What Rabbits Do You Have? Show Off Your Rabbits Here!

[mindylee]

Im glad shes being a good momma and baby is warm and fine.

Baby buns are so much fun once they learn how to bounce around. And right about the 4 week stage I think they are the CUTIEST!
Here comes the hard part.... naming it!
Lol

 

[PrimroseMom1]

OMGosh! My Holland Lop doe just had 2 kits in her wire cage! I had no idea she was pregnant! I didn't even know she was bred! What do I do?! Help!

This exact thing happened to me. I got a doe bec the breeder thought she was sterile. A week later I came home and she had 3 babies. One deformed which died right away, a peanut that died in 4 days and one that she quit feeding after a few days. I hand fed the one. Kept it in a carrier in the house with a buried heating pad a towels on top. I mixed top brand kitten milk with a tablespoon of heavy cream mixed into each can. You feed with a syringe (no needle) through the side of the mouth behind the front teeth where there is a gap. You feed them holding them upright. I wrapped mine in a towel and held upright. Feed very slowly allowing them to get each little bit down before carefully squeezing in a bit more. A good trick is to always grease the rubber part of the syringe with Vaseline which allows you better control of the syringe. I fed every 12 hours and wiped his bottom with a warm wet cotton ball after each feeding to help urination. Here is the progress as I hand fed him. He is a beautiful sweet bunny today.

I found a great 20 page article at backyardbunniesrabbitry.m.webs.com.

Another that was helpful was at www.rabbit.org

I goggled just about everyday. You can find the exact amount to feed them at every stage. Their bellies should be very full. One article said like a frog belly. If you don't see that, they aren't being fed and you must act very quickly. My mother rabbit ended up with only one baby, like you, and her milk dried up before one week, not enough stimulation with only the kit. If you are hand raising and want to PM me any time I'll be glad to help.

 

[mindylee]

I bought 3 from a so called reputable breeder. She informed me all 3 ( 2 does 1 buck) came from diff litters and all where 10 weeks old. I ? Their size and repeatedly asked if they where NOT related. She swore her breeding program on it.

3 days later the both does had litters. All babies where sseverely deformed so I did the kindest thing and put them down. I contacted the breeder and she apologized over and over. Said she had no ideal and that she had no answer to y the babies where deformed. Later on after they got older, I bred them to the buck and weeks later, again all babies severely deformed! Now I know for sure that them 3 are related and a bad gene was very much there. Needless to say, I sold the buck off and got a new one and lots of litters later, no issues and healthy beautiful babies.

Later that yr I saw them at a rabbit show and I snuck around and asked other breeders about that particular breeders quality of rabbits. Not a single one had anything nice to say and informed me that they are very well known for that stunt they pulled on me. Needless to say, I would never ever be a repeat buyer even tho I love my does. Bad thing is I wont recommend them either to anyone looking for that breed and warn them to stay far far away. The power of word of mouth goes a long way.

 

[ChocolateMouse]

Wow, as a rabbit breeder that sort of thing really bothers me. The person you got those from is on par with puppy mill type back yard breeders IMO. When I sell rabbits I am selling on reputation. Meat rabbits, even pure NZW, go for as low as $8/ea around here. Mine go for 20-25. I could not sell for 3Xs the price on a reputation like that. I value my customers too much.

 

[Lynzi777]

I have a question regarding who can be bred to who when it comes to wanting to improve on the type of the breed. So for example, I have two Hollands that I bred last summer. I kept a doe from the litter. Now the doe who had the litter is larger than she should be and also has longer ears. Whereas the buck is smaller and has shorter ears. Is it OK to breed the doe I kept back to her sire? Or no?

 

[ChocolateMouse]

If your buck and doe are completely unrelated then father to daughter or son to mother should be OK... Should being the key word here. The only significant illness I have had in my herd was a daughter bred back to her father. I was "told" the parents were unrelated and until then I had no reason to suspect otherwise as all past litters came out fine... Now I am thinking they may be distant cousins of some sort or it could have just been a fluke or who knows. But I wont be trying that pairing again even if the litter WAS 11 kits to start with!

 

[Bunnylady]

I have a question regarding who can be bred to who when it comes to wanting to improve on the type of the breed. So for example, I have two Hollands that I bred last summer. I kept a doe from the litter. Now the doe who had the litter is larger than she should be and also has longer ears. Whereas the buck is smaller and has shorter ears. Is it OK to breed the doe I kept back to her sire? Or no?

