Dutchies are clueless - pregnant bunny or not?

kim&sjoerd

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Hi there,

We are from the Netherlands and currently in quarantaine due to severe Corona problem in our region. Vets only help out if an animal is critically ill. The woman on dutch websites are a little bit crazy when it comes to accidental bunny pregnancies.

We recently bought a little Holland Lop baby boy to accompany our mixed breed (teddy dwarf x Hollander) doe. The breeder (shabby looking Guy) told us The boy was 8-10 weeks old.

we introduced The boy to The doe and he jumped in her immediately.
Didn’t think too much of it. Saw on The internet that this is a way of establishing a picking order.

eventually I picked him up. He fell of her 3 times by then.
My daughter laughed and said “He has Really big balls”.

later that evening me and my husband laughed avond this comment But all of a sudden I realized that these big balls could mean that hè is fertile. Maybe The breeder had his age wrong.

18 days after we got him The doe started building a nest out of hay.
she went at it like crazy.
She pulled fur at Day 20. After that she didn’t look at her nest again.
I did My research. This means false pregnancy. I removed Some of The nest, moet The fur in there.

this is dat 23. The Buck broke Free this morning and The doe started attacking him from her cage.
She has a big belly, lies om her side a lot and is grumpy when I touch her.
Did I Get it wrong?

how to tell? I cannot go to The vet. Dutch bunny-ladies try to digitally kill me when I ask something about this on a dutch website. It is truelly a crime when you underestimate The fertilizing powers of your baby bunny. I Should be banned from owning bunnies for being so ignorant 😅🙄

Thanks in advance
Stay safe

kind Regards

kim
 

promiseacres

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Gestation or pregnancy is 31 days. She definately still could be pregnant. Or it's a false. I've had a few false pregnancies but never the "normal" cases as seen on the internet. And I have had does build a nest from about day 11 on to afterwards and have a litter. Good luck, leave the box in and wait and see is my advice
 

Bunnylady

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Hi, Kim! :frow Welcome to BYH!

I'm sorry to hear that you have been flamed for simply not knowing; If that happened to people in real life, I think most of us would have been fried to a crisp by now (joke!):rolleyes:

As @promiseacres said, your doe might be pregnant, she might not. Does don't read the books (they just chew the pages), so how any particular doe behaves when pregnant can vary a lot. I've had does that didn't pull fur until mere minutes before the babies started arriving, and others that were at it for weeks (to the point of being nearly bald!) I've had does that went all the way to day 31 with false pregnancies. Some does are just grumpy, regardless, especially at this time of year.

I think the guy you got the buck from wasn't being accurate. While an 8-10-week-old might mount another rabbit, he shouldn't be all that well developed, and definitely shouldn't be able to complete the act.

My advice, too, is to act as if you think she is still expecting, then wait and see.

By the way, my rabbits' slogan is "how can we drive her crazy today." Sounds like you are getting a good introduction to the world of rabbit keeping!
 

kim&sjoerd

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Thanks ladies! Very helpfull 🐇👌
 

animalmom

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Welcome to BYH! Glad you ditched the mean ladies for us. We, if I do say so myself, are nice and are more interested in helping you succeed. Anyone can point fingers and say mean things. People who are animal lovers want you to do well.

Oh, please don't forget to post pictures of the kits when they arrive. Thanks!
 

kim&sjoerd

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Hi, thanks all! Very kind!

how do you all count The days? Is The mating date day 1 or The Day after The mating?

we introduced our doe to The Buck in the 29th of februari
Regards

kim
 

Bunnylady

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Most does kindle on day 31, but even that can vary - I had a Holland Lop doe that always kindled on day 30, for example. A doe carrying a large litter may go earlier, even as early as day 28 or 29 (the earliest surviving litter I have ever had was born on day 27, but they looked a bit underdeveloped). A doe carrying only one or two babies may go as long as day 34 or 35, though by then, the babies are usually so big and it takes so long to deliver them, they usually don't survive.
 

Ridgetop

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Definitely put the nest box back in. If you saved the hair, put it back in the box too. If she bred on February 29, she is due on March 30. If it proves to be a false pregnancy you have not lost anything. Keeping the nest box in place for extra days is a lot better than discovering a cage full of dead kits.

She is probably pregnant since he jumped her and fell off 3 times. Now she is attacking him which means she doesn't want him in her space. Put in the nest box and keep it in from March 28 through April 4. That will be a safe length of time. You don't want to take the box out too soon and end up with dead kits all over the cage because he didn't impregnate her until the 3rd or 4th day he was in with her. Rabbits do not gather their kits together like cats and dog do. If they don't have the kits in a nest box, the kits scatter over the cage and eventually die, usually from cold since they are born hairless. Also unless they are in a nest, the doe will not bother feeding them on the floor of the cage.

When I was breeding semi-commercially I noticed that different years the does would sometimes kindle 28 days and sometimes at 33 days. These were not individual does. I am talking about 20 does kindling on day 28 or 33. I noticed this because I was breeding so many rabbits. Not sure why it happened, but might have had something with weather or ? Make sure she is not peeing or pooping in the box. f she does clean it out, give her fresh nest materials and put the box in a different location. If you accidently place the nest box in the spot they normally pee or poop in, they sometimes will continue to use the spot even though the box is there.

Next comment. You do not say how old your doe is. Also, why did you buy a buck to keep a doe company in the same cage? Rabbits never come in season like other animals. They LIVE in season! LOL If the Holland Lop was only 8 weeks old, he should have fit in a teacup. How large was he actually when you got him?

Rabbits usually are fertile by 6 months. The smaller breeds might become fertile a little earlier. We have had them breed as early as 14-16 weeks. We left some bunnies in a fryer pen a little long because DH was working 24/7 and couldn't butcher. Figured they would make roasters - big mistake! :eek: After that fiasco we separated the sexes by 10 weeks.

You will have to keep the rabbits in separate cages or have the female spayed. FYI females do not usually make good pets. When they reach sexual maturity they can become grouchy because they want to breed and produce. Males on the other hand usually stay friendly and laid back.

Good luck.
 

kim&sjoerd

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the Buck was 900 grams when we hot him.

we didn’t keep them together. We have separate cages and introduced them in nutural terrein (The kitchen table actually, they pooped on it)

it was an introduction of a couple of minutes.
After that we kept them seperated as The normally cuddely and very tame doe lashed out to Everyone.

after nesting at day 17 and pulling fur The days after, she didn’t look at it again. Now is dat 24-25 and she started digging at her hay again. She was also running around with fur in her mouth this afternoon. DON’t know if she pulled it or took The old fur that we left in the cage.

she is confusing me. This afternoon she saw The Buck. hè was in the livingroom playing with The kids and she was in her cage. She saw him only from a distance but was still growling at him. Told The kids Not to play with The Buck in that part of The livingroom where she can see him. They live indoors in our cold winters. Outdoors when wetter Permits it. The doe is 10 months old.
Regards

kim
 

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