Have you heard the “three strikes rule” advocated when it comes to breeding does? The basic premise is simple—if a doe misses or has dead babies three times in a row, then the breeder is done with her, removing her from the breeding program. Early in our rabbit fancy career, we were advised to follow this rule. Well, it’s the rule in baseball, but does three strikes have anything to do with raising rabbits?
This pretty doe is Brian’s Samey. She was purchased by Muriel and I, along with another solid sable point and a broken sable point doe. We really wanted sable points (can you tell?). Then disappointment hit. The does missed or had dead litters multiple times. Samey was at Muriel’s house and the doe had at least three dead litters. The other does were at my house and I wasn’t having a lot of luck either getting litters from the. Finally my sable point doe, Avena, raised one kit. Although we discussed giving up, we really wanted to get offspring from these does. The rabbits had great type in addition to gorgeous wool and color. So we decided to trade does and then see what happened. Maybe a change of locale would help!
Guess what? Success! Samey, in California, had one live kit just before Christmas while the other solid doe was busy raising a litter of 3 in Oregon. Actually the broken sable point doe had a litter of three sable points also. We are in business now.
Moral of the story: If you really want to get offspring from a doe, then don’t give up. Fuzzy Lops don’t play baseball!
“Boy it is warm and cozy in this nestbox”, says the little guy.
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