The Holland Lop is one of the breeds that uses the dwarfing gene to get the "ideal" animal described in the breed standard.The dwarfing gene is a dominant gene, which means if a rabbit inherits it, you will see the results. A rabbit with the dwarfing gene has short ears, short legs, a shorter, rounder head, and a short back. A rabbit of the same breed that doesn't have the dwarfing gene is proportionately longer in all respects, and weighs perhaps a pound more than one that does. Unfortunately, the dwarfing gene is also a lethal gene, which means that if a bunny inherits it from both parents, it dies (usually within about 3 days of birth). We call the babies with two copies of the dwarfing gene "peanuts." Peanuts are generally only about 2/3 the size of the normal kits in the litter, and have oddly shaped heads and an underdeveloped look to their back ends. From your description, it sounds like your doe doesn't have the dwarfing gene; we call such animals "false dwarfs" or "brood does." They aren't showable, being larger than the standard allows, but because they don't have the dwarfing gene, they can't pass it on to their babies. When bred to a buck that has the dwarfing gene (and it sounds like your buck has it), they can produce dwarf babies, but they don't produce peanuts. Brood does usually produce a few more babies per litter than their true dwarf counterparts.

If the doe you kept back has the "true dwarf" proportions, she most likely has the dwarfing gene. If you breed her to a buck that has the dwarfing gene, some of the babies will probably be peanuts, whether the buck is related to her or not. Be prepared; peanuts are one of the problems one has to deal with when breeding dwarf breeds.

 

[SilkiesForEver]

Quote: Hm.. from what I got from your post, the dwarf gene isn't rare in Hollands? One of my does has very small proportions, whereas my other doe has neutral proportions.

 

[Lynzi777]

The Holland Lop is one of the breeds that uses the dwarfing gene to get the "ideal" animal described in the breed standard.The dwarfing gene is a dominant gene, which means if a rabbit inherits it, you will see the results. A rabbit with the dwarfing gene has short ears, short legs, a shorter, rounder head, and a short back. A rabbit of the same breed that doesn't have the dwarfing gene is proportionately longer in all respects, and weighs perhaps a pound more than one that does. Unfortunately, the dwarfing gene is also a lethal gene, which means that if a bunny inherits it from both parents, it dies (usually within about 3 days of birth). We call the babies with two copies of the dwarfing gene "peanuts." Peanuts are generally only about 2/3 the size of the normal kits in the litter, and have oddly shaped heads and an underdeveloped look to their back ends. From your description, it sounds like your doe doesn't have the dwarfing gene; we call such animals "false dwarfs" or "brood does." They aren't showable, being larger than the standard allows, but because they don't have the dwarfing gene, they can't pass it on to their babies.  When bred to a buck that has the dwarfing gene (and it sounds like your buck has it), they can produce dwarf babies, but they don't produce peanuts. Brood does usually produce a few more babies per litter than their true dwarf counterparts.

If the doe you kept back has the "true dwarf" proportions, she most likely has the dwarfing gene. If you breed her to a buck that has the dwarfing gene, some of the babies will probably be peanuts, whether the buck is related to her or not. Be prepared; peanuts are one of the problems one has to deal with when breeding dwarf breeds. 

This has got to be what I have going on here. She's had two litters and no peanuts in each. My sable point doe (who I'm having a very difficult time getting bred) Definitely carries the dwarf gene. I'm hoping my frosty will too. She's still young, 6 months old. But her head is starting to fill in to those ears. And she hasn't gotten much bigger in size lately. Thansk for all the info I appreciate it!

 

[Bunnylady]

Quote: Hm.. from what I got from your post, the dwarf gene isn't rare in Hollands? One of my does has very small proportions, whereas my other doe has neutral proportions.
Every show-quality Holland Lop has the dwarfing gene. In fact, it is rare for a Holland to be within the weight limits of the standard, and not have the dwarfing gene. Some Hollands that are oversized have it too - when you know the breed well, you learn to recognize the proportions that signal it. This is also true with Netherland Dwarfs, Dwarf Hotots, Mini Rex, Jersey Woolies, and a number of other dwarf breeds.

If you want to breed quality Hollands (or any dwarf breed) you have to work with the dwarfing gene. As I said. it is a lethal gene, so a bunny that gets it from both of its parents dies within a few days of birth. Very nearly all of the Hollands that weigh less than the maximum weight listed in the standard have one copy of the dwarfing gene, and one of the regular growth gene. Breed two of these together, and some babies will get the dwarfing gene from one parent, and the regular growth gene from the other. Those are "true dwarfs," and will most likely grow up to be within the acceptable weigh range. Some babies will get the dwarfing gene from both parents; they die. Some babies will get the normal growth gene from both parents, they are the "false dwarfs." They will be a bit oversized at maturity, and have longer proportions than the true dwarfs.

Breeding a true dwarf to a false dwarf will get you some babies that are true dwarfs, and some that are false dwarfs. All of the babies will have a chance at living, though that means one parent may be pedigreed, but isn't registered (if that sort of thing is important to you).

Breeding false dwarf to false dwarf only gives you false dwarf babies, that normally can't be registered and can't be shown. You might run into the occasional false dwarf that comes from very small stock and just squeaks in under the weight limit, but the longer proportions will mean that it doesn't do well on the show table.