What Factors Affect a Doe Rabbit’s Fertility?
📝 Summary
Rabbits can breed year-round with only about a month of pregnancy, so fertility should be high - but it is not, due to many factors such as failure to conceive and early embryo death. This article focuses on these two factors.
1 Overview
Why a Doe Rabbit’s Fertility Is Low
Failure to Conceive After Mating
In practice, failure to conceive after mating is common. Causes include congenital genital malformations where underdeveloped ovaries and uterus block follicle growth and sperm-egg union; improper hormone use (e.g., hormone-like drugs) disrupting hormone balance; and nutritional issues – deficiency or excess. Long-term lack of protein, vitamins, or trace elements causes stillbirth, deformity, or infertility. Over-fatness deposits fat on the ovaries, blocking follicle development or ovulation, and thickens the oviduct wall, preventing fertilization.
Also, diseases such as vaginitis, uterine tumors, or listeriosis cause infertility.
Early Embryo Death
Early embryo death in the uterus is another key reason. It can stem from poor sperm or egg quality, an unsuitable uterine environment, or external factors such as inbreeding and feed lacking vitamin A, vitamin E, and trace elements. Over- or under-weight does, poor semen quality, reproductive disease, and excessive medication during pregnancy also cause early embryo loss.
The above are some examples of why doe fertility is low. Many other factors exist; follow for more sharing.
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