How many litters and young per year for a doe?
Rabbits are very fertile and often cause trouble. The situation in Australia is particularly well known. In 1859, the Englishman Thomas Austin imported 12 pairs of rabbits. Fifty years later, 600 million of these animals have settled on 60% of the territory: a real disaster. In France, nowadays, if rabbits appear in groups in protected areas such as airports or parks, they are rarely seen in hunting areas. In any case, as the owner of rabbits, you have a great responsibility and must supervise their breeding. What can be done in this area? What are the restrictions? How many litters can a doe reasonably live each year?
The rabbit's high fecundity may indicate that it is easy to breed and profit from. This obviously does not take into account the investments needed to ensure animal welfare.
If the purpose of raising rabbits is to provide a source of income, it is important to keep children and sensitive people away from the animals as they can prevent you from killing the animals.
If you want to keep rabbits as pets, the method is different, and you must above all control the breeding of rabbits.
Rabbit reproductive strategy
In nature, species have gradually implemented reproductive strategies with no other goal than their continuation. Scientists have identified two main patterns that serve as benchmarks for analyzing species behavior.
On the one hand, there is also the so-called "r" strategy, where the letter r designates the "reproduction rate" from the English expression "reproduction rate". On the other hand is the K strategy, the letter is the first letter of the German word "Kapazitätsgrenze", which means "environmental carrying capacity".
The behavior of the rabbit corresponds to "r". Animals have a short lifespan, sexual maturity is early, and energy is mainly used for reproduction. This results in the production of large numbers of young, a condition often associated with very high mortality, as animals and life are very vulnerable in unstable and unpredictable environments.
In the wild, female deer are fertile once they reach sexual maturity. This varies by breed. It occurs earlier in dwarf rabbits and later in large breeds:
- Dwarf breeds reach between 4 and 5 months
- Medium breeds are around 6 months old,
- Large breeds take 9-12 months.
- Wait until the doe is 7-8 months old for dwarf and medium breeds,
- Large breeds are 10 months old.
However, keep in mind that pregnancy is a very demanding time for the body.
From the moment you become the owner of a pet, it is your responsibility to take all necessary measures to ensure a happy and long life for it (the duration is the result of proper health and care). Also, it is not a question of keeping your animal in captivity according to the laws of nature, it is a question of monitoring its life. Therefore, it is advisable not to mate too early with the females and to wait until they have finished growing. The reproductive impulses that exist in nature are ineffective in captive environments.
How many litters per year so as not to tire your doe?
If the fertility of the rabbit is maximum in the spring, these animals can reproduce all year round. The doe is not in real heat, but has a cycle of 15 to 17 days, divided into 2 episodes of 5 to 7 days, during which the doe receives mating and then rests for 10 days. Ovulation is triggered by mating.
After a woman is fertilized, the gestation period lasts from 28 to 34 days. A premature birth is considered when a child is born at 28 or 29 days. From day 32, the young rabbits are heavier and more difficult to deliver because they continue to grow in the belly as if they had just been born at 30 days.
If she is a pygmy breed, the doe will give birth to 2-6 rabbits. In larger breeds, this may be 10-12 puppies.
After childbirth, the mother produces milk, which does not prevent her from possible fertilization. Male rabbits still ready to mate can be fully fertilized immediately after parturition and throughout the lactation period, although we observed less fertility one week after parturition. A new insemination can cause a rapid stoppage of milk production.
Last element, on average, the does are fertile before the age of 4 years.
So a doe can theoretically be impregnated every month. So theoretically two young rabbits per litter, a doe can give birth to 22 young rabbits per year if we take away 30 days in cases where the gestation extends beyond a month. in the wild, rabbits give birth to between 15 and 25 young. But rabbits only know 3 to 5 litters per year. In general, 5 to 6 young people reach adulthood only.
11 litters per year is not sustainable for the domestic rabbit, depending on the breed, the rabbit can live ten years. In the context of industrial farms, the rabbit's body is exploited to the maximum.
So to preserve the health of his rabbit, it is estimated that 4 litters per year at most. This implies one mating per trimester. The number of young per litter is not estimable.