Rabbit Breeding

[Perry17]

The pair was great together when we first got them. They are from separate unrelated litters, but they were raised together. Would sit and groom and lick each other and always cuddling. Back when we thought they were both girls.

And both are still great together, no fighting or aggressive behavior. Always together and still best buds even after being separated for all this time, then put back together. They still lick each other's ears and are good together, so that's the main reason I didn't worry about leaving them together the past few months. Just no breeding that I know of.

 

[Perry17]

The area they are in is a 12X14 dirt/hay floor stall in my barn, all 4 walls are covered completely. They have a 4X2 (maybe a little bigger) rabbit hutch type thing that is wire on one side, and is covered on all sides with plywood on the other, has a door that separates the two sides that is left open. The hutch is off the ground, and has a ramp/door that goes into the stall. They just like to climb up and lay in the hutch.

The first two unexpected litters, she had in the wire floor of the hutch.

The third good litter, I blocked off the stall when her due date was getting close. And kept her just in the hutch, for that litter she made a good nest of hay and hair. And had them in the completely covered side of the hutch. And I had a nest box that took up half the covered side, she made the nest in that. So I was happy she tried to care for them that time and did really well.

 

[Perry17]

Sorry for the long posts. I am just confused so trying to through out all the details I can think of.

This is them the week before they started dying randomly. Right when they really started eating solid food. And mama was starting to wean them. After reading, I saw where they can get colic and hard stomachs and die during the weaning process if not done right.

Maybe the first kit died on its own from that, and mama just tried to get rid of the body like rabbits do. I am thinking I just made a mistake of taking her out, thinking she killed them on purpose. And that messed the whole weaning process up, rushed them to eat only solids too soon, and in turn caused them all to die from the colic (might have a different name but it was pretty much described as rabbit colic).

Maybe she just ran out of milk, and didn't have a choice but to stop feeding?

I even thought it might be a disease, so I bleached and cleaned everything.

If it was the case that weaning issues killed them, what process do y'all follow to wean your baby rabbits? I never had the issue when I raised them years ago, must have just had some amazing mamas that I took for granted. The only thing I can think of was to only have hay out for them, and no pellets until they are older?

 

[Perry17]

Forgot to add the picture. They were all beautiful kits, don't know where all the colors came from. Not sure the breed mix, they are just pets. But I really wanted to keep a few. Just hate that I was so close to raising them fully, then have them die after all that.

 

[Perry17]

And then the question I am going through now. Why won't they breed again?

The only thing I can come up with, is maybe she does have some internal stuff going on that is causing it. Maybe something else?

I am going to separate them again back into their separate stalls. Then try reintroducing them after a few weeks? I love having them as pets, it's just odd not to have babies after months of being together.

 

[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]

 

[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.