Bunny (re)breeding - The plan

Well my first breeding was an Epic Fail.They're rabbits you would think they would breed like, well rabbits, but no!! Out of 4 does, not 1 gave birth. I bred them on the 21st of Aug. They should have kindled (given birth) on Sept. 21st or Sept. 22. According to 'Storey's Guide to Raising Rabbits' and I quote: "Rarely will the litter arrive after the 31st day, but don't give up hope until after the 34th. After that, mate her again." Its been 46 days, its time to give up the ghost. 'Sigh'

By the way I highly recommend this book. I've read it several times and still use it as a reference.


Ok so here's the plan. It's the same as the old one, we're just going to try it again. I have 7 rabbits at the moment.

2 English Angora does
2 Flemish Giants does
2 Giant Angora bucks
1 Standard Rex doe

Anybody else see the problem? I can not breed a larger buck with a smaller doe. The kits could be too big for the doe and potentially cause problems during delivery. Anyway I have a friend (who's name will not be mentioned) And she's been nice enough to offer stud services, the idea being to split the kits. She has:

2 Rex bucks
2 English Angora bucks

Ok, that takes care of 2 out of 3 smaller does. The 3rd will not be bred until she's a year old.

That leaves 2 Flemish Giants and 2 Giant Angoras. I have a smaller and larger one of each. My plan is to breed the smaller Giant Angora to the larger Flemish Giant, hopefully to increase the size of the kits. The larger Giant Angora will be bred to the smaller Flemish Giant. Their actually about the same size. If anything she might be a little bigger then he is, so the delivery should not have any problems due to size.

Kits (babies) - Somebody asked me today what I'm planning on doing with them. Well, 2 litters will be divided between me and my friend. I will look over the one's that I get. I may keep 1 or 2 English Angora, I will probably sell whats left. The Rex will probably be sold as pets. They will be pure blooded but will not have papers. I'm not sure if they can be used for 4H or not. The Giant Angora / Flemish Giant cross' will be interesting. Some should have long hair, some will have short hair. The short hairs will probably be butchered and put into the freezer. The long hairs (depending on how many there are) some may be sold as fiber animals, some I hope to keep for future breeding. The longer term general plan of the rabbits at least paying for themselves and perhaps making a little money between selling kits and wool.

As always if you have any questions or comments feel free to post. They will be appreciated!    >^.^<