How to fatten rabbits for meat at home

Real rabbits can be bred at home: pets do not require complicated care. However, fattening rabbits for meat is not so simple: the animal’s diet consists of 4 types of feed, and for good quality products the eared menu should be balanced.

Content
  1. Meat rabbit breeds
  2. Fattening rabbits for weight gain
  3. Methods of breeding rabbits for meat
  4. Broiler rabbit breeding method
  5. Conventional fattening method for young rabbits
  6. Increasing the weight of rabbits using additional methods
  7. Nutritional supplements for artificial weight gain
  8. To summarize

Откорм кроликов на мясо

Feeding rabbits for meat

These animals serve as a source of quality Tween wool and nutritious meat, they are unpretentious in food and breed well.

Meat breeds of rabbits

There are many breeds of rabbits, depending on the purpose of the final product. for the sale of wool, others go for meat. Decorative breeds are bred exclusively as pets.

Large breeds of rabbits are suitable for fattening, such as:

  • New Zealand and California;
  • Gray Giant;
  • Soviet Chinchilla;
  • Flanders (Belgian giant).

Most often for divorce New Zealand and California rabbits are used for meat. Their feature is a quick mass gain.These eared fatten by the third month of life and allowed to slaughter, so the breed is valued by farmers for their high profitability. The percentage of meat in the New Zealand breed is extremely high in relation to the weight of the animal, and taste is considered one of the best. This breed hails from the USA, and the rabbit breeders have been struggling for more than one year to develop all the positive qualities. The mass of rabbits in the 3rd month of life reaches 5 kg. The yield of pure meat of these rabbits is approximately 55%.

Rabbits quickly gain weight: by the second month of life, their weight reaches 2 kg. The meat of the cubs is particularly tender, but it is not rational to let them slaughter. One of the features of these pets is the thick coat on their paws, thanks to which they can live in cages with a mesh floor.

The California species of rabbits is a younger breed bred for fattening. Adult sizes are inferior to New Zealand rabbits. Pet weight ranges from 3 to 4 kg. Rabbits gain up to 2 kg within 2 months. California rabbits are well-knit and dense, so the yield of pure meat is 60%.

Among the breeds common in the CIS countries, the Gray Giant occupies a special place. These rabbits reach a weight of 6-7 kg, and the female leads up to 10 cubs at a time. Due to such features, this type of rabbit is widely used on farms, however, the taste of the Giant is significantly inferior to American breeds.

Breeding for slaughter is accompanied by a number of feeding rules at home. Without special fattening, the farm will not only be left without profit, but will not even pay back the cost of keeping the eared.

Fattening rabbits for weight gain

so that the rabbit can bring the right amount of meat, they begin to fatten it in about 2-3 months. By this time, the rabbit’s stomach is already fully formed. Also rejected individuals unsuitable for reproduction are allowed to slaughter. About 40% of the herd is slaughtered annually for sale.

To increase weight and improve the palatability of meat, rabbits are fed about a month before slaughter. The duration of such feeding depends on the available parameters of the fur and its age. Young animals gain mass faster than adults. The diet varies depending on the stage of feeding.

In total there are 3 stages of feeding rabbits:

  • preparatory (choice of diet);
  • main (quick weight gain in the animal );
  • final (weight and fat correction).

During the preparatory phase, the rabbit should receive the most high-calorie food. The amount of greens and succulent feed remains unchanged, while the rate of concentrated feed species is increased by 50%. Winter fattening occurs with minimal consumption of hay and twig feed. However, it is necessary to monitor the level of vitamins in the body of the animal: weak immunity leads to disease.

Правила откорма кроликов

Rules for feeding rabbits

The best Products during the preparatory phase are animal feed, corn, oats, barley, wheat and wheat bread, and legumes. The preparatory phase lasts no more than 5 days.

The second stage of feeding is aimed at the formation of fat in pets. To do this, you need to feed rabbits with foods that contain a high concentration of fats: boiled potatoes, flaxseed and hemp seeds, oilcake. Root crops and hay should be given extremely limited. Conventional cereals boiled in water with the addition of whole milk also contribute to the accumulation of fat. At this stage, you need to constantly monitor rabbits, since their gastrointestinal tract is a weak spot. If you exceed the permissible rate of fat per day, the rabbit will tear up the stomach. The main period lasts about a week.

During the final period, special attention is paid to the appetite of the eared. The rabbit should eat all the food that is given to him daily. To increase appetite, pets add dill, caraway seeds, celery to their food or add salt to the water. At the last stage, it is forbidden to give hay and greens, and the combined feed rate is maximized. If you let the rabbit eat grass before slaughter, the meat will be tougher.

You should take meat breeding seriously: the quantity and quality of meat depends on it.With an unbalanced diet in small rabbits, problems with the gastrointestinal tract begin. Preparation for fattening begins a few days before the first stage. At first, calves are fed light feeds rich in vitamins. The feed is finely crushed and mixed with crushed boiled potatoes. Be sure to comply with the salt and bone meal standards in the animal’s diet, otherwise they will begin to have serious bone problems.

Methods of breeding rabbits for meat

The method of feeding rabbits plays no less role than a properly balanced eared diet. The meat acquires the best taste quality for 6-7 months of the rabbit’s life.

