Rabbit Mating

• Take the doe to the male rabbit’s (buck’s) cage, always.

  Rabbits are territorial, and if you take your buck to a doe, the fur will fly, literally. But take the doe to the buck, and she remains on good behavior.

  In this picture, the castor rex buck (poorly colored) carries the recessive black otter color. He is breeding with one of our best black otter does.

• The buck will breed with the doe, usually immediately. (Blink, and you’ll miss it!) The buck will quickly circle around to the hind end of the doe, mount the doe, accomplish the rabbit mating, and then fall off the doe with a grunt.

  Good signs of success: the grunt and fall, and then, the buck gets all macho, and starts thumping the cage floor, announcing his successful conquest to all in the neighborhood.

  Occasionally, a buck will fire and yet miss. It might look every bit like a breeding, however he will not have hit the mark. So, when you remove the doe from the buck, you might want to check her genitalia for the presence of sperm, seen as glossy moisture around her vent.

• A second rabbit mating before removing the doe seems to increase the success rate and litter size. Just leave the doe in the cage. The buck will catch his breath, lose interest in thumping the floor, and regain interest in the doe. He’ll remount her, she’ll lift her hind end, and a second mating will occur.
  

  Notice how the doe's back is flat and long? She has stretched herself out instead of hunkering down. She lifted her hiney, the buck mated with her, and then keeled over sideways with a grunt. This is quite typical of the end of a rabbit mating.
  
  
  

• It is important that the doe not urinate for a good half-hour after the mating, to avoid washing the sperm away. Doesn't happen often, but I have once seen a doe urinate after the breeding, and the gelatinous mass of ejaculate fall to the floor.

  For this reason, I usually check the clock when the breeding occurs, and then wait a half-hour before removing the doe. The chances are very good that the doe will not void while in the buck’s cage. But if she does, she’s in the right place for a re-breeding. Depending on the animal, it is good to keep a close eye on both rabbits, to ensure that the doe remains on good behavior. Be ready to remove her immediately if she starts growling or even attacking the buck.

  Some breeders like to see a third breeding. And frequently a third breeding might take place during the half-hour we leave the buck and doe together. But we are usually satisfied with two matings.

• Remove the doe to her cage. I like to toss hay into her cage, and a little bit of calf manna or whole oats into the feeder as a reward. There’s another reason too: to keep her mind off the condition of her bladder. She’ll go straight to the feeder or to the hay, instead of heading to the back of her cage and voiding. It's just one more trick to give the doe the best chance at a big litter.

• Within 6-8 hours of rabbit mating, the doe ovulates - releases eggs for fertilization. The sperm are already present and the doe should become pregnant.

• If this is your pet rabbit, the doe may become very cranky over the next few days. This is okay! But do give her space. Leave her in her cage. Leave her alone, if this is what she wants.

• Check our Pregnant Rabbit page for all the signs a doe will exhibit during the 31 days before she kindles, that indicate she's probably pregnant.
  (Castor rex buck prepares to mount an opal rex doe.)

What do you do when the doe doesn't want to cooperate with the buck?

Here are a few tricks that might help convince the doe:

• Retry the rabbit mating in a day or two. The doe may be ready then.

• Check the weather forecast. If an attempt at rabbit mating was spurned, you could plan to re-try the breeding when the barometer is rising or the temperature is warming. This works some of the time.

• You could try swapping cages. Put the buck in the doe's cage, and the doe in the buck's cage for an overnight stay. In the morning, or when you return to the animals, put the doe back into her own cage where the buck is waiting. She may be willing this time, since she is now familiar with the buck's scent.

• One good sign to watch for - the twitching of the doe's tail... If it twitches, you can be sure she's 'in the mood,' even if she circles the buck's cage at first.
  
  

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