Palpation is done to a female rabbit (doe) to determine if she is pregnant. Palpation helps deterine the fetal development and gives a rough estimate on how big the kindle will be judging by the number of masses felt and how much her abdomin is enlarged. Palpation should be done 10-14 days after breeding to see if the breeding took. There are 2 ways to palpate the first is to pick up the doe and cradle her in the crook of your arm holding lightly on the scruf of the neck to secure her. Using your thumb and index finger place them on her lower abdomin (just above the vent area) and with the fingers on each side GENTLY squeeze and if pregnant you should feel what feels like marbles, if after 2 weeks pregnant they should be larger. If not felt try moving higher on the abdomin. The second way to palpate is to place the doe on a table or other flat surface and use the same method using your fingers just with her standing. Holding and palpating the doe is my prefered method since it allows the abdomin to be stretched therefore making it easier to identify the fetuses.
Another way to test to see if the doe is pregnant is to place her back in with the same buck. If she becomes unresponsive or grunts or attackes she most likely is. After placing her with the buck and she does become aggresive remove her. If they breed again then most likely the process must start over and the prior breedind did not take. There are some instances though where they will breed again and the doe is pregnant. This can result in the doe kindling on different days causing 2 kindles to be born within days or if carried full term on both kindles weeks. |
