Breeding Rabbits In Winter
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 13 ธ.ค. 2020
- Winter is here and the weather is getting colder. Now is the best time to breed your rabbits. It may not seem like it but rabbits do much better in the cold of winter than they do in the heat of summer.
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Thanks for sharing your experiences between winter and summer. Makes me feel better about this winter and more cautious about summer
In the South, summer is rough for rabbits, but winters here are no problem for rabbits. They love it
Thank you for watching. I am glad you found it helpful.
Man wicked videos I've been watching u for a few years now. I learned everything I know about rabbits and coturnix quail from you 👍 best thing I ever done thank you Chris 🥰
Thank you so much for the kind comments. I am so glad to hear that you are finding the videos helpful.
Thanks for the advice about taking the doe to the buck...very helpful
Good vid. Just had 7 new ones yesterday. Easy lovin' time of year for the bunnies 😁😁😁😁😁😁😁
Congratulations on your new babies. And thanks for watching.
Great video thanks Chris. Happy to see you carrying!
I didn't notice but that is good! That's something my husband would spot too.
I am pretty much always carrying. :)
Hey chric, good to see you doing fine...Need more frequent videos
Thank you so much. I am working on trying to get more frequent updates out.
Hey Chris, I just found your channel today. Binge watched about 10 videos on rabbits.
This one you mentioned taking down your waterlines & using bowls. My rabbits have a tendency to tump the bowls over so, I went with the tube & nipples.
To prevent the algae & freezing l use a small pump to circulate the water. You can use electric hookup or go solar charger. (Battery & panel in 1 unit w/USB ports for power) but, you probably don't get enough sunlight where you are.
My name is Rahn & l live in N. TexXxas! I've been raising rabbits about 4 years now. I have Californians, Rex, mini-rex & Netherland dwarfs. I want to get some new Zealanders after watching your videos & I might get some silver foxes too!
Thanks for the suggestions. And thanks for watching. I have thought about doing something similar before but it gets much colder here than it does in North Texas. Even if I could keep the water in the lines from freezing, the nipples themselves would freeze up.
Thank you!!
Thank you for watching.
Yay
Sounds alot like my marriage
lol
I was wondering if you could make a video on what age you should replace your breeding rabbits?
General rule: 4 to 6 yrs for does and 5 to 7 yrs for bucks.
@@johnrice1943 do you eat them at that age? Mine are all still under a year
I have addressed that in video before but I will see what I can do to get a new video up. Thanks for the suggestion. John Rice is correct thought around 5 years old generally. But really, it depends on when they start slowing down in production so you might have to do it a little sooner or can wait a little longer. I don't eat my breeders, I usually just give them away to someone that wants a pet rabbit.
Thank you, I was afraid of them freezing to death.. I have a Flemish giant doe that I can't wait to breed. I'm on the hunt for a buck by new years!
I am glad you found this vide helpful. Thank you for watching.
This is true.. I just put boxes in my two does cages they are due in a day for one and two days for the other. One girl grabbed the straw out of my hand. I ment to get them done this morning but I didn't. I am glad I went out tonight
oh yeah, when they are ready to build there nest it is a very obvious thing.
My buck got so excited he was trying every position he could. Lol. He played around the world in 7 days. But eventually he found the right spot. Lol. After 3 falloffs he was hugging her and licking her ears. Lol. Such a romantic. He grabbed ahold of her in a hug when we opened the cage to take her out. He was acting like " NO she's mine go find your own" he actually pouted when we removed her. Lmao. Poor dude
That is pretty common behavior actually. I always find it a little funny myself.
Rabbit should lick one another ears. They make vitamin D in there and they need it to be healthy
Can you make a play list with all the bunny videos? Great video!
I do have a playlist with a ton of my earlier videos. But it eventually got too big.
@@Slightlyrednecked wow look at Mr. Popular over here 😁
Well good work anyways
Thanks
Thank you for watching.
We had a hard time recently getting our does to lift! I finally got one to lift yesterday but there are still a few stubborn ones!
One of my does did that I switched her to another cage and then the next day tried again and then she lifted.
That is a common problem. Like J Wick said, switching cages can help with that some times. Or just take the doe and put her in a pet carrier and drive her around the block a few times. I don't know why that works but lots of reports that it does.
Two thoughts, your thoughts on breeding a virgin doe? Secondly, I use heated dog bowls year round. No, I don't heat the water in the summer, lol. Love the video, I learned a few things.
Great video but the shirt is awesome!
Thank you. It is one of my favorite shirts as well.
