeding rabbits will cause deformity’s or bad health. I would get him a male friend but he’s scared of male rabbits and spaying/neutering them here is 400$. I do plan to sell the babies at swap and meets or on Alaska list.
He has a barn he stays in when it doesn’t want to go out with food and water and he will occasionally go in the coop if he gets lonely luckily we only have village cats around here since it’s quite populated and the cat that likes the stay in our barn only goes after young chickens, Yves loves cats, our indoor cat would groom and cuddle him. Yoda is the one staying in the barn and he doesn’t care for my animals thankfully, he might be eating the rabbit or chicken food but it’s better then my chickens and he’s just looking for a warm place to sleep so I’ll allow it.

The main reason I want to breed him is because unless I fix him or he gets a mate he won’t live as long and he occasionally attempts to mate with my chicken but is thankfully too short so he eventually stopped and now just marks the tip of her tail which he can just barely reach

You can socialize them with dividers / small pens so they can see each other but not be in physical contact. Unneutered male rabbits have terrible urine and stay lots, so introducing unneutered males is really not a good idea as it ends in lots of fights and mounting. Spaying and neutering rabbits are ridiculously expensive. If he has chicken friends and you spend lots of time with him, he should be fine and you won't have to deal with multiple litters of baby bunnies.

 

[SilverBirds]

Added that to the other reply but it’s because not breeding him or not fixing him will make his life shorter by a couple years and he’s been trying to get my chicken Elephant but is too short

How do you know that the new rabbit won't run off into the wilderness? Do you plan to keep them inside for introductions, breeding, etc? Domestic rabbits need a safe, enclosed area to have their babies in. The mother could potentially dig a burrow and have her kits somewhere you can't find or reach them. A predator could easily snatch any baby bunnies or mom too.

I strongly recommend sticking to the one rabbit if you do not plan on keeping them in some sort of enclosed area.

 

[TinyRaptorDodos]

You can socialize them with dividers / small pens so they can see each other but not be in physical contact. Unneutered male rabbits have terrible urine and stay lots, so introducing unneutered males is really not a good idea as it ends in lots of fights and mounting. Spaying and neutering rabbits are ridiculously expensive. If he has chicken friends and you spend lots of time with him, he should be fine and you won't have to deal with multiple litters of baby bunnies.

I had two baby male bunnies socializing with him through a divider, like three weeks old maybe, and he kept breaking through to mount them, then I got a different male named Oreo who was significantly bigger then him and oreo would mount him to the point where Yves was terrified so I got rid of him and now Yves doesn’t like male rabbits… I’ve never noticed Yves spraying or anything like that, he only uses his chin to mark elephants tail. If he won’t need a mate I’ll leave it be but I don’t want his life becoming shorter… maybe a female will just find him, we have a few in the neighborhood but they don’t stay in one place long

 

[TinyRaptorDodos]

How do you know that the new rabbit won't run off into the wilderness? Do you plan to keep them inside for introductions, breeding, etc?

I was going to keep her in our garden which is fenced off to keep moose and chickens out until she makes a connection that our house means good food and shelter, like I did with Yves, he grew up inside then when he was fully grown I kept him in our garden now he’s free range but never goes far from our yard

They have our old horse/goat barn and the shed which has small holes it in they could slip in, our neighbors have sheds too tons or raspberry bushes that the chickens have dug walkways in, I have kennels and little cylinders that our old female rabbit would sleep in (she passed years ago due to age)

 

[TinyRaptorDodos]

Do you guys think nurturing him would be worth it? The cheapest here is 400$ But I’ve heard that it can ruin a good rabbits personality