Is this rabbit knocked up/ Whos my daddy?(solved #77 pg8)

[chickenwhisperer]

So this is my suspected american rabbit doe.
It was cold and rainy last night.

I go out this morning and find she had pulled a bunch of hair and made a flat nest out of it.

She is an older doe, and had never seemed interested in breeding with ANY of my bucks, tho they would chase her all around.
I never once seen her let one mate.
I have had her well over 30 days, so she didnt come preggers.

Do rabbits sometimes make a nest like this simply because it is cold???

I put a nestbox in, just in case.
Added all the hair to it.

This is her a week ago . . .

This is what I found this morning . . . the tuft of hair and sprigs of hay are in her mouth

 

[Inkheart]

She is definitely building a nest - my guess is prego! And getting ready to have them at that !

 

[Skittlez]

In my experience of raising rabbits, a doe will only pull for a nest if they are pregnant. But they can go through false pregnancy just like any other animal. That is good you gave her a box, but she may have babies where she laid the hair. I would put the box where she laid her pulled hair and watch to make sure she doesn't put them on the wire. Gestation is usually 31 days, give or take a few days. Do you know how old she is and when she was with the buck last?

 

[woodmort]

It's been 60 years or so since I kept rabbits but, if I remember correctly, if there was a buck anyplace near a doe, she was pregnant.

 

[Sir Birdaholic]

If there was a buck within a MILE, she's pregnant. she IS a rabbit!

 

[Heartlandrabbitry]

Just because she is making a nest doesn't necessarily mean she is pregnant. Some rabbits build a nest because they are ready for babies and/or false pregnancy. Some of my rabbits have built nests and were never pregnant (and I knew that.) Many people think rabbits breed like crazy, that is not true. I have bred many of my does and not all of them kindled. Some does do go over the 31 days, mine always stay within 28 to 29 days. Can you feel babies kicking? Usually when it's that time I can feel the kits kicking and when the does lay down I can also see the babies moving in their stomachs.

 

[sandspoultry]

My last doe went 32 days before she had 3 kits. You might have a suprise in the morning! Good luck.

 

[Akane]

Make sure you put the fur in the nest box or if she does have them they may end up in the fur pile on the wire. If you clean up any attempted nests on the wire she should use the box.

Just because you don't see a rabbit breed doesn't mean anything. If she's been loose with a buck there are good odds for pregnancy. It takes all of 2 seconds for my experienced buck to accomplish the task. He'll just keep following until the doe is still for long enough and if you looked away for any length of time he may be done and moving on. However like several other people said does can have false pregnancies especially after attempted mating. My mini rex doe went through a false pregnancy when my buck mated her but was sterile because of the heat. She made several nests starting at 2 weeks after breeding and didn't give it up until a few days after she was due. We thought she was going to be bald before she was done. Does only make nests if they at least think they are going to have kits and not for warmth or any other reason.

Even if this time is a false pregnancy if you keep letting her around bucks eventually she is going to end up bred.

 

[wildeflowers]

Quote:
This is what I thought. LOL

 

[Bunnylady]

Does pull fur when they:

are about to kindle;

think they are about to kindle;

want to do what would result in kindling (eventually)!

Make sure this doe has lots of hay. If she is expecting, and she for some reason won't use the nest box, the insulation provided by plenty of hay may be enough to keep the kits alive until you can put them where they belong.

Most of my does will only pull fur within about a day of the time the kits arrive. I have had a few does that would pull fur when they wanted to breed, but not usually that much, generally it's only a mouthful or two. I did have one Jersey Wooly doe that would start pulling fur a good 10 days before she was due, and kept pulling for several day after the kits were born. She was nearly bald - she just had a little mohawk of hair about 1" wide down her spine, everything else was on the floor or in the box (how she managed to fit the kits in there with all that fluff, I'll never know). Someone who saw her just after one litter was born asked me, "Did that rabbit have surgery?!"