I built a shed and started raising rabbits this past spring. I have a buck and two does that I tried to get mated today. It was the first time for all four of us.
The buck kept getting up on the doe and doing the "jackhammer" for 2 or 3 seconds each time but not once did he do the "fall off" part.
I tried each doe twice and between them he did about 40 rounds of nailing the doe but not falling off.
I suppose I'll try them again tomorrow. I guess he'll figure it out eventually.
Falling off is not always a requirement
I am having a hell of a time getting any of mine to breed. I've tried several times this fall and so far winter, and no one is interested! I dint know what I'm doing wrong! The males I'm using are usually ready to go and excited to breed! The previous years I have done it in the spring with success
Some rabbits are sensitive to light. You might try adding some light to get the daylight up to 14 hours a day. If your bucks are not interested in mating it could be that they are overweight. They may need to be put on a diet. You didn't mention how old they were. If they are around 4 or 5 years old, it may be time for new breeders too.
@@Slightlyrednecked my one buck is 3 no, the other one is two, and I haven't yet tried my youngest males. After checking off a little, the next thing I was going to try was diet, I don't think theyvare overweight, but they could be. Thanks for responding!
Just bred my two NZ White does this past weekend both of them first timers so we will see how it goes.
First timers are always a little nerve racking. Just watch them close on the due date to make sure that they have them in the nest box (or you can pick them up and put them in the box as soon as they are born) and they should do fine. Good luck with them.
Hey Chris!
I hope you and yours are on fine fettle!
Brilliant vids.
Could I trouble you for a little advice.
My Rex rabbit, (I have 2 other Dutch) - who I didn't think was old enough to have kits, and as far as I was aware, had no opportunity to breed, - has just given birth to a litter this morning.
I do let them roam around, (separately), in my back yard, because I thought my segregation was good: wrong!
I've got to build a nest box today; she won't use the other does box as I've heard it'll stink of another mother.
I'll leave them alone for a couple of days, but I've heard I'll have to get them into a cage, for their own good.
There's no way of stopping them getting out of Rex's plastic two foot domed, insulated shelter.
We don't have many predators here; the main ones being cats and rats, and if I'm truthful a rat would have the Public Health, here and around, immediately. I suppose crows and seagulls could be a problem once they're in the run.
I'm in a fairly built up residential area, but my yard is spacious and sealed
I don't know how she'll react going from a run into a cage, so I fear they might not survive
I'm in North East of England, and though we only occasionally go below minus centigrade; it is damp cold. The sea is only four miles away. If it goes below -2 the whole country stops. Joking aside, damp cold gets in your clothes, and down to your bones, Eughhh!
This was totally unplanned.
I'd really appreciate any tips on the transfer to the cage please, or do I need to bother at all? I could just block the entrance with a 6" plate/piece of wood, so they can't climb over, obviously the mother will just step over it.
I've opened up her run today, so she can access the full yard, and she's going mental; running all over the place.
Easy'!
If she built a nest for them and they are all snuggled in there I don't think you need to worry about putting them in a cage. in fact, unless you are having issues with them squirming out of there current area i don't know that you need to do anything at all. As long as there is plenty of nesting material there, they should be just fine. If you are concerned, like you said, you can just put a barrier on the opening. It doesn't need to be very tall really, just a 3 or 4 inches should do it.
@@Slightlyrednecked Hey Chris!
Thanks for getting back to me so quickly, but our weather is forecast to get a little cold, wet and windy today, and in the next couple of days, so I opted for safety. I moved them.
To be fair it went smoothly, though I had to do it in the rain; it wasn’t prohibitive.
Nine, healthy looking, wriggly things with round bellies. I’m not concerned.
Cheers!
I'll have my first litter any day now
Mine are due tomorrow or the next day
Good luck with your new litters. Hope they all do well.
I have California rabbits. In the past I have never had an issue with the doe taking care of the kits. Today December 21, 2021 and back five days I had all five of my does that I had bread in succession to the buck start kindling. All were first time mamas. All of them had their babies and all of the babies died because the mamas were not taking care of them.
I think I read somewhere that I could breed those those back to the Buck right away. Do you have any suggestions on what to do to get The dose to take care of the kits once they’re born.
Here in Southern New England we mirror your weather but are colder most days. For instance I cannot use tubes watering as the lines may freeze at times. So would you still recommend winter breeding? I was intending breeding in late February or early March, what are you thoughts? The storm in this video is coming in here today and tomorrow as a typical New England Nor'easter.
We get much colder weather than what we are having right now. We get weeks where it doesn't get above freezing and gets down to the teens or even around 0 F regularly. I have always bred in the winter and never had any problems. If your summers aren't that hot (not above 80 on a regular basis) you might be able to breed in the summer but otherwise I would suggest fall, winter, and early spring.
