Bunnies....doing "the deed"

[amynbrent]

My two bunnies will be 5 weeks this Saturday. They are still with the mother. I went to clean cage today and saw my little one doing the other little one. I'm new to rabbits since Christmas so other than reaseaching some I'm learning as I go. I read not to take them away from mom until 8 weeks. Can they actually mate this young? Of our other three rabbits, I now know who our boys is so he is in his own hutch. My two other girls are in their own also...both preg. I dont want any more babies after these are born. I got lucky my one only had two and I have homes for them. Who knows how many the other two will have, they had 15 between the two of them before....when I had no clue they were preg and they all died. However I didnt find them until they were with the male for a couple days and of course that is all it took for them to get preg again. So after this batch...NO MORE!!! Sorry for rambling....

so basically my question is....are the babies to young to mate? Are they just doing what rabbits do? Can they be seperated at six weeks like some books say? They are eating food and drinking water on their own.

Thanks!

 

[SDragon]

I am not quite sure. I have rabbits, but have never had them breed, maybe someday in the future. I am not sure, but I believe that you can take them away from the mother at four weeks. When you do \seperate them yu put the boys and girls into different cages. I have gotten a a baby when it was 6 weeks. I dont believe they can breed at that young. I dont think that your babies will be having any babies of their own, but again I am no expert. Someone who is more knowledgable than me will come along soon to help you out. Sorry I couldnt be of more help.

 

[bargain]

I am unaware of any bunny that matures at 5 weeks of age. I would certainly encourage you to look at having additional extra cages. It is best that mom raise up the babies..... There are usual bunny rescue groups in most of the states that will help with extra bunnies who need foster or forever homes and encourage you to call on them for help too. Good luck!

 

[amynbrent]

I didnt think that anything was actually going to happen, I just didnt know that they would even do the actions this young. I have seen the older ones go at it and this is exactly what these little ones were doing. I will probably seperate them in a few days. They will be six weeks on Saturday.

 

[Bunnylady]

Supposedly, young does can breed as early as 12 weeks, so I think it's a good idea to separate them at no later than 10 weeks of age. I have seen mounting behavior at very young ages; like any young animals, they practice their adult behavior. I generally don't like to separate babies from their mothers before 6 weeks of age. Babies this age get most of their nutrition from solid food, but they are still easily stressed. Being moved to a new environment is a major stress. Commercial breeders (those who raise rabbits for meat) will separate the doe from her litter at 4 weeks, but she is already bred at that point and going to deliver in a few days. The commercial breeder isn't relocating the kits, though; they are still in the same rabbitry, with the same food, feeding schedule, etc.

 

[wolfie115]

Sounds like you've got a dominant young one. XD The baby can't get the other pregnant at 5wks but I would definitely consider weaning at 8-10wks. The one trying to breed may not even be a buck as I've seen young does do it too. I think they will be fine, but you should keep them with her until at least 8wks. You can wean at 6wks but I don't really see the point as this behavior shouldn't cause any problems for you. 4wks is WAY too young in my opinion, I have seen people purchase/sell rabbits this young but that is a very stressful age for babies and they are prone to disease at that age and often die. Mother's milk helps keep their systems boosted especially at that age.

 

[BirdyMe]

Smaller breeds mature faster than big breeds. Dwarves and other small breeds of rabbit can mature at 3 months. I usually make sure my babies are weaned at 4 weeks, and separated- bucks in one cage, does in another- at 8 weeks.

Mounting is a sign of dominance. Females that are kept together will often have a little dominance battle.