breeding in groups

[Sabine]

For the last few days I experimented with leaving my two brood does together. One of them should be 2 weeks pregnant and the other is about 5 months old. I was totally surprised how they took to each other and now they seem inseparable when they are out in the run.
They both have their separate hutches where they are supposed to have their babies. Of course at this stage, expecting a litter in 2 weeks I am not going to change their living arrangement but I am wondering if in the future having them live together and rear their babies in the same hutch. I have to do quite a bit of reorganizing like swapping hutches around but I could make it possible.
I know there are things that speak against it like not knowing which baby belongs to whom if I breed them at the same time (which is the plan as it would be Ember's first litter. I have read discussions on the subject before and still can't make up my mind what I'd prefer.
Keeping them in their own hutch is of course neater and safer in some ways but my heart tends to favour the idea of a group setting. Maybe I am just a sentimental keeper and not cut out for serious breeding:?
Would anyone like to share their opinion?
Sabine

 

[TinysMom]

Sabine wrote:

Keeping them in their own hutch is of course neater and safer in some ways but my heart tends to favour the idea of a group setting. Maybe I am just a sentimental keeper and not cut out for serious breeding:?
Would anyone like to share their opinion?
Sabine

I would LOVE to comment on this - because its something I've heard about before.

I had a friend who had a mother/daughter have litters at the same time and they had the same cage setup (it was huge for their size). I think this happened twice. Fortunately, mom was one color and daughter was a different color - and it was easy to tell the babies apart from birth - I forgot if one was black and one was tort or one was solid and one was broken. She also marked in their ears.

She said it worked well for her - she did it because the two does were so close and bonded and it was so easy to tell the litters apart. If I remember right - there were times when the mamas fed the other babies too - or something like that (and vice versa).

Would I recommend it normally? No. (I don't think she would either).

I must admit - it is an idea I am toying with though in the next few weeks. In my situation - Nyx and Sophia are VERY VERY close. They hang out together during their playtime and for several days this week they shared the same cage (we were rearranging cages and stuff and they would both go into the back of one cage and not come out (hard to catch when a cage is almost 4' deep and you can't climb in back to get them). They'd share their supper and water and sleep snuggled together almost all night long - in fact - everytime I looked in the rabbitry - they were together.

Hopefully, Nyx and Sopia are now pregnant and I'm debating on whether to let them share a cage or not - they look for each other as soon as they're out (if I separate them) and I've had them nip me at times when I tried to separate them. They would each have their own nestbox and Nyx's cage is for a 150 pound dog - all three girls often go in there and nap (or they used to before the babies came).

I myself also had a situation like this once before with two bonded does - only one doe got pregnant and the other one didn't. The non-mommy loved to go sit in the box or lay beside the box...the mommy wanted to go play. Unfortunately, the mama also didn't have her milk come in and we weren't able to save the babies although we tried. But - I know they would've had two mamas taking care of them as much as possible (I think we lost the last one at 5 days of age).

I wouldn't do this with just any set of two does - and if I did it - I'd do it with the understanding that I could lose both does or litters if they fought.

In the case of Nyx and Sophia - they never fight and they are best friends....

 

[Sabine]

Thanks for your comment Peg. I would love to have a set up where they could socialize more casually like yours but in our case it's only the run or the hutch no inbetween place
I am so amazed that the two girls seem to be so close. All my other girls (all spayed) don't seem to be half as lovey-dovey with each other. Makes me really wonder...
Unfortunately both girls will be bred to the same buck as I only have the one and they both have sable and smoke in their background so could through either.
Unless if I just did it for the one litter and took the chance not being able to tell the babies apart and stagger subsequent breedings

 

[TinysMom]

You could breed them two days apart....still pretty close for fostering plus give you time to mark their ears before the second litter is born...

 

[Sabine]

How would you actually mark their ears as it must be lick proof but not harmful?

 

[TinysMom]

I didn't do this - but I was told by a reputable breeder with Athena & Sophia's litter to take the smaller litter - use a tiny pin (which had been sterilized) to put a prick in their ear - and then go over it with tattoo ink. This way - the dot would be permnament but by the time they're grown - it wouldn't s how much.

 

[Sabine]

I wonder would something semi permanent like henna do? I have never come across tattoo ink but I guess a tattoo shop will help me out there. Thanks for the tip even though right now I can't see myself pricking those little ears.

 

[Jenson]

I have also done this very successfully with a bonded mother and daughter, though it was accidental (both does were mated by the same buck while I was on holiday) it worked out well for them and they helped feed each others litters. I know rabbits kept and allowed to breed in groups also do the same so perhaps it is more natural to them than we think. I would do it again with a bonded pair, but I would approach with caution and keep a very close eye on them.