Rabbit breeding principle

Rabbit breeding is again gaining popularity among farmers. Rabbits are some of the most prolific pets. One female per year can grow up to 30 rabbits, which is about 70 kg of meat. Breeding – rabbits are one of the most important aspects every farmer should know.

Rabbit breeding process

Classification and some features

In total, about 200 different breeds are known in the world, all of them are divided into several types:

• meat;
• skin meat;
• Shells;
• decorative.

The last variety is used only for aesthetic purposes. Before you start to breed rabbits at home, you need to determine your goals and choose the appropriate breed. It is advisable to buy individuals of puberty.

The basis of the diet of rabbits is plant food. Under natural conditions, these animals form colonies. Burrows are used as housing.

Rabbits are ready for breeding as early as 4 months. The rabbit carries offspring 29-31 days. Offspring are born completely not adapted to environmental conditions.Rabbits are completely naked, blind and deaf, so in the first weeks they need especially careful care. When they reach the age of seven days, the babies begin to cover themselves with fluff, and their eyes open on the tenth day.

For beginner rabbit breeders, it is very important to study all aspects related to the fertilization, reproduction and development of newly born offspring. The fertility will depend on how comfortable the host can create a pet.

One of the most important points is normal living conditions. A cage should be bought or made with your own hands before acquiring rabbits. Care should be taken in advance for a separate housing: after fertilization, the rabbit will need to be transplanted into a separate cage.

Selection criteria for rabbits

Breeding of rabbits at home begins with the selection of healthy individuals capable of to the reproduction of healthy offspring. Depending on the type of production the breed was selected, some features should be noted. Rules and criteria for choosing rabbits for the tribe:

• body length and its addition;
• body weight, the animal should not be too plump or skinny;
• quality and coat color.

Rabbit Selection

A healthy individual should have a strong physique, clean eyes and shiny hair. You should never buy to breed individuals whose appearance is in doubt. If the rabbit has hips protruding, a stomach or back sagging, the head is irregular in shape, the hair is in a deplorable state, it means that the individual is not able to give healthy offspring and most likely needs treatment itself.

Rabbit housing

A comfortable cage is the first priority that confronts everyone who decides to breed rabbits at home. Keeping rabbits can be closed and open. Animals that are kept open can withstand cold up to -20 ° C and are more resilient.

Rabbits negatively relate to high humidity and drafts. Rabbit houses should be spacious enough, light and dry. The older generation and young animals should not be kept on the same square. The longer the rabbits stay near their mother, the better their immunity will be and the more weight they will be able to gain.

Housing for rabbits

It will be cheaper to complete the construction for rabbit living on your own. The back wall of the cell must be continuous, without gaps.In one of the side piers, a manhole is made to enter the territory for walking. The inner space of the container is divided into functional parts for feeding, drinking and nests for sleep. The front wall is made of netting, the flooring is made of wooden planks, and the net is fixed closer to the end: this is where the rabbits will defecate.

Considerable attention should be paid to the drinking system. Many make the mistake of pouring water into small containers and not pouring it during the day. For normal development and maintenance of good immunity, rabbits need enough water. About one liter of fluid per adult per day. If juicy grass predominates in the animals ’diet, the amount of fluid consumed decreases.

Features of breeding

Breeding of rabbits begins with the selection of breeding individuals and culling when they reach maturity. Crossbreeding between close relatives is not welcome, especially beginner farmers should not engage in inbreeding.Breeding individuals are selected, observing the following rules:

• take representatives of the first and second litter;
• a breeding rabbit is selected already in the first days after birth, the largest crawl will be ideal ;
• great attention is paid to weight, and the animal should not be overweight, but at the same time it needs to have a normally developed muscular system;
• the hair cover can say a lot about the health of the pet, therefore choose only those rabbits whose fur shimmers and does not stick out in shreds.

Ca approx taken mostly already experienced, to show their good side.

Rejection of male and female is carried out after a few matings. First-born females often cannot immediately give a good offspring and are not always able to provide appropriate care to their offspring, but they quickly learn and do without outside help 2-3 times. The males are rejected for failure to fertilize the female in every third case. If the female does not fertilize after the control mating, then she is also rejected.

A high fertility rate in females is good milk production. The male must have high sexual activity. If the animal is lazy and inactive, it is rejected. For a small farm, 2 insemination rabbits will be enough. You often need to cleanse the blood in a rabbit herd, buying new breeding individuals.

When rabbits are bred

Any experienced farmer knows how to breed rabbits. This is the basis for successful farming. The weight of the animals at the time of mating should be at least 3 kg. Rabbits reach puberty at 4 months, but if the optimum weight has not been gained, it is better to wait a little while, otherwise the pregnancy will adversely affect the health of the female and offspring. The age when the rabbits are ready for mating will depend on the pedigree characteristics and how quickly the young were left from the mother:

• the smaller the representatives of the genus, the sooner they will be able to produce offspring;
• the longer rabbits get their mother’s milk, the more durable they become and the faster they gain weight.

