Breeding Question..

[anthonyjames]

Since I know a lot you have raised may animals for meat I am trying to understand the breeding cycle for rabbits. Can anyone tell me if this is correct:

If I were to breed a rabbit tomorrow Saturday Feb. 20th it in theory would be ready to have the kits March 20th - 24th time frame.
Babies would be weened from mother around April 23rd.

When would she be ready to be bred again? Is it best to wait a full month? So that means every 4 months you could breed them meaning in my climate since I keep them outdoors would only be 2 times per year if I am lucky.?

And one other question: Right now I feed them a complete pellet with some apples, celery, Broccoli stalks or carrots on occasion. Do I need to add hay as well? And if so does it need to be timothy or can I purchase horse hay to feed or supplement?

Right now I have 7 does and 1 male. I was thinking about breeding them on weekly intervals but if that time line holds I would not get very many rabbits for the year. I was looking not to have a mass in / mass out.

Any recommendations?

 

[SteveH]

Its been so long I'm not able to remember well LOL . I know I sometimes chose to breed them back right after they gave birth , but can't remember what day it was . The does burn out quickly using that technique ; I only used it to get replacement does from my favorite female line . I memory serves I usually gave them 3 weeks to recover after weaning .
If you feed additional to the complete ration [ which I did to lower the feed costs ] remember that your throwing the balance off . I had access to both my own alfalfa [ high protein third cutting ] and mixed grass , plus free spilled grains from the feed mill I worked at back in the day . The alfalfa had to be fed in solid bottomed feeders I made to stop leave loss through the floors . Every hutch had a mineral block to allow them free choice . Since rabbit meat is so lean , using corn will add some fat deposits which is much needed if rabbit is a major part of your own diet or your dog's diet . Actually if I had not had access to my own hay and free grain , I believe the complete pellets would have been more economical as they did not eat the stems from the hay and good alfalfa is cashy .

 

[Neil Grassbaugh]

Quote:
Yes. Get rid of the rabbits and get chickens. The mathematics involved in chickens is much easier.

 

[Slinkytoys]

You need another buck. Your poor buck will burn out too

Rebreeding your does that quickly will result in smaller litters.
Slinky

 

[RiverOtter]

Ok, take a deep breath.
When you breed a rabbit, you will make sure it has a nest box and nesting material (hay is best, shredded paper is fine) 27 days later and you can expect kits in 30 days.

A decent breeding schedule that has worked for me for years is to breed the doe when the babies are 4 weeks old. By then the babies will be hopping around and eating and starting to wean. A doe is usually DONE with her litter by the time they are 6 weeks old and is happy to have them gone.

This gives her about 2 weeks (a couple days over) to relax before her next babies come along.

A doe a week is NOT too much for one buck.

You can give them all the quality (green) hay they want. Fresh grass is also fine. Pellets are 90% alfalfa with a little grain, salt and minerals. You can give them alfalfa hay as well.
Easy on things in the cabbage family, no green parts of any tomato or anything in the nightshade family. It is unusual but not unheard of for the "strings" in celery to mat in the stomach, so I'd lay off the celery. Fresh food is great, as long as it doesn't have too much moisture content. Like Iceberg lettuce, etc - too watery.

Bunnies should have all they want to eat in front of them at all times (hay and pellets freechoice) from the time they start to want it until butchering at 8 to 12 weeks. If you ever have any problems with scours or anything, take the pellets and give them hay for a day or 2.

With that many does, you should have plenty or rabbit in your freezer soon!

 

[anthonyjames]

Riverotter,

So just to be clear. I can essentially breed a doe every 8 weeks during the spring, summer, fall? That is great. And as for bucks, I am hoping to get a couple from the kits.
I am planning on about 10 - 20 rabbits for our family, plus I have egg chickens, meat chickens, quail, and I get beef and buffalo from a local farmer in trade for other things.

All of the other rabbits I plan on selling with my chickens and turkeys. I already have a Bird of Prey program that wants 300 rabbits for the year. So when I was trying to figure breeding I was worried I would have to purchase even more rabbits. But I think I will be okay but keeping a few of the kits and breeding them

How critical is temp? I would like to start breeding as soon as possible to get the ball rolling. Right now I have them in my hoop house hanging above my egg chickens. So the temp in there is in the 40's during the day right now and cold enough that the water will freeze. Will mom keep her babies warm at night in the nest boxes? Or do I need to wait a few more weeks yet?

 

[RiverOtter]

Yes, every 8 weeks. But if she misses a breeding, or looses a litter, breed her back right away.
LOL, proving God must be male, she CAN get pregnant the day she gives birth, but unless she gives birth and looses the litter, that's just too close. AS long as she is out of the wind and has a right size nestbox (too big is better then too small) she can keep her babies alive and snug in very low temps. She'll make a nice nest of hay and line it with fur she pulls from her belly and the babies are fine. If she doesn't build a good nest, the babies will die of cold in 70 degree weather.
Most experienced does build a lovely nest and have the babies in the box. With young does, there is a "learning curve" where they may not build a proper nest, use the nest box for a litter pan (usually you stuck it in the corner she was already using, rabbits will have a favorite corner) or have the babies on the wire. If they don't get it together and raise litter#3 with no problems, stop wasting time and cull her.

I'd try now, it will be warmer next month by the time the babies come, and as long as where you have them is dry and out of the wind, they should be fine. There are people in Canada who breed for the Easter market
You can find more help here; http://www.homesteadingtoday.com/forumdisplay.php?f=14

 

[SteveH]

Quote:
................. and by the way , if an inexperienced doe does drop one or more outside of the nest box , don't toss them just because they are looking dead . I followed the directions from an old book and brought two to the house that appeared dead stiff , held them in my palm and massaged them with a finger , and they came to back to life . Doe took them back and they both lived . Same technique failed the next time but its almost miraculous watching them come back .
And you need a plan for the manure ; I swear a rabbit poops more than it eats and its so high in nitrogen that you have to be careful using it as fertlizer .

 

[RiverOtter]

Quote:
Yes, what he said!

I use the poop on my tomatoes. You will grow some seriously awesome tomatoes in bunny poo. Compost it for a month for everything else, it rots down quick. I've actually sold rabbits to people who wanted them just for the poo!!

 

[anthonyjames]

RiverOtter and Steve H,

Thanks for the info. All of my rabbits are about 6 months old. I have then set up with my chickens here. http://gallery.me.com/anthonyjames420#100306&bgcolor=black&view=grid

The black and white one is my buck. He is a broken satin. And the girl next to him a white satin I got at the same time. Will I have to move the buck further away or will he be alright next to the female? Or at least until I can build my hoop house and move them there.

The other rabbits are New Zealand and New Zealand California mix.

As for nest boxes I got some from a rabbit breeder that them in all of the cages I got in the chicken run. And I have another 8 of them in my garage 4 of which I will be putting quail in.

I will trying breeding a doe tomorrow and see if they do the deed.

Thanks again for all the good info.