Lazy buck (rabbit)

[emptycupranch]

I am new to this board but have been lurking for some time. I have many questions and this is a great place to find answers! Hoping somebody could help me with raising rabbits.

I bought some rex rabbits this summer with the plans to breed for the table. I have two bucks and two does. So far no bunnies as I cannot convince them to breed!

I have lots of questions but to start with here is one:

My one year old buck just does not seem interested in breeding at all. He will half heartedly mount after being with the doe for 15 minutes or so but he would prefer to groom her and cuddle.

She is 6 months old and gets along very well with him. I have tried her with my other 'experienced' 2yr old buck but she is scared of him and will just race around in circles. When he does catch up she just hunkers her butt down to the cage.

Is there anything I can do to get my younger buck's attention geared toward breeding?

[bee_pipes]

Is he well fed? I understand that a well fed buck can be kind of lazy. Try cutting back on his rations a little - make him a lean, mean breeding machine. I have also read that the act stimulates the doe to drop eggs into the fallopian tubes - which is about an 8-10 hour trip. It was recommended to put her back in with the buck 10 hours after the first successful breeding to ensure the job was done.

Regards,
Pat

[goodwifefarm]

This can be such a frustrating problem! I used to breed and show (briefly) Rex rabbits and there is nothing more dissapointing than having your "breed like a rabbit" rabbit...not breeding!
If your doe is planting her butt to the cage floor it is possible that she isn't in heat. You can try holding her bottom up for the buck. Sometimes this works, sometimes it doesn't. You can also try setting lights up on timers in your rabbitry. Spring is breeding time and it's possible that the lack of daylight hours is preventing your doe from becoming "in the mood" If your buck has tried to breed this doe consistently with no luck, sometimes they do just give up. Can you try your lazy buck with a different doe? Good luck!

sarah

[otterbob]

As was said above, they may be overweight , That will put a stop to your rabbit breeding program before quick !

I know this may sound stupid but have you turned that young buck over to see if he really is a buck ? even a doe will mount when mad.

I once bought a 1st place winning jr buck at the state fair only to find out I really bought a pregnant doe !!! , makes you wonder what the judge was smoking that day ! You can bet that now I check um before I pay !

Otter Bob

[goodwifefarm]

I was wondering that as well, but didnt' think to post it. If it is a mature buck, it will be very obvious, although if it is cold out where you are........the "fellas" will shrink up. Let us know if you were successful in breeding! :D

[fancyfowl]

The low light of winter effects the males desire to mate, if they do mate many times they will be sterile, same as in the heat of summer. Does are NOT in heat about 3 days per month, and as someone has suggested, try again after 4-8 hours. I always rebreed 8-12 hours after 1st mating, sometimes produces more kits. I breed mini Rex so litters re not huge no matter what.
I never had a problem with bucks being too fat to breed but have with does, I keep breeding animals a bit on the trim side. There re those animals which just arent good breeders, they are best culled, it is genetic many times and breeding the fault into a line is not good.

[mtwildflower]

One thing the rabbit lady told me when I bought my trio a few days ago was to put a wooden box inside the cages with the "lazier" rabbits. They will get up and off the box and it will help the more overweight rabbits get some exercise.

And so true on making sure you actually have a buck. The first rabbit my rabbit lady showed me was a doe...until I went to check for myself. Sure enough, "she" ended up being a "he". So even the most experienced breeders can be fooled sometimes.

[fancyfowl]

another thing to check for is sore hocks. Themales seem to be more susceptible in my experience. I just noticed you said rex also, i think! Rex have a tendency to sore hocks, especially if inbred a bit. Their gaurd hairs are shortened by the rex mutation which abets the hock troubles. I inbred a line for 7 generations with 3 sibling matings and the 2 things which stood out were sore hocks and decreased litter size. Its also how I made my 1st grand champion.

[emptycupranch]

Thank you everybody for your input! It has been awhile since I checked in here 8)

I never did get this buck to cover the doe, after many many attempts I was able to have her bred by my other buck who is more aggressive. She had 6 kits but only 3 made it past 10 days old. They are now fryer sized.

The 'lazy' buck in question is getting one more chance. For the past few days I have been trying to breed him to a junior doe and he is trying to do the deed but she will not accept him. I am also having this issue with my older doe and buck. The boys are up for nookie but the girls don't want anything to do with them!

I am thinking of keeping one doe and one buck from that first litter to replace the older doe and the 'lazy' buck if he doesnt succeed soon.

