I have bad news and good news in the rabbitry this week. Our mature doe, Strawberry was supposed to kindle last Tuesday. Do you see any baby rabbits in this picture?
No. It can be hard to breed rabbits in the Winter as they tend to be less fertile – which was evidently the case with her, as she was bred twice before i picked her up! Le sigh. So, our breeding program is pushed back a month and we’re running out of meat in the freezer! It is my hope that Hazel-ra will live up to his kingly title and be able to perform at the end of this month. My goal is to breed everyone to have litters born soon after our return from a Memorial Day vacation. The younger does may still be too young, but Strawberry should be ready AND we have a new addition who is a proven mother. Meet, Sake a lovely Harlequin doe (of unknown age) given to me by a friend.
She’s a cutey, for sure and has lots of personality. I wanted to rename her something with my rabbitry theme, maybe “Haystack,” “Thistle” or “Marjoram” but she really seems to recognize her name. i have her in ‘quarantine’ on the far end of the rabbitry quadroned off by a bedsheet hanging from the rafters for about 1 month, after which it will be time for her to get some action! I can’t wait to see what interesting colors come out of the pairing of her and red Hazel. She is a ‘black japanese’ colored Harlequin, though rather brindled, and sometimes the ‘junky’ colord Harles throw the prettiest kits.They should be stunners! AND supposedly Harle/NZ crosses make for pretty good meat rabbits.
So, i’m sad we won’t have the additional genetics of an outside breeding to save a junior buck from, but at least i got a new doe to add to the mix and a pretty sweet buck who’s starting to feel frisky!
Do you raise rabbits? Do you find breeding in the winter to be a challenge?
