# When to retire breeding does?



## BlackSheepGirl (Mar 9, 2010)

When is a doe too old to breed? I have a mixed breed doe that's about 6, and I was wondering if it was okay to breed her at least one more time? The "daughter" I had saved from her last litter turned out to be a boy, and I would like to have some replacement does from her since she is the last girl of that variety that I have. She last had a litter a bit under a year and a half ago. She is in excellent condition, plump, sleek shiny fur, no health problems or anything, so I was wondering if it was okay to breed her again? She's never had problems with any of her litters, she's even played foster mom for me a time or two. She is like the golden mother of all my rabbits, and I would really, really like to have at least one replacement doe from her....


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## SFM in KY (May 11, 2002)

I've never had an issue breeding an older doe as far as health is concerned. Very often they will start producing litters, or just simply not accept a buck, but other than that, I've not had a problem as far as age goes.


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## lonelyfarmgirl (Feb 6, 2005)

I stop breeding a doe when one of two things happen. One, she misses or loses 3 litters in a row, then I eat her, or two, she dies.


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## KSALguy (Feb 14, 2006)

go ahead and put her with the buck, if she is healthy and in breeding condition keep her in production,


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## BlackSheepGirl (Mar 9, 2010)

Okay, thanks. I've read a lot about rabbits being too young to breed but never really came across anything about too old to breed, so it's helpful to know what other people do.


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## akane (Jul 19, 2011)

Another thread covered that does after about 4years start to decline in production but no mention was made of it being a health risk. Just smaller litters and more lost litters or misses.


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## oregon woodsmok (Dec 19, 2010)

You can breed her until she gets too old to conceive.

Rabbits get culled young because they start to produce smaller litters. Not because they are too old to have babies.


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## brandkelz (Apr 15, 2011)

We havent ran into any problems yet but, our oldest doe is only 2 1/2 yrs old....my personal opinion would be to to let them continue to be mothers until they start missing consistently, then like lonely said, cull them whether that means eat em or find them a nice retirement home!


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## freeb (Jul 25, 2009)

The older they get the smaller the litters get. I had some that were about 4 years old and they were only throwing 2-4 babies so they went on down the road.


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## BlackSheepGirl (Mar 9, 2010)

Even if her litters were smaller than before that wouldn't be that big of a deal. The biggest litter she ever had was more than a dozen kits. The last litter she had was 8, and she was about 5 years old then.... I'll let you all know how it goes, I'm going to put her in with the buck today. Wish me baby rabbits!


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## brandkelz (Apr 15, 2011)

good luck! and Remember to post some pics cause we all love to see pics of babies.....


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## BlackSheepGirl (Mar 9, 2010)

So the other day when I put Angel (the older doe) in with the buck she accepted him! That's one step in the right direction. Hopefully it was a successful breeding. I also bred a couple of my English Angora does, so if things go as planned then around this time next month I will have some bunny babies!:happy:


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## GBov (May 4, 2008)

This has been so HELPFUL! I bought two NZW does and was told their last litters had 10 and 11 babies but their first litters for me were 8 and 9 and the one of them with a litter now has 6.

Would they be older girls?


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## akane (Jul 19, 2011)

Could be anything. Stress of the move, feed change, too many big litters in a row, the buck.... They will give themselves a break by shrinking the litters if you breed close together and they've had a lot. Every so often my doe who consistently has 8-9 99% of the time throws a litter of 3 or 5.

I wouldn't fault them at all for having 9 instead of 11. Those are big enough litters that 2 kits is not that big of difference and some prefer litters around 8-9 over big litters. They tend to grow faster so you get the same meat with less effort. The huge litters just can't get fed as well no matter how good the doe is. I've got 16 runts off a doe compared to my doe who raised 6 with tons of milk. At the same age they were half the size and the doe is bigger. I butchered the 6 at probably 8lbs. I will have to keep those 16 an extra 2-4weeks to feed them to 5-6lbs. That's a lot of extra feed. Some even kill off the smallest kits in litters that get over a certain size.


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## BlackSheepGirl (Mar 9, 2010)

I actually prefer a litter size right around 8, since that seems to be the easiest amount for the moms to raise well. That's why I try to breed more than one doe at a time. Then if I get a giant litter from one doe and a more regular sized litter from another I can move babies around and foster the extras off on the doe with less babies.


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## Caprice Acres (Mar 6, 2005)

Doesn't the size of the litters later in life have something to do with how often they were bred in the past? They are induced ovulators, so they don't 'waste' eggs by dropping eggs when they aren't going to be fertilized like humans and other animals. In theory, a doe that has been bred only 3-4 times by age 5 shouldn't have smaller litters. Whereas, a commercial doe bred back at week after kindling and in constant production for her life will 'burn out' much earlier than 5 years old.


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## akane (Jul 19, 2011)

Amount of eggs has nothing to do with breeding any animal. We all have far more eggs than we could use in a lifetime even if wasting a bunch of them. The number is in the millions for everything from avian to mammal. What determines how soon an animal drops production, again avian or mammal, is genetics and the condition they are kept in. If they are given all they need to breed hard they will last just as long or nearly as long as one not bred as hard. Chickens put under lights will continue to produce as well for as long as chickens not put under lights and given a break if fed a higher protein feed with free range rather than only layer feed with the minimum needed protein. Commercial animals though are often selected to over produce and burn out after a few years so genetically they drop off production no matter what you do. Since they are never selected for animals that produce longer you mostly get animals that can't produce longer irregardless of breeding schedule or environment.


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