ABOUT TO GIVE BIRTH AGAIN!

[farkesuil]

Hello all! My Doe is about to give birth again but am afraid it may not deliver in the nest box. The other kits of last birth are resting in the box. This why I feel as if the mother may not go to the only nest to deliver. Should I remove the kits and take them to the buck? They are 30 days old on the 7th of this month.

 

[Sundragons]

at 30 days they should be able to manage on their own. Move them to a transition cage with feed, water, and some kind of a hide in it. Do not put them in with the buck. Clean out all the nest box materials and give the doe fresh clean hay to use to build a new nest in the box.

Also, unless there's a specific reason you're breeding them this closely, you need to separate you buck and doe. She's fertile almost immediately after giving birth, and he will be relentless pursuing her. You'll have litters every month if you don't either keep them separate, or get one of them fixed.

If you are breeding them this close together for a reason, you need to make sure you have multiple nesting boxes and multiple cages set up to transition your broods though to maturity. Those month-olds need to be correctly sexed and separate them or you're going to end up with multiple concurrently pregnant does and more rabbits than you can easily handle. One doe can effortlessly produce 40 babies a year if bred monthly (with small litter sizes), imagine what will happen if you end up with several pregnancies at the same time. You need to have sufficient space and separation for all those babies if you're going to keep this up.

 

[Youngfarmer2019]

I disagree with @Sundragons. I have been raising rabbits for a while and I find that the doe(s) should not be bred monthly, monthly mating will shorten her lifetime by a couple years if you continue to do it this way. Also 30 days is far too young in normal circumstances (I repeat NORMAL circumstances) in a case like this where the doe is delivering another litter, yes, remove them and put into a transition cage, not with the buck. I would not suggest monthly matings, the previous litter will always have to be removed at 4 weeks old, which, as I said before, is far too young. I have been raising meat and pet rabbits for many, many years and always wait to wean until at least 6 weeks old, if not 8 weeks, depending on the doe and size of the litter.

If you are interested, I can share my breeding schedule with you. It is very exact and leaves just the right amount of time for the does to rest between litters, while still getting a decent amount of meat growouts and/or kits to sell.

 

[Sundragons]

I disagree with @Sundragons. I have been raising rabbits for a while and I find that the doe(s) should not be bred monthly, monthly mating will shorten her lifetime by a couple years if you continue to do it this way. Also 30 days is far too young in normal circumstances (I repeat NORMAL circumstances) in a case like this where the doe is delivering another litter, yes, remove them and put into a transition cage, not with the buck. I would not suggest monthly matings, the previous litter will always have to be removed at 4 weeks old, which, as I said before, is far too young. I have been raising meat and pet rabbits for many, many years and always wait to wean until at least 6 weeks old, if not 8 weeks, depending on the doe and size of the litter.

If you are interested, I can share my breeding schedule with you. It is very exact and leaves just the right amount of time for the does to rest between litters, while still getting a decent amount of meat growouts and/or kits to sell.

No disagreement on that at all actually. I won't breed does that close, ever. 2x a year tops. I always leave litters with Mom for 6-8 weeks too, I was saying at 4 they could be moved in a pinch.

I do not know the OP or their setup though so I was offering generic advice based on what little info they had provided.

 

[Youngfarmer2019]

No disagreement on that at all actually. I won't breed does that close, ever. 2x a year tops. I always leave litters with Mom for 6-8 weeks too, I was saying at 4 they could be moved in a pinch.

I do not know the OP or their setup though so I was offering generic advice based on what little info they had provided.

Ah I see. I misunderstood, sorry bout that…

 

[Chevre]

Hello all! My Doe is about to give birth again but am afraid it may not deliver in the nest box. The other kits of last birth are resting in the box. This why I feel as if the mother may not go to the only nest to deliver. Should I remove the kits and take them to the buck? They are 30 days old on the 7th of this month.

How did things turn out?

 

[farkesuil]

at 30 days they should be able to manage on their own. Move them to a transition cage with feed, water, and some kind of a hide in it. Do not put them in with the buck. Clean out all the nest box materials and give the doe fresh clean hay to use to build a new nest in the box.

Also, unless there's a specific reason you're breeding them this closely, you need to separate you buck and doe. She's fertile almost immediately after giving birth, and he will be relentless pursuing her. You'll have litters every month if you don't either keep them separate, or get one of them fixed.

If you are breeding them this close together for a reason, you need to make sure you have multiple nesting boxes and multiple cages set up to transition your broods though to maturity. Those month-olds need to be correctly sexed and separate them or you're going to end up with multiple concurrently pregnant does and more rabbits than you can easily handle. One doe can effortlessly produce 40 babies a year if bred monthly (with small litter sizes), imagine what will happen if you end up with several pregnancies at the same time. You need to have sufficient space and separation for all those babies if you're going to keep this up.

I really am happy and grateful with these set of advice.