Breeding Netherland Dwarf Rabbits

Breeding Netherland Dwarf Rabbits ~ From Preparation to Kindling

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This section deals with rabbit breeding, which involves preparation, a breeding plan, mating, nest boxes, fur-pulling, kindling, and finally...kits (baby bunnies)!

Introduction

Going from being a bunny lover to being a bunny breeder is not easy. Trust me on this one. You'd think you could just put two rabbits together and a ton of cute baby bunnies result, but it is so much more complicated than that. Only in our society could we make something as simple and natural as rabbit procreation a major undertaking, but it is what it is...complicated.

Becoming a breeder is usually more of a slide down a slippery slope than a concrete decision that is made one day. It is sometimes an attempt to control something that has already happened, like one of your rabbits has gotten the other pregnant, and you have no idea what to do...it could be a reflection of a city person's rural childhood, a longing for the smell of fresh hay and the sight of new life. It is what happens when your fascination with the ears, the eyes, little paws & whiskers turns into something bordering on obsession...and it's hard work, but very rewarding if decisions are properly made.

The first thing you've got to do is make sure you have the hutches and the space. Plan on a hutch for the buck (male), a hutch for the doe (female), and a hutch for EACH kit (baby). Don't be too sure you'll be able to find new homes for those babies! Chances are pretty good that there will be at least one you want to keep.

Then you want to make sure that your rabbits are not going to produce eight-legged freaks. They really should, if you're a beginner, be the same breed and the same variety, and the colours have to go together. Netherland Dwarfs come in five colour groups, and some bunnies in one group should not be bred to bunnies in another group.

Note: Once you've formulated your breeding plan, please make every effort to STICK TO IT! There is a lot of waiting involved, waiting for litters mostly and you'll see other breeds and find them well nigh irresistible =:) but until you've got it going on with one breed, try not to switch to a new one. In other words, don't change horses in mid-stream.

The doe should be same size, or larger than, the buck. If you have a small doe with a large buck, you could wind up with a small doe carrying large babies that she may not be able to deliver except by Caesarian section. Not an affordable situation in the least! It is ideal for the buck to be smaller than the doe, but not so small that he can't, you know...

So you've got your buck and your doe. If you toss them together right away, you may wind up with them fighting like two cats in a bag, so put their hutches side by side and wait until you see signs that they want to get it on. The doe's vent will be a reddish colour and swollen if she's ready to mate. Then you put the DOE in the BUCK'S hutch. Don't let the buck go into her hutch! This is actually a good rule to have in effect all the time. The doe could be territorial and harm the buck, or he could get distracted snooping around. In any case, it's a bad idea, so bring her to HIS house and let them get the party started on their own. If he does anything wrong, she'll let him know. Bunny mating, especially when the buck is young and has no clue what he's doing, can be extremely amusing, or maybe we just have no life, but once he finally manages to do the job, you'll know because he'll jump like he got an electric shock and then lie down on his side. Put the doe back in her hutch for a while after this, twenty minutes or so, and then try again. If she gets growly with him, chances are pretty good that they've been mated successfully and then they stay apart for a long, long time.

I don't know of any real pregnancy test for bunnies, unless you want to spend money at the vet, best to wait ten days to two weeks and feel around her lower abdomen. What's in there should feel like grapes, and you'll notice her eating more, getting rounder, sleeping more, same as people really. She'll also get grouchy and be less receptive to being picked up. Best to spend time NEAR her, where she can come to you, but don't pester her, however well-meaning your intentions. She can have alfalfa hay, and it's a good idea to give her a bit of broken up Tums for calcium, as well as raspberries (good for milk production). Granola cereals that have dried raspberries in them are easy to find at the supermarket and pregnant bunnies seem to like them.

Keep track of the date she mated and calculate the due date to be 28-31 days from that date. It's easiest to just take the date and skip a month ahead, so a bunny bred on August 21 would be due on September 21st., roughly. A few days before her due date, she'll need a nest box.

