Three Little Ladies Rabbitry, Jersey Wooly
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Rabbit Breeding and Moon Phases

Let me start by saying I believe in NO, NONE, ZIP, ZERO superstitions. I laugh at old wives tales about rearing children. I mock baseball players that won’t step on the foul line as they run out to take their position on the field. I don’t eat the same meal before every basketball game or baseball game in which I play. I don’t wear one sock pulled up, while the other is pushed down. I don’t feel lopsided if my right hand doesn’t do something my left hand just did.

Introduction to Moon Phase Breeding

Now that we have that all clear, what about breeding rabbits by phases of the moon? This is an interesting concept that I have seen on many websites. Problem is that none of the websites that have the charts really give us anything close to scientific data to back up their claim. In fact many of the sites just say, “I don’t know if this stuff works, but here’s the chart.” We aren’t going to start breeding by phases of the moon either, but over the next couple of weeks we are going to take a look back, and see how close our production compared to the moon phases.

How did Rabbit Breeding get Tied in with Moon Phases?

So where did this concept of breeding by moon phases actually come from? The moon has played a huge role in witchcraft, Greek mythology and Roman mythology throughout history. Both the Greek goddess Selene and the Roman goddess Luna had the moon under their control and human fertility in their power.

Today many couples struggling with fertility will try to conceive by the various phases of the moon. Hunters will hunt deer based on phases of the moon. Even worms are bred by the phases of the moon. Gardening is often done on moon phases. Considering the mythological role the moon has played in history it is no surprise that rabbits are bred by phases of the moon.

How it Works

Two things come into play when breeding by the phases of the moon. The first is whether there is a new moon or a full moon. Breeding during a new moon increases the number of does in a litter. Breeding by a full moon increases the number of bucks in a litter.

The second thing that comes into play is the zodiac signs. The various signs either produce good, poor or best quality of the bucks or does. For example does bred during Aries, Gemini and Sagittarius have a tendency to produce poor quality bucks according to the theory.

When you combine the moon phases with the zodiac signs you then can breed for specific results. So if a New Moon occurs during a zodiac time that produces the best does that when you should breed for does. Like if a New Moon occurred on July 17, which is during the zodiac sign Cancer that would be a great time to breed for does, because the New Moon produces the most does and Cancer produces the best does.

Scientific Analysis

Scientifically it will be easy to produces results base on the new and full moons. Either you produced more does or you didn’t. However, the results of the zodiac will be much more complicated. First we don’t keep all of our rabbits, so knowing how well that junior may have turned out now that he’s a year old is pretty hard to determine unless you’ve kept in touch with everyone to whom you’ve sold a rabbit. Second quality is somewhat subjective.

I did find two breeders who did some of their own scientific studies on a small scale regarding moon phases breeding. Teresa Wooden of Brightside Woolies has two nice charts showing her results from one sampling. Laurie Stroupe of The Nature Trail also posted some findings she made from her one look at moon phase breeding. Watch for our findings in an upcoming article but for now, here are the 2006 moon phase charts.

Helpful Moon Phase Charts

2006 Calendar

New Moon

Full Moon

Light Side

Does

Bucks

Dates

Dec. 31st

Jan. 14th

Jan. 15th - Jan. 28th

Jan. 29th

Feb. 13th

Feb. 13th - Feb. 27th

Feb. 28th

Mar. 14th

Mar. 15th - Mar. 28th

Mar. 29th

Apr. 13th

Apr. 13th - Apr. 26th

Apr. 27th

May 13th

May 14th - May 26th

May 27th

Jun. 11th

Jun. 12th - Jun. 24th

Jun. 25th

Jul. 11th

Jul. 12th - Jul. 24th

Jul. 25th

Aug. 9th

Aug. 10th - Aug. 22nd

Aug. 23rd

Sep. 7th

Sep. 8th - Sep. 21st

Sep. 22nd

Oct. 7th

Oct. 8th - Oct. 21st

Oct. 22nd

Nov. 5th

Nov. 6th - Nov. 19th

Nov. 20th

Dec. 5th

Dec. 6th - Dec. 19th

Dec. 20th

Jan. 3rd, 2007

Jan. 4th, 2007 - Jan. 18th, 2007

Zodiac Calendar

Most Fertile

Zodiac Sign

Dates

Sex/Quality

Aquarius

Jan. 21st - Feb. 19th

Good quality Bucks

Doe

Pisces

Feb. 20th - Mar. 20th

Best quality Does

Aries

Mar. 21st - Apr. 20th

Poor quality Bucks

Doe

Taurus

Apr. 21st - May 21st

Good quality Does

Gemini

May 22nd - Jun. 21st

Poor quality Bucks

Buck

Cancer

Jun. 22nd - Jul. 22nd

Best quality Does

Leo

Jul. 23rd - Aug. 21st

Poor quality Bucks

Virgo

Aug. 22nd - Sep. 23rd

Poor quality Does

Libra

Sep. 24th - Oct. 23rd

Best quality Bucks

Doe

Scorpio

Oct. 24th - Nov. 22nd

Best quality Does

Sagittarius

Nov. 23rd - Dec. 22nd

Poor quality Bucks

Capricorn

Dec. 23rd - Jan. 20th

Good quality Does