BlueSkyAcresRabbitry wrote:
Thought I'd update on Sage too. I palpated her today, and I think I felt a baby! Not totally sure though. We're just hoping she is pregnant. She's 9 months old...so if she isn't pregnant, is it alright to re-bred her again? I didn't think it was and want to know. I'm beginning to think that either she or Ray is sterile...
Maybe I should breed Bruce to her? He's a Chinchilla - is that alright?
Emily
Emily - refresh my memory on Sage...what breed is she? What color?
You say "he is a chinchilla" - do you mean in coloring - or in the chinchilla breed (isn't there a chinchilla breed of rabbit? I forget..duh!)
I was thinking Sage was Netherland Dwarf - in which case I'd probably try to breed her again a couple more times to make sure she's had babies before she's a year old if you're going to use her for breeding. But honestly - Polly is more of an expert on Nethies. I'll put it this way - if she was a lionhead - I'd be breeding her every month for the next two to three months until she 'took'....just to get that first litter in ASAP. I think it would help if we could see a picture of her and make sure she's not overweight, etc.
As far as Ray...isn't he the baby y'all had there? I'm asking because - and this is going to sound stupid I know - but I've had some bucks that I swear won't get a doe pregnant until they're about a year old. Its like they have to mature or something and they just "shoot blanks" as I've been told. They mate...they just don't do anything.
My buck Recharged was like that - I bred him and bred him and bred him from the time he was like 6 months old till he was a year old. He'd mount and fall off...but no babies.
I was frustrated and I mentioned this to his original breeder (a well known lionhead breeder) and she stated that some bucks just need a bit more time to mature. Sure enough...I tried him again when he was about a year old...and I had babies.
Then again - I had an 8 1/2 week old buck get his mama pregnant - so I guess they can breed early or breed late. It was in one of my first litters and I left the babies in with mama till they were almost 9 weeks old. About 28 days after removing the litter (3 does and 1 boy)....mama had another litter. She was not caged near a buck and had not been exposed to a buck in any way - other than her son. I mean - she was like 3 cages away from any bucks and I was the only one who handled them....
My point? From my experience - I now never count on a buck to be sterile - or non-sterile based on age or anything else.
Maybe you could breed her to someone else's buck if you paid some stud fees? That might be an option to consider too.....
Good luck - I know you're wanting babies from her!
