Hey guys some breeding advice?

[irishbunny]

Hey guys,

I'm planning on breeding my two dwarf bunnies, one is a lionlop and the other just a normal dwarf, I have been thinking this over and have resarched everything and am aware of the risks. Good homes will be easy to get and if I couldn't get ''''' homes I would keep them, in my country we don't have a problem with bunnies in shelters either, I wouldn't breed if we did.

The doe [lionlop] is 4 months and 2 weeks old, I know she can breed now, but is it ok to breed her at this age? Buck is about a year old. Advice appreciated!

 

[TinysMom]

(Edited to add: DUH...just reread after posting and saw the doe is the lionlop - I'm leaving the information in though for future reference in case someone searches about breeding dwarfs and comes across this thread).

If the female is a dwarf - I would not breed her to a lionlop male (I used to breed lionheads). A dwarf to dwarf breeding has good chances of stuck kits - let alone a dwarf female to lionlop (larger breed) male breeding.

I would not breed your doe at this age - I would personally wait until 6 months. The one time I went ahead and bred at about 5 1/2 months of age - the doe went on to have issues later on and she died at a fairly young age (the hardest part was - she was a pet - I never intended to breed her when I got her).

I hope this helps.

 

[irishbunny]

Ok, thanks ya the doe is the lionlop, your doe could have died of cancer though, that's why I'm getting her fixed after one or two litters

 

[irishbunny]

Does anyone else have any advice? Has anyone breed at this age?

 

[polly]

Lionlops are generally based on mini lops (if you are in the UK or Ireland) and mini lops are not an awful lot bigger than nethies at that size you would not breed till around 6 months they are generally to small before that and will have more difficulties birthing leading to pencil kits and long labours ( its not worth the stress)

The only thing I would be thinking is that its not a great mix the types you are planning mating you would be much better with a lionlop buck to go with your doe. all you will end up with if you go with what you have is either mini lops that dont lop very well with no mane or very little mane or you will get a dwarf witha little bit of mane or no mane at all

The other thing that you would really have to watch for is skull shape when cross breeding and esp. from dwarfs you can get a lot of teeth problems and have to be ready to go through having any with bad teeth pts. you should not sell them as not everyone would take good care of a rabbit with malocclusion! and it can cause many other problems as well as big vet bills.

Are both your rabbits from breeders or pet shops? if you know the history of your buns it does make your life easier.

Sorry if that sounds likea real downer but you are better having an idea of the problems that can occur! any more questions just ask away

 

[irishbunny]

Hey no I appreciate it,

I'm going to get a lionhead buck out of the money I make out of this litter, I plan to breed her on the 1st of December. I'm aware of all those risks, I would keep any bunnies that had problems but I have checked all mine for teeth problems and all that and I'll do it again before I breed.

I'm not breeding for show as we don't have shows here, people just keep them as pets. I'm also interested to see how the babies turn out. This is th3 only litter this two will be having together.

 

[clevername]

Breeding is anything but profitable--unless your established and showing or breeding for meat. If you can't afford a quality stud (purebreed and pedrigreed) you probably can't afford the the vet bill in case something goes wrong.

In my experience all my money from breeding purchases go right back into care and feed for my rabbits.

 

[irishbunny]

Oh I know it's not profitable, I can't see how it would be. But I'm using the money for a new buck and yes I can afford the vets bills, I am not doing this for profit, it's more of a hobby, I've put alot of taught and research into this so I'm not like the people you see who just leave a buck and doe together and don't know what to do when the babies are born. I have a cage each for the buck and doe and another one for when I'm weaning the kits. Just thought I'd clear that up in case you think I'm being an idiot who doesn't have a clue.

 

[clevername]

alright, I'm sorry I was short. Been a long week and I'm getting over an awful head cold so I've been terribly blunt. I don't really mean to talk down to anyone.

That said I admit I do I have a bit of a problem with deliberate act of making mixed breeds without a good reason (and sometimes there are good reasons). To me, if you had the foresight to go out and get a male and a female rabbit with the purpose of breeding...why wouldn't you go the extra mile and buy purebreds? You say you've done research, so why not do a little on the background of your rabbits. Was there a reason they were sold as pets? Do you have an information on the sire and dam? Do they carry any recessive traits or faults for that matter? This is the information you would find in a pedigree.

But hey they really are your rabbits. If you're prepared to keep the offspring if you have to and have the seperate cages for 6+ rabbits, money for feed and care I guess I don't really have a problem with it. The only thing I could fault you for would be the fact that you may be helping spread a unidentified but undesirable trait through the pet population (such as malocclusion).

