what age can you breed loinhead rabbits?

Answer 1

A small breed doe is normally ready to mate when she is 5 months old, and a buck is ready at 6 months. The medium size doe is ready to breed when she is 6 months old and the buck at 7 months. The heavy breed doe is ready at 8 months and the buck is ready at 9 months.

It's usually a good idea to select rabbits to breed whose ancestry has evidence of good productivity and good genetics. That's where productivity records and pedigrees listing show winnings come in handy. Keep productivity and show records of your herd just for this purpose.

You may keep a ratio of one buck to 10 does if you wish. The buck may be bred up to 7 times a week effectively. Sometimes, you can use the buck twice in one day. The most I use a buck is twice a week.

Keep the following principles in mind when you want to breed your rabbits:

* Only mate rabbits of the same breed. See Rabbit Raising - The Basics. Exceptions to this include breeding for meat, pets or genetic experimentation. You cannot sell a pedigree rabbit that has mixed blood in its background going back 4 generations.
* Do not keep more than one rabbit in each cage when the rabbit is 3 months or older. Rabbits mature faster when alone, do not fight, and do not breed, thus eliminating unexpected results.
* Before breeding, check the bottom of the cage of both the doe and buck for evidence of diarrhea or loose stools. Do not breed the rabbit having this condition until it has been adequately treated. Also check the genitals of both rabbits for any signs of disease or infection (for example, extreme redness, discharge, sores or scabbiness). Refer to the ARBA Official Guidebook section on diseases.
* When ready to breed the doe, take it to the buck's cage. Never bring the buck to the doe's cage. The reason for this is that the buck has less tendency to breed in the doe's cage. He's too busy sniffing around the cage.
* Some leave the doe with the buck overnight. Others put the doe in, watch it, and when they have mated, remove the doe. If you do the latter, put the doe back in with the buck 1 to 12 hours after the initial breeding. This will increase the likelihood of pregnancy and may increase the number of offspring.
* Keep a calendar and accurate records of the day you breed the doe. You should test her for pregnancy between the 10th and 14th day after the initial breeding. There are two ways to do this. The overall preferred method is to palpate the lower abdomen of the doe with your thumb and forefinger checking for nodules about the size of a marble. The other method is not only more risky but also more inaccurate. This method is to mate the doe with the buck again. This can cause problems because the doe has two uterine horns, each of which can carry babies. It is possible for one horn to be fertilized on the first mating and the second to be fertilized on the second mating. This will create a hormonal imbalance and cause the babies in both uteri to not form right, causing her to pass blobs instead of babies at the date of kindling. There is also a chance these "mummified" blobs could cause complications leading to the death of the doe.
* You should place a nest box in her cage on the 29th day after breeding. Thirty-one days after breeding, she should kindle her litter.

Answer 2

For small breeds of rabbits it is recommended to wait till the rabbit is at least 6 months of age. Normally, the best age to start breeding is when the rabbit is 8-10 months of age. By 8 months of age the rabbit is mostly fully grown and ready to breed, so you don't have to worry about growth stunting. It's normally not a good idea to wait much longer than 10 months because a female rabbit normally starts developing fat around the ovaries that can make the rabbit harder to breed or prevent it from becoming bred. Breeding the rabbit helps keep the fat off the ovaries. Once the fat has developed on the ovaries it cannot be gotten rid of by putting the rabbit on a diet or starving it.

The first answerer provides some good info, but there are some inaccuracies such as how how young you can breed them. Bucks you can typically get away with 6 months. Does I'd wait longer. Also, I'd recommend keeping them together no longer than when they are 60-70 days old. Even at that age they may start chewing each other's fur and ears and tails. The part about taking the doe to the bucks pen is correct. Don't worry about the double pregnancy. It can happen, but it very very rarely does. As for the nestbox, I recommend the 28th day. Normally rabbits have them on the 30th day, but their gestation period is 28-32 days. They rarely have them before 30 days, but it's good to be a little on the safe side. I wouldn't recommend putting it in before the 28th day, otherwise the doe may start peeing and pooping in the nestbox. Make sure to use straw in the nestbox, you don't want to use a smelly bedding for the nestbox like hay or wood shavings, people usually have less luck with either of those. As far as checking on the 10th and 14th day, yes their are two methods. It doesn't have to be done on those specific days, although palpating is normally done on the 14th day. Palpating is not the easiest to do even for experienced breeders. On the 14th day the babies should feel round about the size of a marble or grape. Once they get bigger and older in the mother's womb it is harder to tell because they can be mistaken for an organ inside the rabbit because they are no longer round and they are bigger. I use the method of checking the doe back with the buck. It's not 100% accurate, but if the rabbit has missed you can get it bred on the 2nd go around. Just make sure to write the date down.

As far as when and when not to breed two rabbits together. It is a good idea to make sure that both are healthy. Diahrrea isn't so much a concern except for the doe, but it probably is a good idea not to breed them if one has diahrrea. It's more important to make sure that neither have a genital disease which could be transferred by breeding the two and that neither have a cold which could also be transferred by direct contact.