How many weeks does a rabbit’s pregnancy last?

Each owner who wants to provide his family wholesome and dietary meat, rich in protein, always comes to the idea of ​​breeding cute pets – rabbits. These furry animals have gained leadership among farmers. One of the key reasons is special fecundity. On average, in one year, a rabbit can lead offspring about 5 times, giving birth to 40 rabbits.

Very impressive results, especially against the background of breeding other domestic animals. It is only natural that sooner or later rabbit breeders ask themselves: “How long does a rabbit's pregnancy last?” And how should it be conducted? ” Today, the answers to these questions will be covered in this article.

Age of rabbit reproduction

Breeding rabbits at home is not such a simple matter. The owner needs to ensure the implementation of a mass of conditions in order for the female to be able to have offspring and grow it healthy. Here, not only the living conditions and diet of fur animals will be important, but also close monitoring of the condition of the pregnant rabbit throughout the gestation period. But what is the age of the succession of rabbits?
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To begin with, let's define the basic terminology. In a livestock environment, the period of gestation is called rabbitry.This peculiar name of pregnancy is widely used in veterinary circles. It should be noted that rabbits are animals that reach puberty very early. They grow and grow not by the day, but by the hour. Individuals of large breeds are capable of breeding already in the fifth or sixth month of life, and the decorative appearance of hares is capable of bearing fruit at the age of 3 months of age. The duration of pregnancy in both the first and second is approximately the same, but more on that later.

Signs of the future appearance of offspring in rabbits

It is not so easy for novice breeders to recognize the rabbit's succession in the first time in its initial stages. This is a big problem for them. Here we need experience and observation, which are developed over long months of caring for animals. The first bell in favor of the pregnancy of the female will be a change in her behavior after mating with the male. Of course, this will not happen immediately. The period necessary to start the onset of symptoms ranges from a few days to 2 weeks. What happens to the expectant mother? An unusual process begins to take place in her body: the birth of a new life. The days of her free life went countdown, so at a subconscious level the rabbit wants to protect her babies from the influence of external factors and, just in case, limits her contacts with other animals.This instinct of self-preservation is expressed in the fact that during the entire time of pregnancy the expectant mother becomes aggressive and irritable towards others. Pregnant rabbits are especially wary of contacts with males and simply do not allow them to come around, they can push them off when trying to communicate.
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A change in behavior is not yet a 100% guarantee of pregnancy. Sometimes it happens that the period of aggression lasts about 2.5 weeks, and then the female again allows the male to come into contact. This means that the first case of replanting the rabbit was unsuccessful. The most reliable sign of the future addition in the rabbit family will be very strange at first glance, the behavior of the mother. Feeling the approaching birth, she prepares to look after her babies and tries to create the most comfortable conditions for the young rabbits. To do this, she tears out her own wool on her belly and makes her a warm nest. The most win-win option in determining pregnancy can be implemented around the 3rd week after mating. Which one? At this time, experienced rabbit breeders can already easily feel the small lumps in the belly of the rabbit. These are future cubs. It should be extremely careful during this procedure: the female can injure or bite, protecting herself and her offspring.

Duration of the rabbit's donation

Naturally, the cornerstone for breeding furry animals will be the question of how much the pregnant rabbit walks. Yes, really, how much? He is interested in caring owners for a reason, because they also take responsibility for raising rabbits and creating the most favorable conditions for them. Moreover, the females do not go pregnant for long, which means that they need to have time to prepare everything for an okrol. How long does a rabbit's pregnancy last? This depends on a number of factors:
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  • rabbit breed;
  • number of fetuses developing in the womb;
  • female’s health status.
The gestational age in rabbits may vary. Usually pregnant females carry babies from 28 to 35 days. How long this period will last for a particular mother is difficult to guess. Moreover, there are often intermittent births when rabbits were born at a large interval: from 1 to 10 days. It is difficult to predict the timing of the birth of babies, but farmers have long noticed the dependence of the gestational age on how many babies formed in the womb. The more of them, the faster the birth will take place. If the litter consists of 10 babies, then the pregnancy will not last long: approximately 28-29 days. After 31 days, a family of 9 rabbits was born. Okrol, consisting of 8 cubs, will occur after 32 days, from 7-6 - after 33.The maximum period of rabbits is 5 or less rabbits and give birth only on 34-35 days. Such a daily spread is associated with the peculiarity of the female organism. The larger the number of fruits, the more difficult it is for the rabbit to endure. Of course, not everyone is able to give birth to 10 babies at a time. Some breeds (for example, White Giants or Flanders) produce offspring of only 2 or 4 rabbits. This is a feature of their species.

