It can be difficult to get does bred in the winter, but there are always ways to fool mother nature. Some strategies that have been successful for me are:
1. Heating the barn!
- I really believe this makes a difference in getting does receptive to breeding. The barn doesn't have to be 70 degrees. I like it to be around 40 or 50ish. The first year I had rabbits (in '06), I heated the room in the barn that housed the rabbits. My reason was not for the rabbits, but for me! I hated messing with those frozen water bottles. Not until the following winter did I realize the difference the heat made in my breeding schedule. Due to cost (our electric bill had gone up $200 from heating the barn with a space heater), I decided to not heat the barn in the winter of '07. I only had one doe take with many that had been bred (multiple times too!). The barn is not heated again this winter and, again, I am having a difficult time getting my does bred.
2. Change cages
- If I need to breed a doe and she doesn't want to have anything to do with the buck, I leave the doe in the buck's cage and put the buck in the does cage. I leave them there for a day or two. When I try the breeding again, the doe is usually receptive due to being surrounded by all those "buck" smells. I use this method any time of the year that a doe is unreceptive to breeding.
3. Check the doe
- Does go through cycles and where they are in their cycle affects their receptiveness. Check the doe's vulva before you breed her. If it is light pink, she most likely will not be receptive to the buck. The darker her vulva gets (pretty much a dark purple), the more receptive she is. This isn't a method of making her more receptive, but it is helpful to know when a doe is ready to be bred.
These are only a few methods of breeding does during the winter. Please leave a comment about other successful methods you have used to get your does bred in the winter.
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