 

[irishbunny]

It's ok well they themselves aren't pure breed either, I aready had the male and got the female two months ago. I don't have any info on their backround but you see breeding in this country is alot different to breeding let's say in the likes of America, it's not really that, like, organised, most peoples rabbits aren't purebreed people here just look at a rabbit and judge whether it's cute or not rather then it's breed. Asking breeders about ancestory is like asking them to go to the moon and back.

I'm only breeding one litter from these guys and then hopefully I can get a lionhead buck if I can find one that is. If things go wrong they go wrong, there is a chance of things going wrong with every litter. What I don't understand is you seem to be nearly sure they will be born with me sort of defect, why is that and what are the chances? I know a few breeders and they breed mix breeds and they have no problems. I'm willing to deal with any defects but I don't feel there will be any.

 

[BlueCamasRabbitry]

I highly suggest you don't breed her until she's 6 mos. old. How old will she be on Dec. 1st?

Emily

 

[clevername]

irishbunny wrote:

If things go wrong they go wrong, there is a chance of things going wrong with every litter. What I don't understand is you seem to be nearly sure they will be born with me sort of defect, why is that and what are the chances? I know a few breeders and they breed mix breeds and they have no problems. I'm willing to deal with any defects but I don't feel there will be any.

Chances are they'll probably be born healthy. I'm stuck on a tangent about something I mentioned in a similar thread. So I don't have to repeat myself....

"...few months ago a conversation struck up on one of my breeder mailing lists talking about the gross difference in malocclusion occurring among pet populations as opposed to breeding/show populations. As it turns out dwarf breeds are susceptible to this genetic fault and breeders often cull rabbits who carry such a trait. Well bad teeth isn't always fatal problem so some breeders would allow these animals to go as pets thinking they would not be part of a breeding program and the trait wouldn't be passed on. Evidently this isn't the case since we are currently discussing a situation where pet grade rabbits may be used to breed."

Anyway, yes, wait six months before breeding your doe. You'll want to wait until she is done growing and able to sustain a litter first.

 

[irishbunny]

On december 1st she will be over 6 months old.

Phew, for a second there I thought there was a big chance of them being born with defects and I couldn't understand why since practically all rabbits here are mixed breeds, it will be extremely difficult for me to track down a purebred lionhead buck and even then chances are I won't be able to get much info on their background . I try my best anyway if I can at least see it's parents I'll settle for that, I might need to post pics of some bucks and see what ye think before I get it.

 

[TinysMom]

irishbunny wrote:

On december 1st she will be over 6 months old.

Phew, for a second there I thought there was a big chance of them being born with defects and I couldn't understand why since practically all rabbits here are mixed breeds, it will be extremely difficult for me to track down a purebred lionhead buck and even then chances are I won't be able to get much info on their background . I try my best anyway if I can at least see it's parents I'll settle for that, I might need to post pics of some bucks and see what ye think before I get it.

If you go to yahoogroups.com and do a search for "lionheadrabbitusa" - you'll find the lionhead list and you can find breeders on there all over the United States that are selling lionhead bucks. The prices can vary from as low as $25 to $200 or more - but they can start low and you don't need a show quality "top of the line" lionhead buck.

Plus you'll usually get a pedigree that will tell you about their history.

One of my favorite breeders is selling a bunch of rabbits right now...

http://www.legendaryminis.com/forsale.html

The prices listed are without shipping as they are in the Pacific Northwest. However, their prices are pretty typical for a decent lionhead buck.

 

[Dublinperky]

I was just wondering which country do you live in? You don't have to say if it is private but I am iching to know where overpopulated bunnies aren't a problem.... Sorry if I am being nosy....

Aly!

 

[Sabine]

Hi Irishbunny, first Irish member I've come across (assuming you are Irish) I have a dwarf lionlop and a netherland dwarf myself. They are hard to come by. I am planning to breed maybe next spring. Have you any pictures of your rabbits?

 

[Sabine]

Dublinperky wrote:

I was just wondering which country do you live in? You don't have to say if it is private but I am iching to know where overpopulated bunnies aren't a problem.... Sorry if I am being nosy....

Aly!

It's got to be Ireland. I was looking to adopt bunnies and spent weeks researching into shelters etc... There's only the odd rabbit ever looking for rehoming. It's odd but either there isn't all that many rabbits in the system or people don't abandon them that frequently. Some pet shops werte almost begging you to breed and it's very hard to find specific breeds. I've never heard of shows or established breeders or anything here either. If Irishbunny knows more I'd be delighted

 

[irishbunny]

Heya

Ya I'm Irish from Clare.

Ya I've pics buy you'll have to bear with me until I figure out how to post them properly lol!

 

[Sabine]

I live in Cork. If you want to post pictures, most people use photobucket. That's how I upload my stuff anyhow

 

[irishbunny]

No here there are no rescues, purebreeds are nearly impossible to come by, we have no rabbit clubs or associations and my petshop owner was asking me do I breed rabbits.