About five or six days before you expect the babies to be born, put one of the nest boxes that you have built see page 41 in the last booklet in the pen with the female. Put one of the nest boxes in the pen with the female Cover the bottom of the box with sawdust or wood chips.
This will help to keep the box dry after the baby rabbits are born. Put a little dry grass or hay in the box. Dry grass or hey The female rabbit will then make a nest in the box to protect the baby rabbits, using some of her fur mixed with the dry grass or hay. The female rabbit will make a nest The nest box is very important because baby rabbits are weak and helpless when they are born. Baby rabbits have no fur, they cannot see and they cannot walk.
So, they must be well protected. The baby rabbits in the nest Soon after the female rabbit has finished the nest, you can expect the baby rabbits to be born. Stay away from the pen as much as you can during this time and do not bother the female. This is especially true while she is having the babies. When the baby rabbits are born After the baby rabbits are born, look at them carefully to see that they are all well.
Look at the babies as soon as they are born Here are some things that you should look for. One very important thing that you should always remember is never touch baby rabbits unless you must, and if you must, make sure your hands are clean.
Wash your hands All of the baby rabbits should be lying close together. If they are lying far apart carefully move them together. Carefully move them together A female rabbit gives milk to her babies only once a day. If the babies are not close together, she may not feed them all. All of the baby rabbits should be warm and well covered in their nest. If they are not, put the fur and hay in the nest all around them.
Put fur and hay around them If any of the baby rabbits are dead or deformed, take them away and destroy them. Take away dead or deformed babies If there are too many babies for the female to feed, take some of them away. A female rabbit with eight teats can feed only eight babies.
You can move baby rabbits from one female to another one that also has babies. If you have another female rabbit with too few babies, you can give some to her to feed.
If one rabbit female has to many babies, give some to another However, the baby rabbits that you give to another female should be no more than two days younger or two days older than her own babies. Gently rub the baby rabbits you are going to move with some of the grass or hay of the new nest. Gently rub the babies with grass or hay from the new nest This will give them the same smell as the new nest so that the new female rabbit will be more likely to accept the new babies as her own.
Sometimes female rabbits will kill their babies and sometimes they will not feed them. This can happen if a female rabbit does not have enough milk. Sometimes female rabbit kills their babies It can also happen the first time that a female rabbit has babies because she does not know how to take care of them.
If she kills her babies or will not feed them the next time she is mated, do not use her for mating again. Replace her with a new female. Look at your baby rabbits every day to make sure that they are all well. Take away any babies that die. You have already been told that female rabbits with babies need a lot of food.
They also need a lot of water to make milk for the babies. So, be very careful with female rabbits when they are having babies. Be sure that they can get as much food and water as they want. Make sure that they can get as much food and water as they want At first, your new little rabbits will sleep most of the time and move very little. They will take milk once a day. Most people raising rabbits for show or as pets rebreed does 35 to 42 days after the birth of a litter.
Most medium- to large-sized female rabbits have 8 to 10 nipples, and many give birth to 12 or more young. If a doe is unable to nurse all the kits effectively, kits may be fostered by removing them from the nest box during the first 3 days and giving them to a doe of about the same age with a smaller litter. Moving the larger kits instead of the smaller kits to the new litter increases the chance of success. Does nurse only once or twice daily, and kits nurse for less than 3 minutes at a time.
Kits are weaned around 4 to 5 weeks of age. Kits can be reared by hand, but the death rate is high. They should be kept warm, dry, and quiet. If a lactating doe is not available to foster the kits, they can be given kitten milk replacer twice a day.
Domestic rabbit kits are weaned at about 6 weeks old. Young does may kill and eat their young for a number of reasons, including nervousness, neglect failure to nurse , and severe cold.
Dogs or predators entering a rabbitry often cause nervous does to kill and eat the young. Cannibalism of the dead young occurs as a natural nest-cleaning instinct. If all management practices are proper and the doe kills 2 litters in a row, she should not be used for breeding.
