i have a harlequin doe that is just plane huge she is 9 pounds and only is 9 months old my problem with her is that she won \'t breed she has had 9 months to develop and around her thats 3 months to long she won\'t take to any buck i breed to her to she wouldn\'t even take to my californian buck who has yet to fail to breed a doe i really need some help here i have tried her with every buck availible to me and still no luck i love this does marking and her size but i can\'t keep a doe who won\'t breed she also is relativily fat
Relatively fat...It think therein lies your clue.
Overconditioned (fat) does, have trouble breeding and when they do, have trouble conceiving, and when they do, have difficulty kindling. In other words, sounds like this doe needs to go on a DIET. 9 lbs is a little big for a Harlequin. Were you showing her quite a bit? I find that does who are kept in \"show shape\" too long are not real good prospects for parenthood.
After raising rabbits as long as I have, I have found that I prefer to keep my does producing. Consequently, for me, a doe\'s show life is relatively short-lived. I found I would rather have litters than ribbons. After all...what good is a grand champion if you don\'t have any progeny to show for it?
Good luck.
Charlcie Gill
Zodiac Rabbitry
Astoria, OR
http://www.zodiacsatins.com
thats the thing all she gets is just a little metal pan of food i think that if i feed her less she will starve she hasn\'t been shown either since she has a little bit to much color on her face any suggestions on diets
Don\'t worry...your rabbit won\'t starve. She\'ll try to tell you she is, but don\'t listen. LOL
First, I recommend a feed hopper as opposed to a metal pan. Just don\'t like those...very inefficient. As for diet...I\'d limit her to about 4 oz of pellets per day. (That\'s by weight - not volume.) Measurent-wise, that\'s about 1 cup of pellets - NOT heaping; a little shy of level. Offer her grass hay to munch on free choice. No treats.
Now...your doe is still within legal levels concerning her weight, but that doesn\'t mean she\'s not fat. Ideal weight is 8 lbs, so I\'d shoot for a weight closer to that.
When she reaches her goal weight, you may be able to increase her pellets just a tad, but NEVER full-feed your rabbits.
Charlcie Gill
Zodiac Rabbitry
Astoria, OR
http://www.zodiacsatins.com
i finally got her bred to my cal buck today so yea
That\'s GREAT!
But you know...a doe is really not bred until you KNOW it, so keep her on a diet until you know her to be pregnant and then, there really is no need to increase her feed to normal amounts until the last week of pregnancy. If you don\'t already know how to palpate, find someone who can show you how.
Don\'t use the \"test mating\" method. It\'s unreliable and can actually cause problems.
Good luck.
Charlcie Gill
Zodiac Rabbitry
Astoria, OR
http://www.zodiacsatins.com
well my mom is a vet and is getting a new ultrasound around then and she wants to expirement and see if she can see the babys
That\'s neat that your mom can do that, but I still think learning to palpate is the best option. (I\'ll bet your mom knows how. Maybe she can show you.) I palpate my does at 11 days and then I know whether or not new kits are on the way without risking a \"test breeding\".
Charlcie Gill
Zodiac Rabbitry
Astoria, OR
http://www.zodiacsatins.com
i never got to palpating the doe but i put her nest box in today (she\'s due tomorrow woop\'s) but any way as soon as i put it in she started stuffing her cheeks full of hay and imediatly started building her nest i\'m crossing my fingers that she has healthy babies but i\'m afraid she won\'t since she wen\'t off feed for a week before she had these babies so could every one cross there fingers also
Consider them crossed.
Charlcie