Inbreeding : The After Effect

Inbreeding is breeding between close relatives, whether plant or animal. If practiced repeatedly, it can lead to exposure of recessive, deleterious (harmful to health or well-being) traits. This generally leads to a decreased fitness of a population"...

Definition of Inbreeding :

The act of breeding related animals that often leads to serious medical issues in the brain, organs and skeletal parts of the body as well as a suppressed immune system and significant decrease in fertility.

 

Inbreeding may result in a far higher phenotype expression of deleterious recessive genes within a population than would normally be expected. As a result, first-generation inbred individuals are more likely to show physical and health defects, including:

• Reduced fertility both in litter size and sperm viability
• Increased genetic disorders
• Fluctuating facial asymmetry
• Lower birth rate
• Higher infant mortality
• Slower growth rate
• Smaller adult size
• Loss of immune system function

* Source from Wikipedia

I Got My First Litters.............. It's 6-3=3

This morning, when I was ready to get out to my mum's house, I heard some noise from my bunnies hutch. So, I peek outside my bedroom windows and saw something in Cell No.5. My bunny had gave birth to some litters. I quickly grab a nestbox and hurried to the hutch. I never expect litters to come this soon. As I recall, I bred Nina on September 4th and the due is not until 4@5 October. But when I closely looked in the cell, I was shocked, It's not Nina that gave birth but Mimi, my black/White doe. But it's never mind, I manage to separate Nina from the cell.

Mimi gave birth to 6 little pinkish litters. but as I inspect the babies, 3 had cross the bridge, bridge to eternity. That's made me felt terrible. I think Mimi gave birth last night, during the heavy rain and some storm. If I notice the change earlier, they might been alive.

Here are some pictures of them.

 

And this is the mother, Mimi.

Rabbit Pregnancy & Gestation Table

The pregnancy usually lasts for 28-35 days but 90% of it given birth after 31 or 32 days. The litter is usually born at night, though you may notice the Doe pulling her fur out during the day. Most books say that rabbits build a nest 1 week before the litter is due but I find that they build it the same day the young are born.
If you see your Doe building a nest (gathering hay/straw and pulling out her fur) then make sure you provide her with extra materials to help build the nest. Don’t be alarmed if the Doe pulls fur from other rabbits she lives with. They don’t seem to mind too much and it may be because she doesn’t have enough of her own.
You need to feed her twice as much food as you would normally and this needs increasing to three times as much when suckling a whole litter of kittens.

This is a rabbit gestation chart. Find the date your rabbit was bred and look in the next column to the right to see what day your rabbit will be due.

Breeding Rabbits - Mating, and Pregnancy

How to Make Baby Bunnies - A Breeders Guide - Conception to Birth

When intending to breed rabbits, you should always ensure that you know what you are doing. Breeding should never be entered into light-heartedly.

Before starting to breed any animal, make sure that you know exactly what you intend to do with the babies once they are born. If you are keeping the babies you will need extra hutches and will need to buy extra food. Also, be aware that there is always the possiblity of complications during the birthing process.

Male or Female?

It is not easy to tell the sex of a young rabbit. But once the sexual organs have developed it is quite a straightforward procedure. To tell whether the rabbit is a buck (male) or a doe (female), you must first sit down with your knees flat. Tip the rabbit upside down on your lap, using your knees to hold the rabbit in place if it wriggles too much. Then put a finger at either side of the genital opening, and push the folds of skin lightly. If the rabbit is a buck, a small penis will protrude from the opening.

Mating

When breeding rabbits it is best to wait until the doe is at least six months old, and the buck is at least four months old before mating, this way both rabbits will have reached sexual maturity. To put the rabbits together you should always put the doe into the buck’s hutch, if you try to put the buck into the doe’s hutch she will become aggressive with him and will not accept him as a mate. The buck will initially chase the doe around his hutch, sniffing her rear and lifting her tail with his nose.

When the doe is ready for mating she will lie herself flat on the floor of the hutch and will raise her tail. At this stage the buck will mount her and commence mating (which takes approximately 20 seconds). When he has finished mating, the buck will normally fall off the doe’s back with a mouthful of her fur in his mouth. This may seem quite aggressive behaviour, however it is entirely normal for rabbits.

Inbreeding

When breeding rabbits it is essential never to breed brother and sister together, as this can cause congenital abnormalities. If accidentally a buck mates with a sibling doe, it is possible that young will not be deformed, but at the least they will produce smaller, weaker babies. It is possible however to successfully mate a doe with her father, or a buck with his mother, and this does not normally cause problems.

Pregnancy and Gestation

Not every mating results in pregnancy. Due to the fact that a doe must be in season to fall pregnant, sometimes it may take several mating attempts. If at all possible leave the buck and doe together in the hutch for up to 2 weeks, this way it will be highly likely that the mating will result in pregnancy.

Make a note of the date that you put the doe into the buck’s hutch in a calendar, diary, or notebook. That way it will be easier to work out approximately when the litter will be due.

The gestation period for rabbits is between 30 and 33 days, and when the doe is getting ready to give birth she will prepare a nest. This usually involves gathering the bedding into a corner of her hutch and a few days before giving birth she will pull some of the fur out of her stomach. This fur lines the nest for the babies, and also the process uncovers her nipples ready for feeding the litter.

The copyright of the article Breeding Rabbits - Mating, and Pregnancy in Pet Care is owned by Angie Briscoe.

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Salam AidilFitri, Maaf Zahir Batin

Nothing much to write today, just wishing all of my viewers Salam AidilFitri, Maaf Zahir Batin.

2 days ago one of bunny died of diarrhea. Don't know exactly the cause but it been suffering the illness for a few days. Maybe because of the long bean or maybe something else. The other two bunnies in the same cell didn't catch the disease. From now on I must feed them carefully. Anyway, Selamat Hari Raya again to all Muslims and friends.

Some Addition To My Collection.

Yesterday I received 4 more addition to my bunny collection. Not that my bunnies gave birth but my friend send me a gift. He send me 3 does and a buck. I'm not yet want to name them because 2 of them will be owned by my neighbor. She ask me to look after her bunnies for a few days until their hutch is ready. Here's the picture of the bunny.

( The grey and full white one is just a visiting pairs )

 

 

Conclusion's Made : She's An Angora-Dutch Cross

On 3rd September, I received a new bunny doe called Nina. I'm not sure about her breed so I start asking around. After a few brief discussion, some of my friends said she is Angora-Dutch cross, and some said she is Lionhead-Local cross, and even some said she's an oversized local breed. As a conclusion, I said she is an Angora-Dutch cross because the owner told me he bought this bunny with 2 others ( that's mean 3 ) for RM200.00, two years ago. That's already pricey even for 2 years ago.

I Got One More, Now It's 10!!!

Today, I got a call from a friend of mine, asking me to look after of his pet bunny. He has this bunny for more than 2 years now and he think that this bunny needs to be accompanied by a buck. So, this afternoon, before breakfasting, I went to his house to take the bunny. It's big and heavy. It has a nice characteristic. But I cannot figure out what breed is she is. Maybe I'll ask some of my friend over the internet. This bunny will be put in Room 5, to be quarantine for a few days.After that, I'll be introducing Jack to her ( from now on, I'll call her, Nina). Here is some of the picture of the doe.