Detailed Explanation of Methods for Determining Whether a Doe Rabbit Is Pregnant
After a doe rabbit has been pregnant for 10 to 15 days, she will show behaviors such as digging holes, gnawing the cage, and carrying straw in her mouth, and she will refuse contact and mating with bucks. Once a buck chases her, the doe lets out a "coo coo" cry to show refusal. Therefore, the method of testing with a buck can also be used for pregnancy checks, but this method is not very accurate.
From 10 days of pregnancy in a doe rabbit until before kindling, redness and swelling are often visible on the vulva. The more days she has been pregnant, the more obvious the vulvar swelling, but it is relatively dry, with no secretions.
The more accurate method for checking pregnancy in a doe rabbit is palpating the fetuses. After mating, the fetuses can be felt through the abdominal wall at 8 to 10 days. When palpating the fetuses, never lift the pregnant rabbit off the ground to perform the procedure, and do not use too much force, otherwise it will cause the doe rabbit to miscarry. The correct method is to hold the doe rabbit's ears and neck skin with one hand so that the rabbit's rump faces the person, and place the other hand in a splayed shape on the doe rabbit's rear abdomen. The area to feel is in front of the pelvic region (the movements must be gentle, and do not squeeze hard, so as to avoid causing miscarriage). Move the hand along the doe rabbit's abdominal wall from back to front. If mating has resulted in conception, small fleshy balls about the size of fecal pellets can be felt, elastic, easy to slide, and soft. But be careful to distinguish them from feces; feces are rough and relatively hard, and not easy to slide. At 12 to 15 days of pregnancy, fleshy balls about the size of egg yolks connected in a string can be felt. At 18 to 22 days, fetuses that are basically formed and whose bodies and heads can be distinguished can be felt. After 25 days, by supporting the doe rabbit's abdomen with the hand, the movement of the fetuses can be felt.
If you do not know how to palpate the fetuses, you can also use the method of weighing to check. An adult doe rabbit should be weighed first before mating, then weighed again half a month later. If the body weight has increased significantly compared with before mating, it indicates that conception has occurred; if the body weight has not increased, it indicates that conception has not occurred.