I understand that keeping replacements from a difficult to breed doe is not ideal, but Rex rabbits are very hard to find here and I am just so frustrated with these rabbits! I've been trying to breed since June and only have 3 bunnies to show for it!

[momma_to_seven_chi]

I am a big fan of colonizing rabbits in a larger area. Mine are in a 8x10 building (cement floor lots of straw). You can put several nesting boxes, bales of straw piled up, shelves and platforms for them to climb and jump. They enjoy running and climbing. I also keep a limb in there for them to chew on, and change it as they clean off all the bark. I have always had much better production from a colony rather than individual hutches. I have 8 adult does and 2 buck, but with 2 and 2, I might worry about competition and fighting between the bucks because there are so few females. If you colonize you will have to sort rabbits out at least 2-3 times a year to avoid over-production. And you will either have to have a cement floor or else bury chicken wire to prevent digging out. Just use straw for them to tunnel into and satisfy their digging drive.

[harvester]

alot of things to consider. is it really a buck? and are you trying to breed it during the hot part of the day? bucks will get sluggish during the hot part of the day, try him in the evenings when its cooler. Also make sure you are taking the doe to the buck, not the other way around.
is he too fat? is he getting too much protien in his feed? this can cause breeding lazyness. a 14% protien feed is plenty for a buck.
Look at the bottoms of his feet, is he suffering from wire gall? a very common thing for rex rabbits as they dont have the hair on their feet like normal furred rabbits do to protect their feet from wire burns from the bottom of the cage. Put a board in there for him to sit on and wait till his feet heal before trying to breed him again.
check his teeth and make sure they arent overgrown and starting to curl. this hurts and will cause any rabbit to show no interest in the outside world and sulk in the corner.
as for the doe, if you put her in with a good buck and she tucks her butt down in the corner, maybe whimpers and runs from the buck, she isnt ready, try her again in a couple of days.
just a comment, but if you are raising rex rabbits for meat purposes it will take more money per lb of rabbit meat to produce as they will not be butcher size till around 10 weeks or more. If you got a meat breed of rabbit, californian, new zealand, checkerd giant, you would be only feeding the babies for about 6-8 weeks. butchering should be done when they reach 2.5 lbs. this gives you roughly a 2 lb frying rabbit.

[prepngo]

Sometimes the doe just doesn't want it. That's when I will hold her down (with just gentle pressure at the neck) making sure that her backend is not tucked under. This has proven quite successful.

[harvester]

Virgin does can sometimes be fickle. Does are in heat more than they are not. Sometimes its best to let nature take its course when it comes to breeding, than forceing. Trying the doe with the buck once a day in the cool evenings will usually produce a sucessfull mating within a few days. Most of the time you will find that the animal does really know best.

[Tammy01]

I am a big fan of colonizing rabbits in a larger area. *Mine are in a 8x10 building (cement floor lots of straw). You can put several nesting boxes, bales of straw piled up, shelves and platforms for them to climb and jump. They enjoy running and climbing. I also keep a limb in there for them to chew on, and change it as they clean off all the bark. I have always had much better production from a colony rather than individual hutches. I have 8 adult does and *2 buck, but with 2 and 2, I might worry about competition and fighting between the bucks because there are so few females. If you colonize you will have to sort rabbits out at least 2-3 times a year to avoid over-production. And you will either have to have a cement floor or else bury chicken wire to prevent digging out. Just use straw for them to tunnel into and satisfy their digging drive.
This is a great idea - I hate my bunips in cages, but they do dig...do you heat your building? I am thinking of burying chicken wire behind the hen house with a lean to type roof and walled on 3 sides....

[momma_to_seven_chi]

I have 2 heat lamps in the building. The rabbits will lie under them if the weather is very cold Rabbits are very cold-hardy, but don't do so well in heat. I do let one of my LGD sleep in there too on cold winter nights, but she has no prey drive, so the rabbits are safe. They all just lay in a pile on the straw. I have even seen bunnies laying next to her for warmth. I have more than one pyr, but this one girl refuses to sleep in a dog house no matter what the weather. So in the cold or rain she goes into rabbit building. She adds heat to the building too, simply from her massive size and fur.

I also would suggest that the original poster check his does to see if they are actually in heat. The vent turns bright rosy red and swells when the doe is in heat. It's easy to notice if you compare several does over time. I "think" they come into heat every three days until they are pregnant. My rabbits tend to rebreed soon after they whelp simply because they are always together, so we don't have extended heat cycles.