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My Female Rabbit Refuses to Breeding Tips and Tricks

My Female Rabbit Refuses to Breed


Most of the time breeding issues will arise from your does not wanting to breed rather than your buck; generally the biggest obstacle is getting your younger does bred.

Rabbit Breeding Tips and Tricks:

  • The single best way to get your does to breed is to use the “Restraining Method”.
  • Make sure you keep your does in great condition and up to ideal breeding weight. For large rabbit breeds such as the Californian and New Zealand the ideal breeding weight for a doe is about 8.5pounds +.
  • Try to keep your does calm during the breeding process. I have found that if you set them on the table and stroke them gently for a few minutes before bringing them to the buck’s cage they will tend to be more cooperative.
  • Ideally try to keep your does in a fairly cool environment before attempting to breed them. Intense heat unnecessarily stresses out your animals.
  • Always bring the doe to the buck’s cage and not vice versa. female rabbits are naturally very territorial and generally will fight the buck if he is brought to her cage.
  • Some breeders recommend moving a troublesome doe to the buck’s cage the night before attempting to breed and moving the buck to a different cage. The theory is that the doe will acquire some of the buck’s scent and will be more agreeable to breed the next day.

My Male Rabbit Refuses to Breed

It can be very discouraging when you find out that your buck won’t breed. Most the time this issue seems to arise at the time when you need him to breed the most. Don’t ask me why this seems to happen, it just does as most experienced rabbit farmers will tell you.


Rabbit Breeding Tips and Tricks:

  • My first advice regarding breeding rabbits is to make sure that you have at least two breeding age bucks at all times. This way if one decides not to breed, you will have a backup. Most breeding issues seem to arise when people only have one buck.
  • Make sure your buck is old enough to breed! The fact of the matter is that some bucks take longer to mature than others. For larger rabbit breeds; I recommend getting a buck that is at least 9 months old. If you get lucky you might find that some bucks will be ready to breed at as young as 3 months of age.
  • Check beforehand to see whether or not your buck’s reproductive sack has descended to a visible state. If you flip your breeding buck over and can’t tell right off that he is a buck you have a problem.
  • Try to keep an experienced buck that has already produced offspring in your herd at all times.
  • Sometimes keeping a doe living inside the cage beside the buck will keep him in a breeding mood.
  • If you are breeding a timid buck for the first time try to breed him to one of your more agreeable does. This will help him build “breeding confidence”.
  • Some bucks do not like humans standing nearby watching them breed. If you find a buck like this try standing to the side where you are not standing in the buck’s view, but are still able to evaluate the mating.
  • Keep your bucks in a cool environment if possible. Bucks can go sterile for a couple months in the dry season of Nigeria when the whole country seem to be on fire.
  • If you need to breed your bucks in the summer, be sure to keep them breeding on a consistent basis. The theory behind this is the fact that this will keep your bucks producing fresh sperm and help them avoid becoming sterile.



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Location: Abuja, Nigeria