Rabbit Reproduction - Anatomy & Physiology
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BACK TO REPRODUCTIVE SYSTEM
BACK TO SMALL DOMESTIC MAMMALS
Male
- Male rabbit is known as the buck.
Penis
- Rounded penile sheath.
- Rounded penile urethra.
- Easily extruded in rabbits over 2 months of age.
Testes
- Two testes
- Descend at ~12 weeks of age
- Large with epididymal fat pads.
- In the adult male they lie in two almost hairless scrotal sacs.
- Scrotal sacs are cranial to the penis (In the majority of placental mammals they lie caudal to the penis).
- Inguinal canal remains open.
Accessory Sex Glands
- Seminal vesicles: Open into the prostatic section of the urethra.
- Bulbourethral Glands: Small and paired, form a bilobed swelling in the dorsal wall of the urethra, just behind the prostate.
- Prostate Gland
Mammary Gland
- No nipples
Female
- Female rabbit is known as the Doe.
Reproductive Tract
- Bicornuate duplex uterus.
- Two seperate uterine horns.
- No uterine body
- Each horn has its own cervix.
- Two cervices open into a single vagina.
- Mesometrium is a major fat storage organ.
- Only minor anastomoses exist between the uterine and ovarian vasculature.
Puberty and Sexual Maturity
- Age of sexual maturity varies with breed.
- Small breeds mature at ~5 months
- Larger breeds mature as late at as 8 months.
Breeding Characteristics
- Induced ovulator with no well-defined oestrous cycle.
- Periods of sexual receptivity every 4-6 days.
- Oestrus period lasts ~14 days.
- Ovulation occurs within 10 hours of coitus.
- Breeding season January-October in the UK.
Gestation and Offspring
- Gestation period is 28-32 days.
- Pseudopregnancy may occur.
- Lasts 18 days.
- Litter size 4-12.
- Young are altricial
- Born hairless, deaf and blind.
- Totally dependent on their mother for the first few weeks of life.
- Protected from the environment and predators by the nest which is made by the Doe using hair from the dewlap.
- If the nest is disturbed, the Doe may cannibalise the offspring.
Mammary Gland
- Doe has 4/5 pairs of nipples.