Also see professional content regarding management of rabbits Management of Rabbits Management of rabbits for meat, fur, or wool production is quite different from maintenance of a pet or house rabbit. The American Rabbit Breeders Association www. From developing new therapies that treat and prevent disease to helping people in need, we are committed to improving health and well-being around the world. Prior to castration of the male rabbit, elevation of the hindquarters or gentle pressure on the caudal abdomen will cause testicles to fall back into the scrotum.
A closed castration technique is preferred to minimize the risk of post-operative inguinal hernia. If an open surgical technique is performed, the large, superficial inguinal ring should be closed. Adult females, particularly medium and large breed does, often develop a dewlap or fold of skin beneath the chin.
Older does tend to be larger than bucks of the same breed Richardson The ovaries are elongated, and are located relatively caudal in the rabbit. The oviducts are very long and coiled. The duplex uterus consists of two separate uterine horns separated along its length.
There is no uterine body. The mesometrium is a site of significant fat storage in the rabbit, proportionally much greater than in other companion animals. The rabbit vagina is relatively long and saccular Vella The urethra enters the dorsal wall of the vagina; the clitoris sits on the ventral surface. The vulva appears triangular with a slit-like opening , and the appearance of this slit is used to distinguish juvenile females from juvenile male rabbits.
If the urinary bladder is expressed while the rabbit is in dorsal recumbency, the relatively flaccid vagina can potentially fill with urine. To minimize the risk of contamination during ovariohysterectomy, the bladder is expressed after the patient is anesthetized but before the animal is placed on its back Jenkins The suspensory ligaments are relatively long, making exteriorization of the uterus relatively easy, however the large amount of fat in the broad ligament still makes rabbit spays relatively challenging procedures, even in young does.
The female rabbit is an induced ovulator. There is no regular estrous cycle, instead ovulation occurs after mating. If coitus does not occur, the doe will vary in receptivity as ovarian follicles regress and new follicles mature. Periods of receptivity last anywhere from 5 to 14 days and are followed by one to two days in which the doe will refuse to mate. Upon introduction, the buck follows the doe around, softly humming while sniffing and licking her for approximately 30 seconds Vella , Bays He may also spray the female with urine Bays The receptive female will hop around in circles or flatten to the floor Bays Lordosis is observed when pressure is applied to her back Bays , while the non-receptive doe will run away from the buck, and if cornered she may vocalize or even bite.
Active mating begins when the buck grasps the female by the nape with his teeth. He then mounts the female rabbit, thrusting vigorously until ejaculation occurs relatively quickly. Afterwards the male emits a sharp cry or squeak, before falling onto his back or side while the doe either runs away or begins to bite and kick the male Video 1 Bays , Richardson Video 1.
Rabbit breeding is a brief affair. Although a single mating is often sufficient stimulus to stimulate ovulation, breeders often allow mating to occur several times over a minute period before returning the doe to her enclosure.
Despite her fecundity, the doe should have no more than three litters in one year Richardson Reproductive life varies with the breed, however bucks are typically bred for 5 to 6 years and does for approximately 3 years Vella When compared to hares with their 40 to 50 day pregnancy, rabbits have a relatively short gestation period averaging 31 days.
Litter size ranges from four to 12 kits Vella , Bays Small breed rabbits tend to produce smaller litters that are born after a relatively long gestation period Vella The fetus is palpable by Day 12 to 14 Richardson Despite their high fertility rates, rabbits tend to suffer from a high incidence of embryonic mortality. There are many potential reasons for this problem including infection, heredity, trauma, drug use, poor nutrition, as well as social or environmental stress.
Fetal death and resorption is most likely to occur in subordinate does Vella , Klaphake The doe begins to nest several days to a few hours before parturition. Hair epilates more easily as estrogen levels rise and progesterone levels fall, and the doe plucks hair from her abdomen, sides, and dewlap.
Figure 3. The doe interweaves plucked hairs with hay and straw to create her nest. Kindling usually occurs during the early morning hours and normally takes about 30 minutes Vella The kit is born hairless, with sealed eyelids and ear canals.
Anogenital stimulation is required for elimination of feces and urine Table 1 Bays Despite their relatively helpless state, the young are not brooded by the mother Bautista , Bays
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