Help! Newbie to rabbits and they're expecting! (Pics on pg2!)

[KDailey]

These were each sold separately. The one that turned out to be a buck was from a different seller than the three tortoiseshell colored does. I figured it was a toss up as to wether or not they are actually bred so I bought the one buck for security. I didn't need two bucks though. Lol

Could you tell me how I might check to see oft eyre pregnant? Can you feel their bellies?

 

[bossynbella]

some people can palpate a rabbit and see if they are pregnant, I am not very good at it and I worry about hurting the babies. If you are sure you want babies my way of seeing if a rabbit is pregnant or not is to put her in with a buck (stay right there and don't take your eyes off for a minute) if she is pregnant ours will growl and make a baucking kind of noise when the buck comes near her, if you hear this remove her immediately as she may try to attack the buck. Also if he does manage to get a hold of her and mate her and she is already pregnant this can cause them to get pregnant again and you will end up with two litters of different ages, which is not good for the doe, or the kits.
For our does if they are not bred they will present for the buck immediately, head down and butt/tail up. If the buck knows what he is doing he will mount immediately and the act will be done in seconds.

good luck
Melissa

 

[KDailey]

Thanks so much! I'm workin on making them some nest boxes right now and will try them with the buck later

 

[silkielover5]

fyi never put a buck into does cage, always put female into males cage otherwise female could kill or injure male. and when they babys are born dont touch them unless you have too. and you dont really need nesting boxes. we breed our holland lop 5 times, her first litter she only had 1 which was a still born, all other littlers she had 4. she didnt use nesting box, she just dug a hole in the bedding of her cage (area was protected from drafts) and litterly baried the babys in there. dont touch the babies when their born until their a bit older cause mom could reject or kill them if they have your sent.

 

[bossynbella]

Quote:
Sorry but this is untrue. Unless the does get upset you need to handle the babies, first few days to make sure all are doing good, and to remove any that die (it happens) and a few days of a dead baby in a nest with warm ones! Not a pleasant find I wouldn't think. You also need to handle them to be sure that they are use to people, unless you are just breeding them for meat, then I guess it wouldn't matter.
Also, although I guess you could let them have the babies in the bedding of the cage if you have solid bottomed cages I would still provide the nest box, babies can crawl around pretty good I think its a good idea to contain them. Also these rabbits are bigger then a Holland lop I am sure. They are likely to have 6-10 kits in my experience, you want a box for them to be in, preferably with a spot on top for momma bunny to rest on.

Edited to add: Silkie is right about not putting a buck into a does cage. The doe always goes to the bucks cage, if I didn't make that clear in my early post I apologize. Does are very territorial but even if they don't attack him, he is unlikely to feel comfortable enough to do what he is suppose to do.

 

[SillyChicken]

I've found that if the rabbits have pellets in front of them all the time, they get fat. Fat does have problems with getting pregnant and can cause other health issues, difficult birth etc. I give my rabbits a pre measured amount of pellets, and they have grass hay available at all times. I use hay for food and straw for bedding.

If it's cold where you are, put a piece of foam insulation on the bottom of the nesting box to help keep the heat in for the babies. We handle the babies all the time, but be careful, sometimes the doe just don't like it and may bite and scratch you... I have one that will downright attack you!

You'll be able to see your does getting heavier when it gets close to kindleing and time for a box. Palpitating can be risky if you don't know what you're doing.

 

[KDailey]

Thanks again everybody for the advice! I'll take all I can get.

The bottom of the cage is wire so we'll definitely rig up some kind of nest box for each one. Even though I'm sure these rabbits were intended for meat, I would like to handlethe babies when possible to get them friendly. If the doe seems overly stressed about it though I'll leave them alone.

I did take pictures and uploaded to photobucket on my iPhone but it will only let me share throughfacebook or twitter, not the normal codes to put them in a post but I'll see if I can't figure somethin out

 

[KDailey]

Here's some pictures. They're not the best but maybe someone can get an idea of what they are?

The buck I bought intentionally:

The "bred doe" that turned out to be a buck:

Girl #1:

Girl #2 on the right, the californian I got from the neighbor recently:

Girl #3:

And 3 calicos I also got from my neighbor. Two are molting horribly so heres just a picture of the one that still looks nice. One even has a blue eye. They're super friendly:

 

[gaited horse]

Your three auction does are purebed American sables.
Your first buck is a Chinchilla breed. I can't tell if it's an American Standard or giant.
The rest are Dutch.

 

[bossynbella]

out of curiosity how do you know that they are purebred american sables? They deffinatly are colored like a siamese sable I think, but I think there could be other breeds that allow that color? I know Mini lops do. It could also possibly be a mix breed, or it could be a purebred american sable.

They are pretty whatever they are. The doe turned buck looks like it had dutch at some point in its background. How big is he compared to the others? He looks large for a dutch, along with his markings I would guess Dutch mixed with something bigger.