Eastern cottontail rabbits leave their mothers only two weeks after birth. Commercial breeders of domestic rabbits usually remove the babies from their mothers about four weeks after birth, but the baby rabbits leave the nest by three weeks after birth.
Eastern cottontail rabbits start breeding at around 1 year of age and can have five litters of three to five babies per litter each year. The mother makes a nest and leaves the babies in the nest, visiting only once a day to feed them.
Domestic rabbit breeders usually start breeding does when they are only 4 months old. A domestic doe can produce seven to eight litters per year of eight to 10 babies.
