Bunny Pulling fur in the middle of pregnancy...?

[chloezoebob101]

Here is how it goes-
a few weeks ago, i think two weeks back, i have it written down but i don't feel like running downstairs right now, i bred my doe, Angel. I bred her bc she was pulling fur and apparently she 'wanted' to be bred. well you see, we have an escaped buck that could have bred her while she was out in her day range pen before i got to her. (no we never put him back in his hutch. he is a free range rabbit

) now here she is, making a nest, pulling fur and everything, in the middle of her pregnancy.
Could she have been bred at two different times?
if she wasn't bred two different times then why is she pulling fur, making a nest (i am pretty proud of her nest by the way, she gathered grass from outside <3) in the middle of her pregnancy?

sorry is this doesn't make sense, still waking up

 

[wsmoak]

If she's pulling fur I would give her a nest box just in case. The worst case is she'll use it as a litter box and you'll have to clean it.

(You might want to ask on http://rabbittalk.com/ -- it's the BYC for rabbits! Or, over on the Backyard Herds sister site.)

-Wendy

 

[chloezoebob101]

If she's pulling fur I would give her a nest box just in case. The worst case is she'll use it as a litter box and you'll have to clean it.

(You might want to ask on http://rabbittalk.com/ -- it's the BYC for rabbits! Or, over on the Backyard Herds sister site.)

-Wendy

She already has a nesting box, after her first litter didn't have the heart to take it away bc she was always.. depressed

(but seriously though she got depressed) when i took it away.
Thank you for the link! I will check it out

 

[Bunnylady]

Possible scenarios include that she has done a false pregnancy, and this is the end of it. False pregnancies frequently end well before "term," though I have had does go to day 32, pull fur, and produce nothing. It is also possible that she is one of those does that starts preparing early. Most of my does don't dig or do anything with hay until at least day 25, but I had a Jersey Wooly that would start fur pulling around day 21. By the time she kindled, she was almost completely bald, and the cage was awash with drifts of wool. I agree with wsmoak, I'd give her a nest box, just in case.

But to ask the question about whether she could have bred twice - yes, she could have. Most does won't breed if they are already pregnant, but it can happen. Rabbits have a deeply y-shaped reproductive system, with each horn of the uterus receiving and supporting the eggs released by the ovary on that side. Essentially, they have a double uterus. Rabbits are what are called "induced ovulators," which means that a hormone released during the actual act of breeding triggers the release of eggs from the ovaries. It is entirely possible for a doe to release eggs from only one ovary, become pregnant only on that side, then breed and release eggs on the other side at a later date. She could be carrying two litters that are different gestational ages with two different due dates at the same time. If that were the case, when the first litter is born, some of the doe's energy is still being directed into nurturing the litter she's pregnant with, so her milk supply isn't what it could be. Baby rabbits grow fast, so even a few days' difference in age would put the second litter at a severe disadvantage when they were born. This is a large part of the reason that rabbit breeders usually only put the doe with the buck for limited periods on one day only.

 

[chloezoebob101]

Possible scenarios include that she has done a false pregnancy, and this is the end of it. False pregnancies frequently end well before "term," though I have had does go to day 32, pull fur, and produce nothing. It is also possible that she is one of those does that starts preparing early. Most of my does don't dig or do anything with hay until at least day 25, but I had a Jersey Wooly that would start fur pulling around day 21. By the time she kindled, she was almost completely bald, and the cage was awash with drifts of wool. I agree with wsmoak, I'd give her a nest box, just in case.

But to ask the question about whether she could have bred twice - yes, she could have. Most does won't breed if they are already pregnant, but it can happen. Rabbits have a deeply y-shaped reproductive system, with each horn of the uterus receiving and supporting the eggs released by the ovary on that side. Essentially, they have a double uterus. Rabbits are what are called "induced ovulators," which means that a hormone released during  the actual act of breeding triggers the release of eggs from the ovaries. It is entirely possible for a doe to release eggs from only one ovary, become pregnant only on that side, then breed and release eggs on the other side at a later date. She could be carrying two litters that are different gestational ages with two different due dates at the same time. If that were the case, when the first litter is born, some of the doe's energy is still being directed into nurturing the litter she's pregnant with, so her milk supply isn't what it  could be. Baby rabbits grow fast, so even a few days' difference in age would put the second litter at a severe disadvantage when they were born. This is a large part of the reason that rabbit breeders usually only put the doe with the buck for limited periods on one day only.

The last time she kindled she startewd pulling fur about an hour before she kindled.
Could being double bred kill her? In this senario I am more worried about her than anything else.