# pregnant flemish??



## mommytotheflemish (Apr 11, 2006)

i am the very proud owner of 2 beautiful pure flemish giants that i got from a respectible breeder............my question is how do i know if she is pregnant she looks like a butterball turkey right now but wont let me near her belly.....i put her in with the male and she cryed all through the mating process (i stood there to make sure she wasnt being injurd) i have tried in the past to mate her but hasnt taken for some odd reason how else can i tell if she is with kits???? ty to all who can help


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## RO STAFF 2 (Apr 11, 2006)

Congrats! Flemish are VERY popular on this board! 

Not sure howto tell if she's pregnant without touching her (personally, evenWITHtouching her), butforfuture reference, here's a good site with directions on palpating earlier on in her pregnancy.

http://islandgems.net/palpating.html

Hopefully one of the experienced breeders on the board can chime in with some good current info! 

Good luck!


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## TinysMom (Apr 12, 2006)

One of my very first questions is - how old is she? I don't think they should be mated till they are 9 months old or so? I'm not sure as I have a smaller breed that can be bred at a younger age.

I have usually found that when a doe cries at mating - (for my does) -they're usuallhy pregnant already - or just not quite ready. 

What I have started doing over the last couple of breeding sessions - is to wait until my doe is READY to mate...then it goes so easy.

So how do I know if my doe is ready to mate? She chins everything...water bottle, cage, food bowl, etc. They chin it excessively. They lay with their back legs in such a way that they're vent is almost exposed - as if it is uncomfortable for them to lay like they usually do. Sometimes they will "grunt" at me when I go to feed them - I've often found that a doe that is ready to mate is more talkative and grumpy.

You have a couple of options with the situation you have right now. Count 31 days from when you tried to breed her and just wait until then. I have a hard time palpating unless the doe has had several litters already....otherwise - I'm still too new at it to really get it right. 



You could try to rebreed her. I'm not sure I'd do that if you already bred her. Is there a chance though that she was already bred before you got her? How long have you had her?

Those are just a few thoughts...

I do have one other suggestion. Join the National Flemish Giant's Breeder's club..no..I'm not a member but I'm betting the guidebook you get might be a good reference..

http://www.nffgrb.com/

According to the membership application here:

http://www.nffgrb.com/MembershipApplication.htm

It has a 200 page guidebook as part of the package...

For a single member it is $10 per year - for a couple it is $15 - for the first year. After that - the renewal drops to $8/single and $10/couple.

I hope others can come on and help more - I'm just horrid at palpating.

BTW - when did you try to mate her? How long has it been - and how long have you had her?

Peg


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## katt (Apr 12, 2006)

flemish giants are neat rabbits, i have had a few of them. flemish giants does shouldn't be bred until they are their sr. weight, if before it can stunt their growth.

sometimes does make noise, sometimes the buck make noise, sometimes they both do and sometimes neither do. it depends greatly on the rabbit. i had a holland lop buck that would scream at the top of his lungs every time he was bred to a doe! it was rather comical!

have you been waiting a full 35 days between breeding you flemish to make sure she isn't prego already? palpating is tricky for first-timers, i found it even harder on flemish giants, they are just so big! i would suggest waiting the 35 days (give her a box at day 27)to see what happens, if it was less then 35 days between this breeding and the last breeding you tried, i would give her a box just in case she is already prego.

if she is really chubby and isn't prego right now you need to get her at a healthy weight before trying to bred her again. fat does don't bred well. . .you want to avoid yellow-fat buildup around her ovaries.

i would give her a box, fill it with hay, and give her extra hay in her cage (i found that does like to pick up the hay and put it in the box themselves).check the box regularly to see if there are babies or not!

also a tip with flemish giants is we used those cat litter-boxes with the lids for nestboxes. they aren't to expensive and i liked that they were big enough for flemish and that the top could be removed for easy cleaning!

hope this helped!

katie


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## gentle giants (Apr 13, 2006)

Definatly don't breed a Flemish until she is eight-nine months old. You don't want to wait a whole lot longer than that though, other wise you can get the fat build-up that Katt mentioned. It is also very important to get her at, and keep her at, a healthy weight. Flemish tend to get over wight very easily, so you have to be very strict as to how much you feed them. I know it's hard, it kills me to get those sad accusing eyes too! 
I know I'm kinda repeating mostly things that have already been said, but this is important stuff.


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## mommytotheflemish (May 13, 2006)

hey all srry i havent gotten back to u the flemish female was pregnant after all and we had 7 gorgeous kits..............they were born on easter...i woke on easter morn to mom in labor and very quickly got a nest box and extra hay together for her nest.................sat with her most of the day while she was in labor and had to go have dinner at familys house rushed back after and the last on had just been born.........they are doing great and have gotten quite attached to them as they have to me ...................we have 5 pellet eaters now and 2 water bottle drinkers and teaching the others each day.......mom and dad are good and great parents!!!! i will post pics soon..............have a great day all and all buns out there have the funnest day possible!!!!


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