Ohhh, boy. This is a fun one. First, I freely confess I am not great at palpating my rabbits. I have successfully missed all of Dora's pregnancies when palpating, so I just give nest boxes every time a doe was exposed to a buck with fall offs, even if they were not convincing fall offs. That said, Penny has been very resistant to being bred. She was purchased from a highly reputable breeder who suggested not breeding until at least 6 months, which is in line with my own practices. At six months, she was exposed to a buck every weekend with no enthusiasm on her part, but a half-hearted fall off from our buck meant we wait 30 days. We gave her a nest box, which she used for a potty, and we got no kits to show for the effort. When she produced no kits, we gave her another month to mature, then tried again. The buck got a few half-hearted fall offs in, so we gave her a nest box at the appropriate time. On January 31, we palpated our other doe Dora, who has been nesting since the 26th, and Penny. Dora is just holding onto those babies a little longer than I like, but Penny is decidedly not (not possible to miss them at 30 days pregnant).
We checked her vent, which was dark in color, and put her back with the buck AGAIN. Our determined guy got two fall offs, so once again we are waiting for her to kindle. The good news? These fall offs were more convincing than the first two attempts, so I am hopeful that we will finally have babies from this stubborn girl. Meanwhile, we are anxiously awaiting Dora's litter at day 33. Since she kindled her first litter on day 32, I am not shocked she is taking so long, I just would like to see her give me the babes.
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