You've heard the saying "they breed like rabbits", right? This must not apply to French Angoras. I have two beautiful rabbits; a self chocolate and a broken blue, but they stink at mating.
My doe kindled, or gave birth, to a litter of six in November. She did not build a nest and tossed five of the babies out of the cage. She ate baby #6. I made her a nest, put the babies in it and it looked like she was feeding them for a day or so. Then she trampled all of them and pooped on the nest. I think she ate a couple more also. Yum-o.
I've been trying to get her pregnant since I bought her in May. It is not working. My buck is enthusiastic and seems to be doing his job, but maybe not? It would seem somewhat tragic for French Angoras if all of their fur prevented successful mating.
My doe is slightly underweight and I was thinking that there might be something wrong with her and maybe that's why she's not getting pregnant. Nope. I figured out that she started losing weight when I switched to a j style feeder in her cage. I think she's too stupid to take out enough food. I've been putting pellets in a bowl in her cage and she's back to eating a decent amount. French Angoras are apparently not highly intelligent animals.
I do love French Angoras and like plucking their fur. I like spinning their fur too so I'm hopeful I can get the breeding thing figured out soon. I'm going to be buying two more rabbits soonish so that ought to increase my chances of them having successful litters.
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