But there are different ways to achieve this. Improving the taste is also corrected by special products in the rabbit’s diet.

Broiler rabbit breeding method

This is a common method used on large farms. For broiler breeding, meat rabbits are not sedimented from the mother until the slaughter. Thanks to the nutritional value of milk, rabbits quickly gain weight, and meanwhile, the rabbit is again sent for mating.

The main advantage of this method is the saving on cages.

However, such intensive feeding greatly depletes rabbits, therefore, it is recommended to give them an increased amount of feed, otherwise the immunity of the females is weakened, milk disappears and the reproductive system is disturbed.Also, from frequent feeding and non-compliance with sanitary standards, rabbits develop breast diseases.

Бройлерное разведение мясных крольчат

Broiler breeding of meat rabbits

The skin of broiler rabbits is of low value, but the meat is nutritious and has high taste. For this breeding method, such meat breeds as the White Giant, the Silver Crawl and the Soviet Chinchilla are used. These types of rabbits are particularly precocious and quickly gain weight due to the milk of the female. Usually the weight at the end of 6 weeks of these rabbits already reaches 2-3 kg.

The concentrated feed in the diet of rabbits during lactation should be at least 50% in the summer and up to 60% in the winter. Rabbits will grow faster if approximately 150 g of protein is delivered to them per feed unit. Hay is used from dried bean sprouts, they also contain vitamins, but nutrition is much higher. Water can be given to broiler pets in any quantity.

The usual method of fattening young rabbits

When using the usual fattening of young animals for slaughter, the rabbits should be left from the female for the second month. The diet should also consist primarily of concentrated feed. The first 10 days after depositing, the eared should receive 450 g of legumes and 45 g of pure grain.

In parallel with this, the animal can be fed with a balanced compound feed.Within 2 months, these values ​​increase by 1.5 times, and by 3 months – by 2. By the half-year age, the rabbit is already slaughtered. When fed, meat usually doesn’t have the same high taste as broiler meat, but wool is an order of magnitude better and can bring a certain profit.

Откорм молодых кроликов

Fattening young rabbits

On large farms with more than 200 heads, both methods are used in parallel. This allows you to unload the females and get equally high quality meat and suitable skins for sale. Medium-sized farms of up to 200 animals per herd alternate these methods of feeding young rabbits to give females time to recover. With a herd of less than 100 rabbits, the usual method of feeding is used, and the broiler method is used no more than 2 times a year.

Increasing the weight of rabbits in additional ways

Experienced rabbit breeders use some methods that can affect the weight gain of the animal. The most well-known factors contributing to weight gain are:

  • The correct grouping of animals. Among the herd there are always weak and strong individuals. It is necessary to transplant animals into cells, based on these indicators. Then the rabbits will receive food in equal shares, and no one will remain hungry.
  • Limited space. Rabbits are active animals, but during feeding they can be limited in their movement.This will help rabbits quickly gain weight, thanks to the law of conservation of energy.
  • The feeder for rabbits selected for fattening should not be empty. These animals should be fed 4-5 times a day.

Rabbits are nocturnal animals, so very often rabbit breeders darken the cage at home, increasing their appetite. So the fluffy eats more often, which means that the increase in weight increases several times.

However, you should not keep the animal in the dark all the time: this will affect his health not in the best way.

Nutritional supplements for artificial weight gain

Experienced farmers say that rabbits can be given certain vitamins to increase their appetite. If you do not take into account unscrupulous rabbit breeders who feed animals with hazardous chemicals for quick fattening, this practice is considered correct. Ordinary vitamins can be added to the animal’s water or mixed with wet bran.

Vitamins A and E are dissolved in fats, vitamin D, which is found in fish oil, is given as a part of cereals. To increase vitamin C in the body, water is usually acidified.

Also, in the right proportions and with the consent of the veterinarian, the eared are drunk with premixes (vitamin and mineral supplements) and BVMD (protein-vitamin and mineral supplements). Premixes contain not only the necessary complex of vitamins, but also such elements as calcium, manganese, phosphorus. They strengthen the body of the animal.BVMD, in addition to the usual useful things, also includes protein components, thanks to which more protein gets into the rabbit’s body.

Vitamin-complex supplements should not be confused with steroids or aggressive chemistry: the former are legal and affect exclusively the absorption of the body stern. Premixes do not degrade the taste of meat and do not have devastating effects on the human body. These components help the rabbit get the maximum amount of nutrients from the feed, due to which the eared ears gain weight faster. The calculation of the dose of vitamin supplements depends on such parameters as the weight and age of the animal. You can not abuse them: an increased amount of iron and magnesium in the blood will ruin the taste of rabbit meat.

To summarize

Lately, farmer rabbit fattening is gaining more and more popularity around the world. The meat of these pussies is primarily valued for its nutritional value and diet, it is recommended for people with congenital heart and kidney defects.

In the wild, rabbits eat plant foods, however, to improve the taste of meat on farms, there are various ways to feed these animals. Most often, the broiler method of feeding is used, but for small farms usual . Continuation of the article …

You can bookmark this page

Anna Evans

Author ✓ Farmer

View all posts by Anna Evans →