I been raising rabbits for 60+ years I breed year around
I have 3 does that are about 10 months old and a buck that is about 1 year. I have been trying to breed them for about 2 month's and have only had one fall off. The buck chases the doe around the cage and if they do stop they seem to not want lift their rear ends. I have tried apple cider vinegar, lights to extend daylight, and the black oil seeds. They are Californians and New Zealand's.
Any advice?
Hey our buck might have bred with our does a few days ago. Is it bad if they were 3 months old? We didn’t have a cage for the male yet so what should we do we are pretty sure they are pregnant but we don’t know for sure. Is there anything we should do? We have already separated them and when should we put a doe in our bucks cage to breed
At 3 months old it is unlikely that they are pregnant. But I would still keep an eye on them and plan for babies at about 30 days. It is very hard to tell if a rabbit is pregnant or not. If you start seeing hay stashing around 26 days or so then that is a good sign that she is and is getting ready to have the babies. Just throw a handful of straw in the cage every day and if she picks it up and runs around the cage with it hanging out both sides of her mouth (it will be pretty obvious) then put a nest box in and prepare for babies. As far as when to start breeding, 6 months is about the right time for most rabbits.
Hey Chris I've been watching your videos and one in particular got me thinking. You feed your rabbits once a day ? I started raising about 6 months ago and have always fed them a half a cup twice a day with all the hay they want. Could I switch to a cup once a day ? It sure would make it easier. Now my wife feeds them in the evening because most evenings I don't get home until after 6. One more question , I live in northern wisconsin , below freezing doesn't bother me , it's the below zero temps that I wonder if it's safe to breed. I have them in a tarp shed ( shed in a box ) . I have been leaving one end open for ventilation. We give fresh water 3 to 4 times a day when frozen. I just had a litter of NZ and they are doing fine. But by Xmas Eve we are looking at high temps in the single digits. Should I do anything for the kits to help them stay warm and alive ? Keep up the great vids.
You can easily switch to feeding just once a day. It won't be an issue. The kits should be fine as long as they are in the nest box and covered up. If you are overly concerned, you can bring the nest box in at night and bring it back out at daytime. I have had plenty of newborn baby rabbits in single digit weather. As long as they are in the nest box, I never have any problems.
@@Slightlyrednecked Thanks for the info. The kits will be 9 days old before it gets really cold. THANKS keep up the great videos. Happy Holidays 😃
How long does it take when you can feel your rabbit babies in side of her ive heard that it take 4 days when you feel them but I'm not for sure would like some help on advance on that
Honestly, it is very hard to feel the babies inside of the rabbit ever. It can be done as early as 10 days but again, it is difficult to do and just because you didn't feel them, it doesn't mean they aren't there.
It would be very helpful if you told us what zone or state you are in so we could gauge if this information applies to us in the far northern states
Sorry about that. I am in Southwest Missouri, zone 6B I believe. It gets pretty cold in the winter time here. We get below 0 (actual temp no wind chill) fairly regularly but it doesn't stay that way for long, maybe just a few days at a time usually.
@@Slightlyrednecked Thanks for the reply! We are in 4b here so we are a bit colder. I am jealous of your long growing season. lol. This is our first year raising rabbits so trying to learn how much more protection and warmth we need to provide on those crazy cold days we usually get.
I just had a doe give birth to 10 kits and they were all dead when I checked on her. It is her first litter. Should I wait to rebreed her or is it ok to try again? Is this normal? She did make a nest and pulled some hair but it's 35 degrees here and they were all cold/dead. Any suggestions?
I am sorry to hear that. First litters can be a little difficult. I would wait about a week or two and then go ahead and re breed her.
hey buddy. can you raise different type of quail together in a more natural aviary setting. i have one that is about 6 feet by 5.5 ft and 6 feet tall. could your type of quail be raised with a Californian and/or button quail? if so how many different type of quail can coexistent. not looking for quantity more so looking to have a variety.
Man I was hatching valley with coturnix, and I wouldn’t recommend it. The coturnix are significantly bigger and grow faster, and trample the valleys. Also, the ones that do make it and grow up, they stay away from each other anyways, to the point of the valleys crowding in a corner or something. I even tried leaving one coturnix in the valley cage with about 3 valleys, all hatched and raised together and they wanted no part of each other. It’ll just stress the valleys even more than they already get...
@@TheFrogfeeder thanks buddy!
Can you tell us what and how much you feed your breeders?
