and as usual have jumped in head first LOL. my daughter decided to do rabbits as her 4h project this year. ok i think we can do this,i had bunnies as a kid. so we did a little more research and i think we are pretty set up. had a really hard time finding bunnies that where the age she needed and ended up getting three from a fellow 4h kid,that are almost 8 weeks old.then the same day find 3 free bunnies on freeclyle,so of course we get them to. they are just a mixed breed,2 does and a buck. up until we brought them home they had been together in a cage. the lady i got them from said they are 5 months old,and had been humping like crazy,her works not mine. so heres my question,how,when will i know if they are pregnant. the boys seems to have very small just devloping testies,idk if that matters but remembering from when i was a kid the boy bunny we had,well lets just say you could tell was a boy.so im wondering if they are not yet ready to breed.thanks for they help
so,we are new......
- Thread starter samanthaj
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ksalvagno
Alpaca Master
Emmetts Dairy
Loving the herd life
Welcome!
cattlecait
Ridin' The Range
It's VERY hard to tell if a rabbit is pregnant or how far along she is. I suggest keeping a very close eye on the two does and be prepared to jump with two nest boxes to put in their cages when they start nesting, or probably even put the boxes in now since you don't know when either of the girls conceived.
Rabbits usually hit sexual maturity around 3 months old, give or take a few weeks, whether their testicles drop doesn't have really much effect. Some never do, but that's pretty uncommon.
Congrats on your new bunnies! I suggest checking out www.arba.net for any information or if you decide to start showing and raising purebred stock.
Rabbits usually hit sexual maturity around 3 months old, give or take a few weeks, whether their testicles drop doesn't have really much effect. Some never do, but that's pretty uncommon.
Congrats on your new bunnies! I suggest checking out www.arba.net for any information or if you decide to start showing and raising purebred stock.
dbunni
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This is incorrect. The sexual maturity date is dependent on the breed and the individual animal. The larger the breed the later the maturity date. I would never breed a 3 month old angora, flemish or NZ. they are not ready, body or mind. Even the smaller breeds we do not breed before 5-6 months. A Flemish does not reach mature weight until well into their 10th month ... and many are over a year...similar with giant angoras.cattlecait said:
Best of luck with your new kiddos ...
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thanks for the answers, i quess we will just have to wait and see what happens!!! these guys are larger mixed breeds and i talked to the previous owner again last night,she said they will be 6 months old at the end of this month and the activity has been going on for about a week!! id love to post some pics of them but i quess im to new on the forum, so that will have to wait
tortoise
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IF what she says is correct, then put in a nest box with each girl 23 days from the day she said they started.samanthaj said:
If she uses it as a litterbox, take it out for 24 - 48 hours. Put it back in.
Pay attention to how much they are eating. Before I learned how to palpate, that is how I knew if a doe was bred or not. They stop eating 12 - 24 hours before they kindle. If one stops eating, make sure she has a next box.
And, don't get your hopes up for babies. Many (most?) lose their first litter.
cattlecait
Ridin' The Range
No no no! I wasn't saying to breed them that early, don't do that! I wouldn't breed any breed at 3 months ever!dbunni said:
dbunni is right, they shouldn't be bred until they reach mature weight, but if they are left to do their own thing most can and will start breeding around 12 weeks.
