Can i keep my buck with my doe when shes pregnant? + more questions PLEASE X?
Im thinking about breeding my rabbits again. Usually i keep them apart when shes pregnant but is it ok if the my buck is with my doe for about 25 days? – As he seems a bit lonely 
Oh and also how long are you meant to wait before you can breed the rabbits again? – the last litter LEFT on 25thFebuary and im thinking of breeding them on the 20th of march. Also is it ok to breed brother and sister? DONT WORRY IM NOT GOING TO …but i was wondering….i know its horrible but they do it in the wild? Anyway back to more questions…If I was going to breed my doe with a buck is it ok to keep another buck with her while shes pregnant?
Thanks so so much x all ans appreciated x
additional info:
My rabbits are lionhead.
My buck and doe im thinking of breeding are 1yr old.
My doe has had 2 litters before
Hi there,
The short answer personally is NO, it’s not a good idea to keep a buck with your doe whilst she’s pregnant. For one the buck being in the cage with her is going to cause her unwanted attention and stress with him pestering her, not something you want in a pregnant animal! Two after about a week to 14 days her hormones will start to kick in and this will then lead to aggression (hence why many pregnant does start to get grumpy and growl at their owners) and she will not be very tolerant of another rabbit in the cage as her to say the least! The short of it is your female needs peace and quiet throughout pregnancy and the first few weeks after the birth for the best success and to achieve that she needs to be kept alone!
As far as breeding brother to sister together – this is another extremely big NO! Breeding two siblings together creates a 100% gene share, which can cause disasterous health problems to the resulting the young. To explain if you were to say breed a doe to her son, although she is related to the son she is only partly related, the father (unrelated buck) is adding the other part of the genetics into their gene pool so although they’re related they’re not 100% related (as a brother and sister would be having the same mother and father). And whilst inbreeding on it’s own doesn’t neccessarily cause problems what can happen if you breed related animals is that it increases the chances of otherwise undetected hereditary problems of appearing in the resulting babies – and imagine when it’s brother and sister you are messing around in a very small gene pool thus increasing the chances of hereditary health problems appearing in resulting young. The again short answer is this shouldn’t be attempted!!!
In my own personal opinion if your doe is 1 year old and has already had three litters I wouldn’t be breeding from her again. I breed my does about 3 times maximum in their lifetimes, leaving about three months inbetween litters. The actual time apart that you have above (if the last litter left on the 25th Feb at 8 weeks old) is about right with what I would go with, but i’d be concerned about her having three litters and being one year – that’s quite a few for a relatively young doe. Don’t burn her out, she’s not a breeding machine!
March 19th, 2010 at 12:28 am
You should get your pets spayed and neutered. You are contributing to the homeless rabbit problem.
References :
March 19th, 2010 at 1:14 am
I would not leave the buck with the doe. Intact rabbits can fight. If you want to be able to keep him with another rabbit, then you should get him neutered.
As long as the doe is in good condition, you can breed her on the 20. I would wait about 1 month after the previous litter is weaned, so it should be good.
Some breeders do breed close relatives, but they know what they are doing. It is done to get certain desired traits.
Rabbits in the wild would rarely have the chance to breed with a close relative. Not all survive to be able to breed, and those that do would be able to find a mate that they are not related to.
References :
http://www.rabbit.org
http://www.rabbitsonline.net
March 19th, 2010 at 1:40 am
Hi there,
The short answer personally is NO, it’s not a good idea to keep a buck with your doe whilst she’s pregnant. For one the buck being in the cage with her is going to cause her unwanted attention and stress with him pestering her, not something you want in a pregnant animal! Two after about a week to 14 days her hormones will start to kick in and this will then lead to aggression (hence why many pregnant does start to get grumpy and growl at their owners) and she will not be very tolerant of another rabbit in the cage as her to say the least! The short of it is your female needs peace and quiet throughout pregnancy and the first few weeks after the birth for the best success and to achieve that she needs to be kept alone!
As far as breeding brother to sister together – this is another extremely big NO! Breeding two siblings together creates a 100% gene share, which can cause disasterous health problems to the resulting the young. To explain if you were to say breed a doe to her son, although she is related to the son she is only partly related, the father (unrelated buck) is adding the other part of the genetics into their gene pool so although they’re related they’re not 100% related (as a brother and sister would be having the same mother and father). And whilst inbreeding on it’s own doesn’t neccessarily cause problems what can happen if you breed related animals is that it increases the chances of otherwise undetected hereditary problems of appearing in the resulting babies – and imagine when it’s brother and sister you are messing around in a very small gene pool thus increasing the chances of hereditary health problems appearing in resulting young. The again short answer is this shouldn’t be attempted!!!
In my own personal opinion if your doe is 1 year old and has already had three litters I wouldn’t be breeding from her again. I breed my does about 3 times maximum in their lifetimes, leaving about three months inbetween litters. The actual time apart that you have above (if the last litter left on the 25th Feb at 8 weeks old) is about right with what I would go with, but i’d be concerned about her having three litters and being one year – that’s quite a few for a relatively young doe. Don’t burn her out, she’s not a breeding machine!
References :
Registered breeder and exhibitor of rabbits.
March 19th, 2010 at 2:03 am
Congradulations on whanting to breed. You shouldn’t keep the buck in the cage with the female because he will eat the little buns feet and ears off ( My friend had that happen. It should be about a week or a month, the week will keep the doe from getting internally fat and will give her a 1 weeks rest,, but a month will give her a longer rest and u can get her ready to breed again. U shouldnt keep another buck eather,
References :
Experience
Rabbitsonline.net