Sure. I should do an updated video on that topic but the short answer is, they get as much as they will eat in 24 hours. If they have leftover food the next morning I give a little less. If they dive in like they are starving when I put the food in, I give a little more. Once the doe has her babies, her feeder stays full all the time though.
Hey Chris I got a question I already had 2 litters and they all didn't make in the winter I noticed they all had diarrhea hopefully you can help me out on how to keep them healthy on there first week and what causes diarrhea
I am sorry that you are having to deal with that. It is not common at all. It makes me wonder if there isn't a parasite problem or something similar. I would be concerned about Cocsidiosis. If you have the problem again, I would suggest dissecting one of the kits and checking the liver for white spots. I am afraid I don't have a lot of other suggestions for you.
@@Slightlyrednecked ill keep that in mind didn't think of dissecting but worth a try thank you for the response 🙏
What tools do I need to build a quail hutch like yours
I built mine with a saw to cut the wood and a drill to screw it all together. Other than that, just tape measure pretty much.
Can u breed a male to two females in one day?? i had a warm day the 9th my buck bred my one year old twice after he bred the 10 month three times havent been able to get the 1 year old to bred ive been putting her with the buck since she was 9 months and the does were both lifting for him before he even got started so i figure id put him with both since they were so willing
You should have no problem breeding a buck to two different does in one day. You might need to give him a few hours break in between though.
So what about breeding pairs do u keep them separate till breeding
Yes. I always house my doe and buck separate. It allows me to control the breeding so I know when babies are do and it keeps fights from breaking out.
what breed of rabbit would you recommend to a novice wanting rabbits for meat?
New Zealand
New Zealand or California are a very good choice and should be easy enough to find. But there are lots of others as well.
@@Slightlyrednecked thanks, my first quail hatched today so next venture is meat rabbits
Plz show how your rabbit hutch is build
I want to build your design rabbit cages
With a roof like yours for rabbits
Shed build show
I am sorry but I don't have a video on building the shed. It is really pretty simple though. I will see what I can do to put together a better explanation of how it is built.
@@Slightlyrednecked thanks
hy, i lost my litters 3 days ago. Can I rebreed my rabbit now?thank you
I am so sorry to hear that. I would give the doe at least a week before re breeding her. Just give her some time to "heal" up first.
Do you ever have problems with your rabbits dumping the water bowls?
Not really. I have had some rabbits that seemed to love to do it. But not really an issue with my current rabbits. If it was a big problem, I would just wire it to the side of the cage.
What does it mean when a quail egg is clear and dark
I am not sure what you are referring to exactly. If you are talking about an egg with no shell on it, it isn't anything to worry about. Sometimes birds just lay strange eggs.
What breed are you rabbits? My very first memory or a rabbit what that it was white and had red eyes. When I was a kid, I thought that was kind of creepy. As an adult, they are so gorgeous.
It is fascinating that you can pretty much just put them together to get three mounts in 15-20 minutes, know she's been bred, and then put her back in her own cage. I only know about hatching chicken eggs and that's not even close to the same since we have no clue which eggs are fertilized. Someone should come up with a thing or something. LOLOL!!!!
Also, is raising a couple of rabbits specifically for their poop for fertilizing in my garden economical? I'd actually thought about raising enough that I could sell to local gardeners but I definitely need to do more research on it.
My buck is a California, and my doe is a New Zealand White. And yes, some people find the red eyes very creepy. :)
I don't know how much of a market there is for rabbit manure. I know I have sold some in the past but I don't know that you could make much more money than it costs to feed and house them. it could be worth a shot though.
Where are you located?
I am in Southwest Missouri.
What happens if they don’t have fall offs
if there is no fall off then it is unlikely that the rabbit is pregnant.
How many rabbits do you have?
Just the two breeders at the moment.
@@Slightlyrednecked I have 3 does and a buck. I don't have any Quail. I like quail meat and the 🥚 eggs would be great too
Pls
y does he have a gun???!!
Its his Constitutional right and because he is smart.
Just in case I need it to protect myself, my family, or anyone else that might need protecting.
@@Slightlyrednecked oh ok...sorry
@@Slightlyrednecked i have a question also, do you know any1 who raises purebred flemish giants im looking for a buck to be a breeder
So your telling me these rabbits are confiend to these tiny cramped cages 24/7 of there whole lives, continuously bred, the female doesn't even want to be bred, forcing the rabbit to be rapped continuously her whole life. Never let out to run around. No litter tray, bedding and no where enough hay. This is heartbreaking to see these rabbits suffer in these conditions
Awww someone’s alittle sensitive