Rabbit Breeding

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I started to wean my babies at 5 weeks by letting the mom out to play for a few hours and the kits spent more time nibbling pellets and hay. They also drank a lot of water. At 6 weeks I started to remove the babies at night to a new cage. At 7 weeks I completely weaned them.

They were given free access to pellets, hay and water, nothing else. From my reading stress can play a big factor in digestive troubles during weaning, so doing things gradually will help.

Once you remove mom for more than a day I wouldn't put her back with the kits, mine tried to dominate them when I tried to let her see them after a few days. She was done with them.

Rabbits do take a breeding break this time of year. So she may become pregnant after a while. If she doesn't by spring it's possible she is done. Older does I read, cannot become pregnant after a while because they can't produce the hormones necessary to support pregnancy.

I bought a book called The Rabbit Raising Problem Solver, by Karen Parry, from Amazon that has helped me get through my bunnies birth and my kit raising.

 

[Perry17]

Thank you so much!

Now that you mention it, they were going through piles of water at that age too. I had to keep 2-3 quart water jars out for them and constantly refill them throughout the day. I thought they were just playing with the water nipples, but maybe I should have kept even more extra waterers out for them. I will have to add an automatic waterer next time, just to make sure they are getting enough.

I did take mama and babies out in a play pen, to play in the grass a few times a day. Maybe a week or two before they started dying. They always seemed okay, and would hop around and play. But maybe that stressed them out too much. I did think maybe they got a parasite or something from being out on the grass, didn't show any signs or anything to suggest that, but it was something I looked into back then as a cause for the deaths.

Looking back, I had the little bails of Timothy you get specifically for rabbits, the kind wrapped in the plastic from most stores. They loved it, was really stemy. But maybe it wasn't the best?

For my adult rabbits, most of the time I give the same good horse quality grass hay I feed the horses and other livestock. Sometimes the bagged Timothy, they like it better, I added a picture it's something like that. I feed them with a regular rabbit pellet, I am pretty sure it is this brand in the picture. And I give them alfalfa pellets, the brand in the picture.

When I first got them I researched if they needed any mineral licks, but read that thy don't need it? Is that true? Just want to make sure they aren't deficient in something. Or if I might be feeding the wrong type of diet?

Hoping it's just this time of year, she seems perfectly healthy otherwise. How long do you keep breeders? They just turned a year old, but how long should you expect them to keep breeding?

Thank you again!!

 

[Perry17]

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Could of been they ate too much grass too quickly. I started mine on handfuls. My rabbits don't have free access to grass so they only get what I bring them, and I can slowly increase the amounts so they don't get sick..

I feed mine our own hay we bale for our goats. I tried the bagged hays, but I didn't care too much for them. They were too stemy. I haven't fed Dumor pellets but they should be okay. I don't know if I would feed alfalfa pellets, they can be too rich. A good rabbit pellet should have alfalfa in it.

I gave mine mineral licks. I don't know if they use them or not. They look used. I read they don't necessarily need one as long as they are fed a good pellet, but it can't hurt to hook one on the cage, they are cheap.

So maybe it was the diet that caused your kits to die. If you get more try just feeding free choice pellets and a good mixed grass hay. Keep them off grass and introduce it slowly after they are fully weaned.

I never intended to breed, mine was an accident. I have read they usually can breed up to 3-5 years. Hopefully more experienced rabbit keepers chime in with some advice too.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

These are my kits, they are a mini lop lionhead cross. I kept 4 and my niece took 3.

 

[Perry17]

That is the cutest accident I have ever seen! They are precious!

I'll take away the alfalfa pellets, and just do the rabbit pellets and grass hay. I don't think I will let the kits in the grass next time either. Maybe taking away all the extra foods will make it easier during weaning, looking back it does seem like a lot of excess feed choices that probably messed up their tummys. And a lot of different nutritional variables that could have caused it.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

That would be my thoughts too. Keep it simple with rabbits seems to be the best.

They are stinking cute buggers.

 

[cassie]

Look. Get yourself a book on raising rabbits. I suggest "Storeys Guide to Raising Rabbits" by Bob Bennett. It has good practical information on all phases of rabbit care and management. It isn't very expensive either. You can get a copy from amazon.com. That's where I got mine. As others have said, to be successful with rabbits, you need good breeding stock and individual cages.