Winter breeding or summer breeding...which is more challenging....
Our bucks and our does have been cooperative with breeding in these cooler temps. What we do is keep the lights on for about 15 hours a day. We feed quality pellets, a conditioning mix of rolled oats & black sunflower seeds- every other day, and hay- every day to keep our does in good condition for breeding and kindling. We’ve had mild temps so far but as they start dropping it will be more difficult on the babies, (adult rabbits can handle cold weather well). So the next challenge is to keep the babies warm. We provide heat for our rabbits during really cold days with particular emphasis on new babies.
On the other hand, summer breeding is just as challenging because as the summer heat approaches and the temps hit record highs, the bucks go sterile and you end up with a lot of does that didn’t get bred. The high temps also can be a little hard on does with litters and maybe more so with some than others.
Every breeding is different. Not every breeding will be successful no matter what the season is but spring seems to be the ideal breeding time.
So getting a litter in the winter (or summer) months is a bonus with a lot of keeping fingers crossed, watching nest boxes, and waiting on spring.
Our bucks and our does have been cooperative with breeding in these cooler temps. What we do is keep the lights on for about 15 hours a day. We feed quality pellets, a conditioning mix of rolled oats & black sunflower seeds- every other day, and hay- every day to keep our does in good condition for breeding and kindling. We’ve had mild temps so far but as they start dropping it will be more difficult on the babies, (adult rabbits can handle cold weather well). So the next challenge is to keep the babies warm. We provide heat for our rabbits during really cold days with particular emphasis on new babies.
On the other hand, summer breeding is just as challenging because as the summer heat approaches and the temps hit record highs, the bucks go sterile and you end up with a lot of does that didn’t get bred. The high temps also can be a little hard on does with litters and maybe more so with some than others.
Every breeding is different. Not every breeding will be successful no matter what the season is but spring seems to be the ideal breeding time.
So getting a litter in the winter (or summer) months is a bonus with a lot of keeping fingers crossed, watching nest boxes, and waiting on spring.
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