This "nest box" business puzzled me at first. Why would she need that? It has to do with the conditions under which wild rabbits breed, the psychological well-being of the doe, and the safety of the kits. Bunnies in the wild don't have their kits out in the open, where they would be vulnerable to predators. They hide them in warrens, or burrows, so your bunny will need a hidey-hole for her kits. She will also, as they get moving around, need to get away from them for a great deal of the time and will be unable to do that unless they are in a box from which only she is able to exit. This is not neglect on her part, it is a survival instinct. Bunnies smell like bunnies, but baby bunnies don't have a scent. In the wild, the mother bunny stays away from her babies so that if a predator comes along, it will not find the nest. It may find her, but she will not lead it to the babies. So she parks herself a short distance from the nest and jumps in on the sly once or twice a day to feed them. She also needs to leave the nest box to eat, drink and eliminate waste as she won't want any food, water or waste in the nest box.

The doe should build a nest with hay, in the nest box, if all goes well. If not, you will find a nest in your laundry, perhaps, or your shoe closet. Very important to keep an eye on the pregnant one and confine her to a single area with all amenities nearby.

Pregnant bunnies hate being crowded, and like having time out of the hutch, it seems to make them eat better, and they may seek you out for comfort, but you'll notice that while they seem to enjoy your companionship, and being stroked and spoken to nicely, but they do not want to be PICKED UP. They like all four feet on the floor for the most part! A pregnant doe who feels threatened SHOULD jump into the hutch and into the nest box, but be comfortable cruising in and out of the hutch. Do NOT pester a pregnant doe, and do not allow a buck around her. If your doe is out, she should be out on her own. If a buck frightens her too often, or too badly, she could panic and trample her offspring. Keep tobacco smoke, excessive noise and other house pets away from her area as well. You can try playing a radio at low volume, oldies or classical, something smooth like that, so she has something to listen to besides household sounds, and turn it off and cover the hutch at night.

This has been the origin of a new word in our family vocabulary. "Furpling". Rhymes with "purpling". The kids noticed it first...

Now we all say it. But then again, I'm the same one who can't pronounce the word "horse". What is a horus? You know, riding a horus.

Right before the doe goes into labour (called 'kindling'), she will pull fur from her underbelly, from around the teats and other areas and use it to line the nest. Then all you've got to do is catch her having the kits! Not as easy as it sounds, it usually happens in the early morning between 5 and 7 a.m., but if she's tuned in to your sleep schedule it can happen when she is sure you're asleep. Mum gets around this one by camping out on the couch near the hutch during the doe's last week of pregnancy and waking up at all sorts of odd hours and at every little sound. When the doe strains, her ears will go back and you will see her pushing. She will make sounds, but don't touch her! This is something they like to do in private. Take care not to interfere or allow anything to disturb her while this is going on, or she may stop pushing. If you're watching, watch quietly...

Rabbits have all their kits at one time. If you get one on one day and straining the next day, you may have a problem with stuck kits. Emergency assistance during kindling is occasionally required. If a doe is hopping about with feet dangling out of her, and seems unable to pass the kit, it must be pulled from her. This is a harrowing experience, but must be done as this is most likely a malformed kit. Watch to make sure the straining is having no effect, then have one person hold the doe while you take a clean, dry cloth, wrap around the kit and wait for her to heave. When she pushes, pull gently on the kit, careful not to cause any tearing. Keep pulling with each push that she does, and but bear in mind that, alive or not, it has to come out. When it's out, it will be a mess, dispose of the kit, do not put it in the nest or show it to her, return her to the nest and watch for bleeding. Does with birth canals that are too narrow may have to have their kits delivered at the vet's by Caesarian section.

Pregnant does dislike shutterbugs and peekaboos, she won't want any people's hands in the nest box either, except on maybe the first and second day, when you've got to check the litter for dead kits, giants, false kits, etc., and remove those. No need for photos of those, you'll know them when you see them. If it's huge, or gross, or doesn't resemble the other babies in some abnormal way, you'll know. Before you handle the kits, don't forget to handle her first so that her scent gets on your hands, that way you won't transfer the wrong scents to the kits by accident.

Don't make the mistake of assuming that a kit is dead just because it's cold, however. Some kits appear to be dead but if you warm them up in your hands, they get moving. A great way to warm them up is to get a pot or sink full of warm water (again, watch the temperature), put them in a Zip Lock bag and hold it open with the bottom of the bag in the water. I like this way best as it keeps them dry, there's no chance of injury and it best simulates conditions in the womb.

Tempting as it may be, the bunny dad should really not be allowed around the doe while she is kindling, nor should he be shown the kits. It's not that he will eat them, that is a myth, it's that he could throw her into a panic. Have him pass cigars around or something ;-)