Forgive me but I am new to breeding rabbits. I am breeding for meat (small scale) and have a Palomino buck and a New Zealand doe so hopefully that part of it will be okay but my question is say the doe does not become pregnant the first go round, is it okay for me to keep trying into the Winter months? Or should rabbits ONLY have liters in the spring? I don’t want to stress the doe. I was told it was okay to try this late in the season but get to it. Also, my cages are in a barn with sunlight and ventilation but no snow would be coming in on them. If they are protected from elements, can they breed year round? Thanks.
Yes. Rabbits breed year-round, however, overall conception does drop some in the Fall as a remnant of this naturally sterile time in wild rabbits. Domestic rabbits have had this tendency bred out to a large degree, but overall you get more and larger litters in the spring and summer.
I\'d breed the doe and keep trying by all means. Good luck.
Charlcie Gill
Zodiac Rabbitry
Astoria, OR
http://www.zodiacsatins.com
you can breed anytime you would like but to let you know if you have anything that will stress the doe you might want to fix it, i have a doe and she just had 3 babies yesterday and 2 died and she ate the legs off of the other one, im not sure if its because of them being sick which is a posability and also they could have not beeen fully developed. so you might want to take that into consideration. also anotherthing is that the male should never be a bigger breed then the female if he is it can cause problems and posably death to the doe, and its hard to raise a baby rabbit without the mother and almost impossable. if you have anyother questions ont his please write me back thnaks
~Dakota~
Thanks both of you for your answers. It sounds like it will be okay to keep trying most likely if the doe is not pregnant. If there are any problems with her or the litter I will certainly stop and wait till Spring. Also cody, yes, the Palomino buck is a slightly smaller rabbit breed than the New Zealand doe. NZ are about 11-12 at full grown and the Palominos are around 9-10 at adult. Both are considered good breeds for meat but the NZ have larger bone structure.
ok well i just hope you dont loose anyrabbits in the process of this because i lost 3 and it was a hrad thing for me beacuse i keep them as pets and our family. the pregancy was so unexpected. i waled in the room and saw 3 babies laying in her cage.
Yeah that would be traumatic to see dead baby rabbits or partially eaten but you figure the doe had to know something was wrong and its her instincts not to raise babies that are sick somehow or not going to make it. I am just hoping for the best. I dont even know if she is conceived. I only bred her with the buck on the 10th, left her in like a day and a half. I saw him mounting her several times but no squeeling or falling off her sideways and I am confused as to how important it is to see that happen. I will just hope for the best and maybe wait till Spring if she isnt.
well my rabbit never falls off but yesterday he fell backwards so im hoping for a big littler
Thats probably a good sign. My buck is also too young for breeding according to the guy that sold him to me. He thought still about a month shy and Palomino breed is known to have a longer sexual maturity as far as rabbits go. So maybe he did maybe he didnt. I think he was uncertain (-:
well i hope the best for u and you get what you want out of it and you dont have to go threw the trama as i did with the litter i lost. so best of luck to you.