It is very important to mate in the allotted time, because overexposure of animals leads to obesity, which negatively affects as fertilization or leads to the death of most of the offspring. Sexual hunting in males occurs in 6-8 months, it is at this age that they are ready for mating. There are certain rules by which the inspection and determination of individuals ready for fertilization is carried out.

When you need to bring rabbits

You can determine the beginning of sexual hunting of a female by her behavior. Usually, females behave calmly, but when they become sexually active, they become restless.Occasionally, a girl may refuse food. The animal begins to tear out hair in the chest area, scatters food. The loop swells and turns scarlet. Such signs will be the same for all varieties.

For rabbits that have brought offspring more than once, the time of onset of sexual hunting after the rounding in the first 24-48 hours is characteristic. Sometimes the female does not have milk until the moment the animal need is satisfied. Rabbits under optimal conditions can breed all year round.

Preliminary preparation

Breeding of rabbits at home requires some preliminary preparation. Half a month before mating, the animals are fully checked for diseases, vaccinations are given, and if necessary, they are weighed. Skinny individuals are transferred to junk food. For males, a couple of weeks before mating, they’re introduced to the diet mixes of boiled potatoes with oats. Highly concentrated feeds are given to females.

Before mating, female nipples and external genitals are examined. The female should have 8 or 10 nipples. All animals with deviations are rejected for meat. Animals that are in the active molting stage are never reduced.

To obtain the best results, females giving birth several times are planted in young males, and vice versa: inexperienced females are planted in males that have already been tested.It is important to remember that it is the female who is being planted to the male, and not vice versa, otherwise the male will feel insecure, will begin to behave a little aggressively. Feeders and drinking bowls are preliminarily removed from the rabbit house.

How to correctly bring the rabbits

You cannot leave the rabbits alone for the time of mating. The female may not accept the rabbit, and they will start to fight. The process is considered successful when, after mating, the male falls on a barrel and quietly rumbles (some do not rumble). The whole action is repeated a couple of times.

After that, the female is put back into her cage. If after a couple of hours the behavior of the female has not changed, she is returned to the same male. When the second time there is no result, the male is changed. The control mating is carried out on the 5-6th day. If the female does not accept the male, this is a sure sign that the previous breeding was successful.

Breeding of rabbits in winter should be carried out in appropriate conditions. For this, cells are additionally insulated. After fertilization, the females provide more thorough care and add the number of feeds.

Correct mixing of rabbits

At home, rabbits reproduce not only naturally: the method of artificial insemination is practiced. This procedure is considered the most effective. The female is planted to the male.As soon as they get down to business, the veterinarian substitutes a test tube and collects sperm, after which he injects it artificially using a special syringe to the female. Farmers, especially beginners, must keep records. In the diaries, the performance of each individual, the dates of the incidents and other important information are noted.

Inbreeding

Close ties for any animals are undesirable. Degeneration occurs and the risk of developing all kinds of genetic pathologies is very high. However, experienced rabbit breeders intentionally crossbreed within the genus to breed a new breed. Inbreeding can be:

• random;
• forced.

Random inbreeding is carried out only when the young were not divorced in time. This procedure is very harmful to the health of animals, therefore, to dilute the blood, it is better to purchase a breeding rabbit from another breeder. If this is not possible, far-distant individuals are brought together.

How to check whether the mating was successful

10 days after the information, it is possible to determine the presence of pregnancy in the female. They sit her on a flat table and turn her head to herself. The rabbit needs to be fixed with one hand, taking by the withers. During pregnancy, many females become aggressive, so special care should be taken. With the second hand they begin to carefully probe the abdomen.

In a pregnant individual, the lower abdomen will be hard.During this period, the uterus is already enlarged and filled with fluid. During palpation, the embryos themselves can be felt. They will feel like grapes by touch. The rate of gestation depends on the breed characteristics, as well as on the experience of the female. On average, the gestation period is a month, but in prolific individuals that give numerous litters, pregnancy lasts less.

Conclusion

The ability of female rabbits to often give birth is one of the main features this species, which makes their breeding at home a very profitable investment. All this is the reason why rabbit breeding is becoming more and more popular every year. For beginner farmers, special training videos are shot in which they talk about the proper care and maintenance of rabbits.

Rabbits breed quickly give offspring in a short time. For the economy to flourish, you need to follow certain maintenance rules, as well as know all the features of mating.All this information can also be gleaned from the corresponding thematic video.