Rabbit Reproduction - Anatomy & Physiology
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Male
The 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
The female rabbit is known as the Doe.
Reproductive Tract
Uterus
- Bicornuate duplex uterus.
- Two seperate uterine horns.
- No uterine body
- Each horn has its own cervix.
- Two cervices open into a single vagina.
Attachments and Blood Supply
- 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
Pregnancy diagnosis
- Foetuses may be palpated by gentle abdominal palpation as early as 10 days post breeding. They can be felt as 1 to 1.5cm masses in the caudal ventral abdomen.
- At 18 days they become 2.5 to 3cm in length.
- Radiography or ultrasonography can be used after 21 days if necessary.
Gestation
- Gestation period is 29-35 days.
- Pseudopregnancy may occur.
- Lasts 18 days.
- May be due to infertile mating, or the presence of a male nearby.
- Dam is unable to conceive during this time.
- Corpus Luteum secretes progesterone, which causes the uterus and mammary glands to grow.
Litter
- 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 and Lactation
- Doe has 4/5 pairs of nipples.
- Mammary gland develops in the last week of pregnancy.
- Suckling is stimulated by a pheromone produced by a gland near the nipple.
- Consumption of water and caecotrophs increases 10-fold during lactation.
- Rabbit milk is richer than cow's milk:
Sexing
Kits are best sexed at birth or at weaning (5-8 weeks of age). In between those times it can be difficult to exteriorise the genitalia.
Sexing is performed by gentle pressure on the genital orifice which everts the penis or vulva. The male has a cylindrical organ with a rounded to oval-shaped urethral opening. The female vulva has a leaf-like appearance with a slit-like opening.
In the male the testicles descend at around 12-14 weeks of age and can be palpated, although they can be retracted into the abdomen if the rabbit is stressed.
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Small Mammals Q&A 17 |
References
Richardson, V. (2000) Rabbits Health, Husbandry and Diseases, Blackwell Science