Breeding bonded female? Need advice!!

[VixensShadow]

Hi. I have 6 rabbits, 5 of which are desexed.

My intact female is a gorgeous Flemish Giant who i want to breed when she reaches closer to 1 year old (is currently 6-7 months old).

However, she is bonded to a super sweet, relatively harmless male mini rex (only rabbit he has ever actually initiated a fight with was his brother). They adore each other and took to each other instantly, they hate to be apart and it really is true bunny love. He is fixed so i cant breed them together, but i was wondering if anyone had any experience breeding a bonded female to a separate male?

I dont want to separate them and risk undoing the strong bond they have so separating her to breed is out of the question. But is it possible to keep them together and still breed her?


For some extra information about the situation, she isnt prone to aggression or moodiness, so i cant see her getting that moody when pregnant. He humps her whenever she seems to be in heat so maybe it would be possible to do it in a way that would trick him into thinking the kits are his?? They are free range indoor rabbits so LOTS of space to get away from each other, though they follow each other around and spend half their time cuddling and grooming each other, they dont even like to be out of sight of each other and he got depressed during a day where she had to go in to the vets.

 

[Preitler]

Well, can't tell about a male, but I keep my does in pairs. Breeding one isn't an issue at all, it even gets somewhat more peaceful when pregnant and when the kits are around. Sometimes I seperate them for 1-2 days when kindling, not for longer since I don't want hierachy issues, also the 2nd doe needs to get used to all that.

When pregnant, mine don't like being humped, they are very vocal about that when the buck is with them, but I haven't seen any violence after they were bred, they have more subtle ways to tell the boy to behave.

But, you know, kits free range indoors? I had that once when my Fury was in quarentine in my kitchen, tell you, no fun. I was glad a friend of mine rented that apartment and renovated it after I fled the scene . Kits will pee and poop everywhere, so you'll need a more special area for them and keep them there.

So, what I would do if they were mine: I wouldn't seperate them, but prepare the space so to be able to do so on short notice, kind of divider and 2 sets of litterbox/food setups. Just take the doe out, on neutral or the other bucks space, breed her and put her back afterwards. Keep an eye open if she's grumpy to the buck, hormone change can have side effects, that doesn't mean that their bond is broken or so, just give them time. When kindling, I would keep the buck away for a day or two. Maybe just dividing the space and restrict the doe to a rather small area with nestbox and necessities. A few hours after kindling I would remove the dividers, and have a keen eye on the boy that he does not trample the nest or use the nestbox as litterbox.

Anyway, you sure you want to breed her and already have a viable plan of what to do with the offspring? What buck would you use? And you might want to read up on quarentine proceedures when any of your rabbits has contact to an outsider, or if you bring a new rabbit in. You'll have to skip those at least for the buck she's living with. When it's stock you have frequently contact to or one of your rabbits is from that might not be such a big issue, and I might be somewhat paranoid about that (lost 14 of 15 to Myxo in my first year with rabbits).

 

[VixensShadow]

Well, can't tell about a male, but I keep my does in pairs. Breeding one isn't an issue at all, it even gets somewhat more peaceful when pregnant and when the kits are around. Sometimes I seperate them for 1-2 days when kindling, not for longer since I don't want hierachy issues, also the 2nd doe needs to get used to all that.

When pregnant, mine don't like being humped, they are very vocal about that when the buck is with them, but I haven't seen any violence after they were bred, they have more subtle ways to tell the boy to behave.

But, you know, kits free range indoors? I had that once when my Fury was in quarentine in my kitchen, tell you, no fun. I was glad a friend of mine rented that apartment and renovated it after I fled the scene . Kits will pee and poop everywhere, so you'll need a more special area for them and keep them there.

So, what I would do if they were mine: I wouldn't seperate them, but prepare the space so to be able to do so on short notice, kind of divider and 2 sets of litterbox/food setups. Just take the doe out, on neutral or the other bucks space, breed her and put her back afterwards. Keep an eye open if she's grumpy to the buck, hormone change can have side effects, that doesn't mean that their bond is broken or so, just give them time. When kindling, I would keep the buck away for a day or two. Maybe just dividing the space and restrict the doe to a rather small area with nestbox and necessities. A few hours after kindling I would remove the dividers, and have a keen eye on the boy that he does not trample the nest or use the nestbox as litterbox.

Anyway, you sure you want to breed her and already have a viable plan of what to do with the offspring? What buck would you use? And you might want to read up on quarentine proceedures when any of your rabbits has contact to an outsider, or if you bring a new rabbit in. You'll have to skip those at least for the buck she's living with. When it's stock you have frequently contact to or one of your rabbits is from that might not be such a big issue, and I might be somewhat paranoid about that (lost 14 of 15 to Myxo in my first year with rabbits).

Kits being freerange isnt an issue before they are litter trained cause my floors are mostly concrete anyway so they cant really destroy any carpet.

And i am not sure what buck i would use as i want to get a few people opinions on if this is doable without screwing up the already established bond between her and her bonded male. Also, as i am going to wait a few months before breeding her anyway, i wont be looking for a buck yet.

Where i am from, it isnt a huge worry for me about quarantine or contact with 'outsiders'. Especially as i wont be breeding her with just any random buck either, i have standards that i will be looking for to decrease her risks.

I know that in some mammalian species, if a male senses that a litter is not his own he will cull it and breed the mother. However i am not sure if that still applies to males who have been neutered, or whether there is the possibility that the male she is with might accept them as his.

Going off nature and wild creatures, it is not always an intact males first instinct to kill litters, and some males is social species help out. I havent breed rabbits before so i dont know about wether it is a viable option to keep males and females together throughout the breeding process.

Any opinions are welcome and good though!!

 

[Preitler]

Rabbits don't act like lions. Not even the does care who's kits they are nursing. They only care about the nest, and being relieved from their milk.
The only thing males do is what they are famous for. Both the bucks I had were always totally friendly to all kits, and totally surprised when bucklings coming of age attacked them. Kits are just neutral, friendly things to them. But I would definitly seperate the bucklings in time, say, at 8 weeks or so.

 

[VixensShadow]

Rabbits don't act like lions. Not even the does care who's kits they are nursing. They only care about the nest, and being relieved from their milk.
The only thing males do is what they are famous for. Both the bucks I had were always totally friendly to any kits, and totally surprised when bucklings coming of age attacked them. Kits are just neutrral, friendly things to them. But I would definitly seperate the bucklings in time, say, at 8 weeks or so.

That is a relief to hear, all 3 of my does despise each other, so other does are not a problem. My only concern is whether breeding my doe will mean i have to break up her and her desexed buck.

If bucks dont have alot of issues with kits, and seeing as my boy is soft and sweet and loved everyone of the kits her was put with when i was trying to find him a doe, then i suppose as long as i watch them close and monitor the situation then it is doable without breaking them up