When breeding Holland's there are many things to learn and remember, I would recommend before you go any further that you read our class on Holland Lop first aid and ask yourself the following questions about becoming a breeder: I am willing to sacrifice time and money for my rabbits health and well-being? Am I ready to except failure and death of kits, litters and possibly moms? Am I ready to do whatever it takes (culling, not keeping "pets" etc.) to breed to SOP, and ARBA standard?
If you answered, "yes" to these questions you are ready to continue!
The fist thing that I would like to state right off the bat is this is not for PET breeders. I personality dont believe in breeding pets...there are enough "pet" rabbits to adopt from your local shelter. Believe me I know that even SOP breeders dont get a show-stopper in every litter. But breeding for a better rabbit is always key. I also recognize that ignorance is a thing, some people may think they are breeding SOP but they actually have dont enough research to do what they think they are accomplishing, I know many people like this. breeding better rabbits is always a much better feeling then breeding a pet, as CLR said, "In my mind owning a showstopper that rocks the show world is a pretty good feeling!" Very true! Please read our article on Holland Lop SOP.
Before breeding you nee to make sure of the following things:
That the pair you care making by breeding a buck and doe is going to improve the breed.
That you pair is at least 6-8 months of age.
That you have the supplies needed in you first aid kit and things like a nesting box etc...
Do you have extra cage space to grow out rabbits and or if the rabbits you have for sale dont sell right away.
That you are ready to face failure and possible death of rabbits. (this doesn't happen often but it can so here is my fair warning to you!)
If possibly breed 2 does at once, this insure that if one mom isn't taking care of her babies the other one can.
The Breeding Day:
Alright now that we have got all that down we can begin to talk about the actual breeding day. On the day that you decide to breed you need to make sure that you will be home one that day/days that you doe is due (usually day 28-34). You must always bring the doe to the bucks cage and never vise-versa. I recommend treating you buck and doe with 1/2tsp of ACV in their water 2 weeks before breeding. This helps the do be in better season for breeding and makes the buck more potent. You want to make sure that when you bring the doe to the bucks cage that you watch the entire proses because if the doe starts getting upset you want to end the bunny date. You also want to watch for how many "falls" your buck gets on a doe, a fall is when the mating goes through and the buck falls off the does back. I would say 1-2 falls is a minimum for kits and 5-7 is very good. If you doe will not breed you may have to do table breeding or forced breeding but we can explain that another time. Ok so now that you have got your doe bred you need to write down on the calendar day 30 and day 28 and you will be ready to move on to the next step.
The Week Before Kindling:
If you see you doe running around with hay in her mouth (you should put hay in the cage on week 2nd of your doe being preggo) this is usually a good sine. If they pull hair too early it might be a false pregnancy. I have had does make a nest 2 weeks before kindling but never pull hair that early.
If you see your doe running around with hay you should give her the nesting box. Its as simple as that. Also closer to her due date you may notice that her under chin/dewlap will be bigger (this usually happens the day before kindling).
Kindling Day:
Every day from day 28-35 you need to keep a close eye on your doe and her nest to see if she has kindled. This is because is she has her babies outside the nest or doesn't pull enough hair they could all die. You also need to be watching you doe to make sure she is not having extended labor it should only take the 15-30 mins. to give birth. If you see you doe having contractions (this is rare because they usually give birth early in the morning) its usually a pretty good sine she is not doing good. Watch her closely for the next 30 mins. and if she continues to have contractions and not be birthing anything you need to take the next steps ASAP. Get some Vaseline and rub it on and inside of her vent with a glove on. Give her the suggested amount of TUMS that we tell you in our first aid article. Make her lavender and Blue Cohosh tea instead of water. Normally, none of this rabbits kits will be alive.
OK, so now what to do if you find kits out side the nest box? If they are cold take them inside and put a heating pad under them to warm them up and then put the back out in the nest covered with plenty of hair. If they are still warm you can simply just place them back in the nest box.
What do you do if the doe only pulls a little bit of hair? Well its quite simple you pull if for her, her hair will still be loose for the hormones that she produced. And use the hair to cover the babies. If her hair seems like its not loose anymore you will have to use hair from another doe or hair that you've saved from another breeding.
You also need to remove any dead kits from the nesting box and make sure they all have round full bellies.
