Owning a rabbit is one of the easiest but fulfilling things you can perform in your home. Aside from the fact that these cute creatures only need minimal attention, they can also be raised to provide a great quantity of meat. But do you know when is the right time to start breeding your rabbit?
When breeding rabbits, put the female rabbit in the cage of the male rabbit, never make a mistake of putting them vice versa since the female rabbits are naturally territorial and may injure or kill the male rabbit. Even though rabbits are highly efficient in carrying litters at around 4 months old, the common rule is not to allow the tiny to tool kinds to mate until they reach the age of 6 months and the big to giant types up until they reach the age of 8 months.
Simply what will an immature rabbit and a female rabbit do if you put them with one another? They will immediately mate once they become physically adept in performing so, which can be an ideal deal younger than you perceived possible. This is the reason why you must get the proper comprehension about the basic rule of raising rabbits – if you place an intact male and female rabbit together, you will just wake up one morning with kits in the cage already, whether you did the preparation or not.
here is a logic behind the common saying, “reproducing like rabbits.” Rabbits mate so fast that it might leave you blushing. Blinking a few seconds may make you miss out on the planting, the mating, and also the descent.
What is breeding?
When you allow two rabbits to mate, the gesture of mating is called breeding. It is typically a good idea to choose rabbits to breed. They should be the breeds whose lineage has proof of good genetics as well as good productivity. That is where the pedigrees listing and productivity data demonstrate successes come in handy. You may keep show and productivity information of your breed simply for this reason.
Age of Sexual Maturity
Because of the comprehensive variations between the breeds of rabbits, sexual maturity also varies according to breed. On average, rabbits of smaller breeds get mature faster compared to the bigger breeds. Moreover, within some rabbit breeds, there is also a deviation between these breeds.
Below is an illustration of the age at which the various rabbit breeds seem to reach the maturity of their sexuality:
- Miniature breeds: Britannia Petite, Netherland Dwarf, Polish, Holland Lop, Dwarf Hotot, and other alike breeds
These breeds normally reach their sexual maturity at age 125 to 150 days.
- Medium breeds: Havana, Florida White, Mini Lop, Dutch, and other alike breeds
These breeds normally reach their sexual maturity at age 150 to 180 days.
- Large breeds (Standard or Commercial breeds): Palomino, New Zealand, Champagne d’ Argent, Californian, and other alike breeds
These breeds normally reach their sexual maturity at age 6 to 7 months. A lot of commercial breeders will attempt to mate young females when they get to a calculated weight instead of breeding based on age alone. Rabbits of commercial breeds, relying on the strain as well as other aspects, becomes mature when roughly reaching a body weight of 9 to 10 pounds.
- Giant breeds: French Lop, Giant Chinchilla, Flemish Giant, Checkered Giant, and other alike breeds
These breeds normally reach their sexual maturity, starting the age of 8 months. The explanation for the late maturity is that these breeds do not acquire their complete physical formation until roughly this age.
Many rabbit breeds will keep on maturing and grow even if they have already reached their sexual maturity. If the rabbit starts procreating at an early period, it will most likely not attain its utmost adult size. However, that does not create an impact on the probable dimension of their offspring.
Thus, conceptualize a male and a female rabbit that both carry the capability to weigh 12 pounds when completely grown. If they are bred at an early age, they can only get a weight of 9 pounds once they are completely grown. Nevertheless, you can consider that their offspring shall have the capability to get a weight of 12 pounds if the offspring are permitted to mature (not allowed to breed during an early period).
How Often Do They Breed?
Do you have an idea of how often rabbits breed? Normally, rabbit reproductions are done through preparation. But are the species prepared for every various other? Before whacking the female rabbit to the cage of the male rabbit, never forget to conduct a thorough inspection on the both of them. This is to inhibit the transfer of any contagious diseases.
When does the female rabbit come into heat? Different from the pet cats and the canines, rabbits do not go in and out of the heat. Rather, they are triggered ovulators, which implies that the gesture itself provokes the female rabbit to ovulate during the time of mating. However, that does not mean she exhibits no cycle. The female rabbit goes through a hormone sequence of around 18 days – 12 to 14 days of eagerness and 4 days of declining to mate.
The cycle starts with the female rabbit having 5 to 10 eggs, which are mature and set for fertilization. The eggs are kept in follicles that are filled with fluid and cell-lined, which produce estrogen for as long as 2 weeks, lingering and prepared for the outside incitement of breeding. Once mating happens, the follicles break open within 10 hours, sending off the eggs, which are after they were fertilized and also embed themselves inside the uterus. If there is breeding happening, the follicles, as well as the eggs regress and also the ovaries, start preparing another batch of eggs. The female rabbit will surely refuse any kind of advances of a male rabbit until the new batch of eggs has developed and the hair follicles start draining out the estrogen, which lasts around 4 days.
Considering the amazing classifications between the breeds of rabbits, including the distinctions in weight and dimension during adult ages, there are more variations between the periods at which specific types come into sexual maturity. Commonly, the smaller breeds of rabbits will normally progress faster compared to the bigger breeds of rabbits. Moreover, within some breeds of rabbits, there is a similar variation between the scopes of that kind. It has similarly been observed that female rabbits will typically reach the period of sexual maturity 30 to 60 days earlier compared to the male rabbits of similar range and breed.
Common Guidelines When Breeding Your Rabbit
- If you want to ensure successful breeding, you must be able to execute the basic principles well. When breeding your rabbits, you must obey the following guidelines:
- You should only mate rabbits that come from a similar breed.
- Do not put two or more rabbits inside a cage if the rabbit is 3 months or older than that. Rabbits become mature faster if they are left alone, they do not struggle, and the worst is that they do not breed, thus getting rid of the unanticipated outcomes.
- Before starting the breeding, inspect the bottom portion of the cage of both the male and female rabbits to see if there are traces of loose stools or diarrhea. It is not recommended to breed rabbits under this kind of condition – wait until they are fully treated.
- Inspect the genitals of both the male and female rabbits to see any indications of infection or disease such as discharges, scabbiness, sores, and extreme redness.
- If you are set to breed the female rabbit, bring her to the cage of the male rabbit. Never bring the male rabbit to the female’s cage. The male rabbit has less chance to breed when placed in the cage of the female. He will be much occupied snuffing around the cage.
- Some choose to let the female rabbit with the male overnight and simply leave her there. Others choose to wait and observe the process of mating and remove the female once the mating is over. If you choose to do the latter, bring the female back to the cage of the male rabbit 1 to 12 hours after the first breeding. This shall improve the chance of pregnancy and may boost the quantity of offspring.
- Come up with a calendar and correct records of the day you allow the female rabbit to breed. On the tenth and eleventh day after the first breeding, you must check the female rabbit if she is pregnant. There are various methods to do this. The common method is to use your finger to palpate the lower portion of the abdomen tracing for nodules around the size of that of a marble.
- You must put a nest box inside the cage of the female rabbit on a twenty-ninth day after the breeding. Counting 31 days after breeding, the female rabbit should already kindle her litters.
