young about already PICS

[baldockbanks courser 598]

could not belive it the snow has only just gone and after bolting 4 nice rabbits out of a burrie young rabbits started hole hopping the ferret got hold of the one in the picture so it had to be dispatched we picked up the ferrets and knocked it on the head for the day hope this is not the end of our season already anyone else had this yet ??

Look at the bunny baby in that picture . It was born over a month ago. Then factor in that a doe is pregnant for a month . That means that little scuttler was concieved around Halloween . This is quite normal as there is a lull in breeding during the hotter ,longer days of summer and a brief flurry of sexual activity (usually involving the older bucks ) as the days shorten in autumn.

Rabbits are triggered into breeding cycles to some extent by daylight levels .Onc e the winter equinox has passed they become more frisky. The recent laying snow by reflecting light and effectively extending "daylight" might actually have encouraged the breeding cycle to kick-in a bit early but this will be balenced by hard conditions that will kill youngsters or more likely prompt the doe to reabsorb the litter . From now on it would be quite normal to catch does that are in-kindle but many of these litters are destined for reabsorbtion not birth .

Its one of the reasons that rabbits have become so successful. Does can carry a litter up to about 16-18 days without too much physical cost to themselves .

At that point if the external stresses such as bad weather ,overcrowding or food shortage are too bad she will absorb the feotal nutrients back into her own body rather than waste energy trying to carry and give birth to a litter that is destined to die any way .

Down here we are not surprised by the occasional scuttler from an Autumn mating(like the one in the picture ) around New Year and also expect to find lined does from the January onward . There is never much serious trouble caused by nests of young until Late March/ April. Mind you if the weather warms up the buns may breed like stink to make up for the numbers lost to the hard weather .

 

That little chap in the picture did very well to survive the hard weather though .

you know your rabbits. excellent that man

[Jamie m 668]

You should start finding them soon

[caterpiller 10]

Had a couple of Digs yesterday.....had 2 lots of 2 in a stop end.

 

Both stops were full of nesting material and plucked belly fur yet none of the Rabbits were full of young and showed no signs of suckling older kittens perhaps they were just old nests