General recommendations for caring for pregnant females

The term of pregnancy in rabbits is, of course, an important topic. But it’s not enough to know the approximate birth time of babies, you need to understand what kind of care your mother requires in order for them to be born healthy. It has already been said above that one of the first bells of an interesting position of a rabbit is her aggressiveness. Throughout the entire period of carrying babies, her nervous system is very tense. But the most dangerous is the fact that partners can not tolerate such behavior and respond with the same coin, which is likely to harm pregnancy or even put her life at risk. Where to put her to protect her from problems?
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In the case of a particularly vivid manifestation of hostility, the female can be isolated from other rabbits. But this should be done with caution: grab the withers, supporting with the second hand from below and transplant into a separate rabbitry. You can’t delay with such a decision: 5-7 days before the round, it is already forbidden to bother your mother. Do not forget about the correct diet of the expectant mother.A balanced diet of a female is the key to the health of future rabbits, but care must be taken before rabbits become pregnant. This is due to the fact that a sharp change in the environment, food and all living conditions causes severe stress in females, which is fraught with involuntary miscarriages and a decrease in the viability of babies, therefore, veterinary science experts recommend that feed fur animals with high-quality products initially, avoid moldy foods soured silo etc. Personal profit depends on what kind of food is given to pets. It is important to include grain, chalk and part of meat and bone meal in the furry menu in advance. It will be useful to observe the female: her body itself will tell you what elements she lacks and she will lean on the missing ingredient. This is exactly what they should pay attention to, it is they who need to enrich the diet of the expectant mother. This is very dangerous, as a cold animal can infect others, in which case there is a high risk of losing its entire population. Rabbits go pregnant very often and their body constantly needs to be fed with useful trace elements. Which additives to choose, the veterinarian can advise. Experienced rabbit breeders advise to help the expectant mother prepare for childbirth.For this, 5 days before giving birth, hay and animal fluff are put in a cage to the female. This gives her a sense of confidence for her offspring and alleviates the stress of the upcoming event.
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An exciting day

When the mother’s body is ready to free herself from the burden, she starts to noticeably become nervous in a few days. Veterinarians noticed that most often okrol occurs at night or early in the morning. Depending on how large the babies are and what the birth is, the female gives birth to each of her children from 10 minutes to 1 hour. After successful resolution, the newly-minted mother can eat the film and stillborn rabbits. But the last rabbit breeders are advised to avoid, so that the rabbit will not get carried away and kill the successful offspring. As soon as the owner noticed the dead baby, he should immediately remove it from the female. Having become a mother, the rabbit licks her children. After this, it is advisable to ventilate the room in which the birth took place, after first transferring the family to a new cage for about half an hour.
Once all the procedures have been completed, the veterinarians advise you not to disturb the female for several days and add rich food to the diet protein. If the rabbit does not want to feed offspring, he is rubbed down from someone else's nest to kill the smell of a real mother and the babies are planted in another female.
Breeding rabbits, despite the prevailing stereotypes about their fertility, is very serious process.But if you competently approach its implementation, you can get a wonderful result in the form of a large amount of healthy and dietary meat for the whole family. Now you know how long the rabbit’s pregnancy lasts by day, how it is performed and how to react in any strange situations.
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Anna Evans

Author ✓ Farmer

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