A female rabbit can be sexually mature from the age of 6 months. Rabbits reproduce numerously and frequently as a natural form of species preservation, as they are at the end of the food chain and are the prey of many other animals. It is not always immediately recognisable whether a rabbit is pregnant.


Pregnancy is the time from conception to the birth of the young. Pregnancy lasts about 31 days in a female rabbit. During the gestation period, some females react more aggressively, especially towards males, but otherwise behave in the same way as a non-pregnant female rabbit.
From the 21st day of pregnancy, you can feel the embryos in the womb of the mother rabbit. The young feel like marbles. The female does not start building her nest until around day 28. To do this, the female takes off her own fur and pushes straw and hay together with her paws and nose to form a nest. The pregnant female often hides just before giving birth.

The litter of young usually only lasts a few minutes. Up to 12 young can be born. Immediately after birth, the mother rabbit leaves her young alone most of the time to protect them from predators. She returns to her nest about twice a day for a few minutes to suckle. The female rabbit should be left alone with the young when suckling. Stillborn young are usually eaten.

After whelping, male rabbits should be kept away from the nest so that the young have a better chance of survival. The male will also try to mate with the female again immediately, which should be prevented to protect the female's health.