Rabbit BehaviorPay attention to rabbit behavior...!Last year around Thanksgiving, I bred together an excellent pair of show-quality animals, expecting baby bunnies 31 days later. But 33 days passed and no happy event. Sponsored Links 
As unusual as this was - rabbits are usually punctual to the day - the doe also showed no signs of pregnancy. Her abdomen was as flat as ever, and she had no interest in the nest box.Oh well, I thought, looks like no pregnancy this time, and I tossed a handful of hay into her cage. The doe went about munching the hay placidly while I fed the rest of the animals. When I tossed hay to the buck, durned if he didn’t start collecting the stems in his mouth. He carried the mouthful around the cage and scrabbled with his claws at the wire floor. "You’re s’posed to eat it, dude!" I suggested, in English. I watched him, nonplused. I’d never seen a buck do that. Besides, it looked like he had started putting on some weight. I’d better cut him back on his feed, I decided. The next evening when I went out to check on the animals, the doe still hadn’t touched the nest box. But that silly buck was actually pulling fur out of his sides and tummy, and had amassed quite a pile. It was very clear that he was trying desperately to build and line a nest with the fur. That’s way crazy! I thought. The doe is acting like a buck, and the buck is acting very suspiciously like...a doe...? Could it be...??? Sure enough, the ‘buck’ had the doe’s ear tattoo. After breeding 33 days before, I had removed the buck from his cage, instead of the doe, and put him in her cage, since they looked very close to identical. I laugh now - sheepishly! - at this rookie mistake. In 30 years I had never made such a goof. Boy was I lucky. That night the doe gave birth to 5 lovely baby rabbits, one of which went on to win 11 champion certificates ('legs'). The black otter rabbit pictured above is one of those kits. I shudder to think that a little airheadedness nearly cost an entire litter, except for the rabbit behavior of the doe. We regularly rely on one or more of these signs to help us verify whether or not our does are in a motherly-way.
Go from Rabbit Behavior to Aurora Rex Rabbit Ranch New! CommentsHave your say about what you just read! Leave me a comment in the box below. |
Please whitelist our ezine email: rabbit_rhythm@raising-rabbits.com. Missing your latest ezine? Check your spam folder.
Many thanks to our visitors for these kind remarks...
From Tammy in Texas:"This has been the most useful, friendly and informational website I have ever used. Thank you so very much. We found our pet rabbit Sunday night. People in the neighborhood where we found her say she was loose for about 2 weeks before she hopped up to me to be picked up. Your website helped us find out what kind of rabbit we found (Himalayan), what sex our rabbit is (female), how to house it, feed it and handle it (she was launching herself at us and smacking us with her front feet! - I am now the BIG BUNNY or a Hawk, whichever is needed!)."
From Shannon in Alabama:
"I can't thank you enough for your super informative website! I'm a mother of 4 looking for a way to add to our preparedness. I feel so much more secure and positive about my choice to start raising rabbits in our backyard. Thank you...."
From Jeanie in Florida:
"Hello, I really enjoy reading your web site."
From Marco in Spain:
"Thank you again for your advice, it really helped put our minds at ease... Keep up the good work with the website!"
From Candy in Ohio:
"Your website is wonderful!"
Need Cage and Hutch Building Plans?
