I had another conversation with a breeder and he mentioned that breeding at the full moon is supposed to produce more bucks. I don't understand how something like that could work. It seems to me that there's no relationship. But I do know that the moon controls the tides, that there are more murders and crimes during the full moon, and that more babies are born then. I can't deny that things happen during the full moon, even if I can't figure out how it works.
I often say that, while opinions are great, they have no place when the facts can be known. I hate to debate when research is possible. Don't argue about how to pronounce a word - just go get the dictionary. That's me all over.
So I decided with over 400 rabbits in my database that I had the conception dates for, it was time to find out a little something about breeding rabbits by the phases of the moon. I think you will be interested in what I found out.
First, I asked my husband to find out for me when we had full moons and new moons since I started breeding in February 2003. I decided to classify the two days before and after as part of the full moon or new moon. Hence, if the full moon was on March 9, then I defined breedings during March 7-11 as full moon breedings.
I attempted 37 breedings during the new moon (when it's dark) and 44 breedings during the full moon. The balance of my breedings were somewhere in between.
Of the 37 new moon breedings, 14 produced kits that survived long enough to be added to my database. From the 44 full moon breedings, 24 litters of viable kits were produced - again, those that lived long enough to be added to my database (virtually always over two months of age).
- 38% of the new moon breedings produced live kits
- 55% of the full moon breedings produced live kits
I netted a total of 42 rabbits from the 14 new moon litters in 37 attempts. I netted 68 rabbits from the 24 full moon breedings in 44 attempts.
- I averaged 3 kits per litter resulting from new moon breedings
- I averaged 2.8 kits per litter resulting from full moon breedings
When I averaged in all of the litters that produced nothing (misses and all-dead litters), I netted the following:
That is to say, if I breed ten does at a new moon, I get 11 babies. If I breed ten does at the full moon, I get 15 babies, if these numbers hold true.
It is possible that 3 kits and 2.8 kits is not statistically significantly different. I don't have access to a computer program to determine that (and I've forgotten all I ever knew about calculating such by hand!) I do think that the 1.1 vs. 1.5 might be an interesting finding. It those numbers held up under huge populations, it might mean that more kits are produced for the effort you spend when you breed during the full moon.
But here's the most interesting part. During the new moon, I produced 15 bucks and 27 does. Under the full moon, I produced 40 bucks and 28 does. I produced almost the same number of does each time, but I produced 25 more bucks in the full moon breedings.
- With new moon breeding, I produced 36% bucks and 64% does
- With full moon breeding, I produced 59% bucks and 41% does
It would be interesting to see if other rabbitries have experienced the same thing. I would love to know whether these findings would be replicated elsewhere. I don't feel that my sample size is big enough to say too much for sure, especially without statistical tests, but since my hypothesis was that there would be no difference, I am surprised to see the numbers that came out.
I think I could use a few more does right now, though. I wonder when the next new moon is?
Laurie Stroupe
The Nature Trail Rabbitry
Holland Lops Of Distinction
Precious Pet Rabbits
Pet Rabbit Care Information, Quality Pet Rabbit Breeders, and Rabbit Fun