What do I do if the doe isn't feeding her babies? This is a simple answer not easily done.... But you need to get KMR (Kitten Milk Replacer) Heavy cream, unsweetened and a dropper or something to feed the babies with. This processes called fostering. Do not force them to drink gently drip it in as to not chock them.
"ALL amounts below should be divided into two feedings per day.
Newborn – 1 week
4-5 cc formula
1-2 weeks
10-15 cc formula
2-3 weeks
15-30 cc formula
3-6 weeks, until weaned
30 cc formula
Baby rabbits feed from their mothers while lying on their backs. You may loosely wrap baby in a soft face cloth or hand towel and lay it on your lap or in the crook of your arm. If bunny will NOT eat this way, of course, do the best you can. It is ABSOLUTELY CRUCIAL to let the baby eat at it’s own pace—especially if it is not suckling from the syringe willingly. If you squirt the liquid in too quickly you can aspirate (get liquid in) the lungs and the rabbit will suffocate.
Until their eyes open (10 days): After each feeding it is important to make the bunny defecate and urinate to keep the intestinal tract and urinary system running smoothly. Use a soft cloth or a cotton ball moistened with warm water and gently stroke the genital area until the bunny starts producing stool and urine. Keep stroking until the bunny stops. You are replicating the behavior of the mother rabbit who would lick her young to stimulate them to go to the bathroom. The stool will be soft and may be varying shades of green and yellow. If the urine is brown and gritty, the buns are not adequately hydrated and you need to get them to a rabbit vet ASAP. Be sure to clean baby’s mouth with a damp cloth or paper towel, so that no milk dries in the hair.
Baby rabbit eyes open at about 10 days of age. You may start introducing them to hay and pellets at this point, but no veggies or fruits yet. Just leave some timothy or orchard and alfalfa hay and pellets in a corner of the box where the babies can easily get to them. Make sure it the pellets are plain, high fiber and fresh, with no added goodies such as dried banana chips or seeds. Don’t ever leave a deep water dish in which a baby could drown; instead, use something shallow and rinse and fill it frequently." Zooh Corner
What do I do if I find a Peanut? And What is a Peanut?
Firstly, a Peanut is a rabbit that is born undeveloped and smaller. It will NEVER develop correctly, it always dies. 'Along with being abnormally small, peanuts often have bulging skulls, underdeveloped hips." -LOL Rabbitry I would highly recommend reading this article on peanuts.
The First Week:
My rule of thumb is that if they make it past day 3 they we usually going to survive. This isn't always the case though. The first week they are growing hair and starting to get more active. Their eyes and hearing are developing. You need to watch and make sure none of them get poop stuck on their bottoms, and clean out the nest on day 7. keep any clean (non wet) bedding, replace the rest.
The Second Week:
The second week is super fun, they will have their eyes open and around day 14 will come out of the nest for short periods of time! They are super happy and exploitive at this stage. Socialize them ALOT during this time, with dogs people and anything you can. Don't take them away from their home from more then 1hr, you may overly stimulate them and get them too scared. Something that I get asked alot is: Will the babies be able to figure out how to get back into the nest after they get out?
The answer is, Yes they will my rule is if they get out they can get back in, but if you notice them struggling and want to help them out you can build a wood stair way or if your OK with putting fabric in your rabbits cage you can make a towel ramp.
The Third Week:
This week is almost the same as the second they will just be a little bigger and SUPER cute! They will be out of the nest more often and rarely going into the nest I leave the next box in in until they are about 4-6 weeks. Three week olds are usually pretty timid still and might venture out of the box once in awhile, but not much. Keep an eye out for DQ nails and goopy eyes and bottoms during this stage.
The Fourth Week:
In this stage its time to start having some fun socializing time with your kits. They love trying to eat everything. I love letting them run in a small claps-able playpen we have, and then lettings them be around bikes, kids, dogs, tractors, chickens etc. I might take the nest box out this week if they seem to care less about it, but some litters love their box if thats the case I will leave it in.
The Eighth Week: This is weaning week, I wean the fattest ones first and then the smaller ones. I normally do the whole prosses in two days. Some kits may have issues with weaning, others it may not phase at all. Watch them carefully and make sure that if you see one struggling you give it probios, Critical and Safeguard (all or a few of those med I listed may be necessary depending on the situation).
TO BE CONTINUED>>>>>
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