When breeding rabbits, there are several things you’ll want to mark on your calendar in order to keep organized. This is especially handy when you have several does at one time breeding and giving birth. The following are what we keep track of and mark on the calendar in order to make sure we’re on top of things with our does . . .
1. Date Bred
Obviously you’ll want to mark what date your doe was bred in order to calculate when she will be due to have her litter. If I have a stubborn doe, I’ll leave her with the buck for as long as one week. In this instance I’ll mark on the calendar the first day she was put in there and say “exposed” instead of “bred”. Then I know to give her a week to give birth when she’s due.
2 & 3. Due Date
Marking the due date not only tells me when to expect a litter, but also when to put in the nesting box. Most people put the nesting box in a couple days before the doe is due. We put ours in about 4-6 days before the does are due. Sometimes sooner if the does are exhibiting early nesting behaviors. We have such large runs for our rabbits that they don’t take up a lot of space. We would leave them in all the time but we remove them when the babies are about 3 weeks old to clean them out and prep them for the next kindling by adding fresh bedding.
4. Kindling Date
When the doe gives birth you’ll need to mark the date in order to keep track of how old they babies are. It also influences the following reminders that we write down.
5. Nest Box Eye Check
This one may be overlooked by some but if you breed rabbits you know that nest box eye is bound to happen at some point. This is especially common with really large litters. Kits begin to open their eyes at about 9 days old. I make a point to check them at 10-12 days old to make sure both eyes are clear and open. If any have eyes that appear to be glued shut (nest box eye) then I get a saline solution or chamomile tea solution to gently wipe the eye and remove the debris irritating the eye. Usually one or two wipe sessions is sufficient but I check daily until it’s gone. Skipping this can result in a rabbit that is uncomfortable and they eventually go blind.
6. Sexing & Weaning The Litter
The last step in the rabbit breeding process. Once baby rabbits reach 6-8 weeks old, it’s time to sex the litter. You can try and do it sooner but I find it easiest to just do it at weaning time. I separate the boys from girls and wean the babies from momma rabbit. It’s also at this point that some breeders will re-breed their does and the process starts all over again.
7. When To Re-Breed
Once a doe has kindled I immediately count 4-6 weeks out as to when to re-breed her. This keeps me on track so that we are getting as many babies as we can during our short season. Some rabbitries re-breed their does 2 weeks after they’ve kindled so that the doe is giving birth right when their current litter is finishing weaning. That’s a little too extreme for us so we do 4-6 weeks after kindling. It depends on how big their last litter was or how many litters they’ve already had.
8. When A Litter Is Ready To Process
Once you’ve figured out about how long it takes your kits to reach optimal size for processing, it can be helpful to mark it on the calendar so you know when it’s time.
And that’s about everything we are sure to mark on our calendars come breeding season. With several does it makes for a lot of notes but makes it easier on us so we don’t have to mentally remember everything.
