COMMERCIAL RABBIT RAISING 



35 



Bucks and does accustomed to 

 being handled will not object to 

 such assistance. It is well to hold 

 the doe in this way the first few 

 times a young buck is used. This 

 will expedite matings and insure 

 service m difficult cases. 



With a little patience and prac- 

 tice you can develop this teclinique 

 to procure nearly 100-percent mat- 

 ings. This does not necessarily 

 mean that all of the restrained will 

 kindle, but the technique will help 

 in increasing the number of kin- 

 dlings. 



Whether it is worthwhile to 

 force-breed for increased preg- 

 nancies depends largely upon the 

 number oi does in production. 

 Owners of large commercial rab- 

 bitries generally do not force-mate 

 their does due to the increased 

 labor and time involved. For 

 small rabbitries a few extra litters 

 could be worth the effort, and for 

 breeders of pedigreed show stock, 

 where animals are removed from 

 production part of the year, forced 

 breeding will help maintain a sup- 

 ply of replacements and stock for 

 sale. 



Maintain 1 buck for approxi- 

 mately each 10 breeding does. You 

 can use mature, vigorous bucks 

 several times a day for a short 

 period. 



Keep a breeding record showing 

 date of mating and name or num- 

 ber of buck and doe. 



Determining Pregnancy 



It is not accurate to determine 

 pregnancy by "test mating" (plac- 

 ing the doe in the buck's hutch 

 periodically). Some does will ac- 

 cept service when pregnant and 

 others will refuse service when 

 they are not pregnant. Diagnos- 

 ing pregnancy by noting the de- 

 velopment of the abdominal region 

 and gain in flesh is not dependable 

 until late in pregnancy. 



You can quickly and accurately 

 determine pregnancy by palpating, 

 after 12 to 14 days from mating, 

 but you must handle the doe 

 gently. The method for restrain- 

 ing the doe for palpating is illus- 

 trated in figure 15. The doe may 

 be palpated in her own hutch or if 

 it is more convenient she may be 

 placed on a table covered with feed 

 sacks or carpeting to prevent slip- 

 ping. The ears and a fold of skm 

 over the shoulders are held in the 

 right or left hand; the other hand 

 is placed under the shoulder be- 

 tween the hind legs and slightly 

 m front of the pelvis; the thumb 

 is placed on the right" side and 

 the fingers on the left side of the 

 two uteri for palpating the fetuses. 

 At 12 to 14 days following mating, 

 the fetuses have developed into 

 marble-shaped forms that are easy 

 to distinguish as they slip between 

 the thumb and fingers when the 

 hand is gently moved forward and 

 backward and a slight pressure is 

 exerted (fig. 16). Caution must be 

 used in this operation, because if 

 too much pressure is exerted, the 

 tissues may be bruised or torn 

 loose from the walls of the uteri 

 and a toxic condition or abortion 

 may result. 



There is less danger of bruising 

 the tissues or causing the fetuses 

 to be torn loose from the walls of 

 the uteri in palpating at 12 to 14 

 days than at a later period. Also, 

 diagnosing pregnancy after the 

 16th day of the gestation period is 

 more complicated because the de- 

 veloping fetuses are so large that 

 they may be confused with diges- 

 tive organs. The inexperienced 

 rabbit owner should make exami- 

 nations at 12 to 14 days and then 

 as he improves his technique and 

 attains confidence in the operation, 

 he may be able to develop the abil- 

 ity for diagnosing pregnancy ac- 

 curately as early as the 7th or 8th 



