Saturday, January 28, 2006

The lone hen left of the new batch laid her first egg. The hens from last year haven't started laying again yet-those who haven't hit the pot already.

33 days an no baby rabbits. I thought this was supposed to be easy...

Posted by at

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Try breeding the rabbits again. If you need some expert advice I can put you in touch with my sister, who bred and showed rabbits in 4H and at rabbit shows for years in highschool. She had LOTS of rabbits out back, and was very successful.

6:45 PM
Anonymous said...

Ok, from a conversation with my sister:

First, make sure you know the signs that breeding actually took place. Evidently you must take the doe to the buck's hutch, because otherwise the doe gets territorial. If you breed them more than once on the day you breed them, that gives you better chances too.

We're assuming they are of breeding age (not over 4-5 yrs old).

Also, evidently the rabbits breeding cycles are tied to the seasons, so if it is too cold, or if there's not enough light, breeding won't be successful. You have to provide additional lighting during the winter months (my sister's rabbits got 15 hours of light per day).

Finally, there may still be some hope, as Emma's had rabbits with litters as late as 37 days. She is an expert (I'm tying this up as I talk with her on the phone), so if you want to know anything else, e-mail her at pinegrove [at] fuse (dot) net.

She recommends any book by Bob Bennett on raising rabbits (Raising Rabbits the Modern Way), and "You and Your Rabbit" by Nancy something.

Hope this helps! Good luck!

5:10 PM
Jim Curley said...

Thanks for the help. Our rabbits are young 6-7 months (the buck being older). It may have been too cold. So we will try again. (We have 3 does, but the other two are a bit younger.) I also did not bring doe back to buck for a second go around on that day. So maybe that is it.

I think I had a Bob Bennett book from the libray (Raising Rabbits Successfully), I will have to get it out again. That book guided me through the cages, etc.

Thanks again. WHEN we have baby rabbits, I will be sure to post.

6:18 AM

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)