Pregnant Rabbit Question

[mandiedriskill]

So, I have a satin doe that I have had, and is coming up a year old. I bred her about 33 days ago. But, she has not gave birth yet? She has pulled fur and made a nice nest, and doesn't seem stressed. I watched the breeding of her, and the buck was at it for about 20 minutes. This is her first time breeding. Could she be kindling late? Or, maybe a false pregnancy or absorption? Any body else have this happen?

 

[Bunnylady]

I firmly believe that my rabbits put their heads together at night and ask each other, "how can we drive her crazy today?" What you have described is an old card in the "drive her crazy" game!

Unless something went really amiss, I wouldn't think absorption of the litter would be too likely. Most does that are doing a false pregnancy quit around 3 weeks, though I have seen a few that went 31 days and went through all the motions, only to produce nothing. IME, most does don't actually pull fur until just before or after kindling, though I have had a few that started pulling fur even a week before. Until you have had a litter or two from this girl, you can't be sure what fur pulling from her really means!

Often, when a doe is carrying just a few kits, she will carry them longer. Most of the time, if a doe kindles on day 34 or 35, she has only one or two huge kits, and they don't survive the birthing process. Rebreeding a doe within a couple days of a failed litter like that usually results in a nice sized litter the next time.

If this were my doe, I'd give her a couple more days. Or, if you really want to know, you could pull her out of her cage and palpate her - babies that are towards the end of the gestational period are big enough that they'd be hard to miss. If I couldn't find any kits inside her, I'd breed her again, today. I'd be sure that the buck "did the deed" (grunted, fell off) and I would note the breeding date on the calender - the next litter should be a good one.

Good luck!

 

[mandiedriskill]

Thanks for all the good help. I have never had this happen before.

 

[mandiedriskill]

Would it be okay to say if she is having a false pregnancy and hasn't had any kits by day 36, I could re-breed her.? This is a new buck and doe I have had for a year. Maybe, with both of them being new at this that he really didn't do his job. They were running around the cage and I couldn't see too good, but I did see a lot of mounting the right way.

 

[Bunnylady]

36 days sounds good. Before you put the doe in with the buck, check the color of her vulva. To do that, press just in front of it like you do when you are trying to sex a young rabbit - it will expose some of the tissue lining the vulva. If it looks bright red and rather swollen, the doe should be quite willing to breed, and she should conceive a nice litter. If the color is purplish, she's past the peak hormonally, she may or may not breed, and the litter size may not be as good if she does breed. If the color is pale pink, forget it, she probably won't breed, and most likely will miss if you try forced breeding. Some does never get really red, I've had a few that never colored darker than a deep rose color, but until you know what this doe's pattern is, (I've been there once already, haven't I)

Good luck!