Is it profitable to breed rabbits? Business plan for breeding rabbits. Breeds of rabbits for breeding for meat. How to develop rabbit breeding at home

Rabbits are very cute animals that are easy to breed. Caring for and watching these cute animals helps relieve stress and improves your mood.

Where to start

First of all, you need to decide why you are breeding rabbits. There are meat breeds, there are meat-skin breeds and skin-breeds.

If you breed animals to provide yourself with meat, you should pay attention to breeds such as, Russian Ermine,. They are quite unpretentious to the conditions of detention.

When breeding rabbits for meat sales, choose special meat breeds, for example, California, Burgundy breeds.

Breeds that produce high-quality skins are Chinchilla, Vienna Blue, Silver, downy rabbits - Angora and White Downy.

How to choose the right rabbits

Once you have decided on the breed, you need to choose healthy animals. A person just starting to breed rabbits may make a mistake and purchase a sick or rejected animal.

Signs of healthy specimens:

This method of keeping is considered the most optimal, as it allows you to monitor the health of animals, their reproduction, and helps to properly breed and feed rabbits.

The advantages also include ease of maintenance, the ability to automate many processes, ease of care.

However, a number of requirements must be met to ensure that rabbits are truly comfortable and happy in their cages.

It is better to install cages in a shed called a shed (read:). Being in the open air does not protect you from wind, frost, or precipitation. The walls and floor of the shed can be made of bricks, logs, or wooden boards. The main condition is that there should be no cracks or holes in them in order to avoid drafts that have a detrimental effect on rabbits. In this case, the room should be well ventilated and lit. Lack of light and fresh air causes deterioration of the hairline.

Cell requirements:

• Slat or mesh floor.
• Size for a female rabbit with rabbits: length - 890mm, width - 780mm, height - 420mm.
• Cage size for individual housing: length – 720mm, width – 600mm, height – 420mm.
• The front wall is mesh, the sides and back are solid, wooden.
• The cage is equipped with a feeder and drinking bowl.
• In cages intended for cubs, a mother house made of plywood or thin boards is placed.

This method is suitable for those who want to breed rabbits for meat, while spending a minimum of effort and money. This method is not used at all for breeding breeding animals and obtaining high-quality skins. Giant rabbits are also not kept in pits.

Pits can be made both in villages and in cities. Soils with low groundwater flow and the absence of rocks and stones under a thin layer of soil are suitable. Pits can be installed in a basement or cellar, even in a city apartment building.

The approximate size of the pit is 2 meters long, 2 meters wide, 1 meter high. The size is given for approximately 20 rabbits. The floor can be left earthen or made of slats or mesh, under which a slope or tray for feces and urine is placed. Straw is spread on the earthen floor, which must be removed after a few days and will have to be replaced with clean straw.

Along the walls there are feeders in different directions and drinking bowls. They try not to place them near the entrance to holes dug by rabbits, otherwise they will quickly and heavily get dirty.

The hole definitely needs a window that lets in sunlight. The norm for artificial lighting is 40 watts per 10 square meters. For rabbits, the length of daylight is much more important than the brightness of the lighting.

Pros of pit housing:

• Low costs - one pit can serve for a very long time, it does not wear out, unlike cages.
• No problems with pregnancy and childbirth.
• Various diseases rarely develop.
• Great space saving.
• Ease and convenience of feeding.
• The reproduction process goes well - often, easily. Rabbits are born and develop stronger and more resilient than when kept in cages.
• In winter, the floor and water in the drinking bowls do not freeze.

Cons:

• Inbreeding. It causes shrinkage and congenital deformities of animals.
• Inability to control reproduction.
• Animals become wild over time and become difficult to catch for vaccination.
• The skins become damaged, especially on males who constantly fight with each other.
• It is more difficult to clean up manure.

Mating

A pair of rabbits is selected - healthy and at puberty . The female must be in a state of sexual heat, otherwise she simply will not allow the male to approach her. How to determine sexual heat?

In a normally developing female, heat occurs approximately once a week. In summer, the interval is reduced to 5-6 days, in winter it increases to 17-20. October and November are the most unfavorable months in this regard.

During the hunt, the female becomes restless, begins to rush around the cage, pluck out her fluff, carry a bunch of hay in her mouth, her appetite sharply decreases or disappears completely. If a female is stroked on the back, she will instinctively lie down on the floor and raise her hindquarters. To more accurately determine the period of sexual heat, the genitals are visually assessed (popularly called a “loop”).

In its normal state, the loop has a pale pink color, but during hunting it becomes a bright pink color. In addition, it swells somewhat. The duration of the hunting period can be 3-5 days.

The male must be young enough, not obese, not emaciated. It is not advisable to allow more than 4 coats per day on a male.

In summer, mating is best done in the morning or evening, in winter - in the daytime. This is due to the most suitable air temperature. In hot and cold weather, animals are less active.

For mating, the female is placed in the male's cage. Otherwise, he will be confused and instead of having sexual intercourse, he will get accustomed to the new room. First you need to remove feeders, drinking bowls, and any other items from the cage. Cages are usually cleaned and disinfected before mating.

For a more guaranteed result, you should wait until the female is covered twice, and then move her back to her home cage.

Determination of pregnancy in rabbits

Experienced rabbit breeders carry out control mating 5-6 days after the first coating. Most often, an already pregnant female is not given to the male for repeated mating.

After 2 weeks, you can try to palpate the belly of the coated female. The animal is taken out of the cage, turned towards itself with its head, holding the female by the skin in the sacral area with one hand. The other one at this time is palpating the belly; in a pregnant rabbit, in the back half, you can feel the embryos as one or two chains parallel to each other. The size of the embryo at this time is 2-3 cm. Palpation is done very carefully so as not to harm the babies or cause artificial birth.

When there are 5-7 days left before giving birth, the female begins to prepare a nest and bedding for the cubs. To do this, she uses straw and grass from the manger. A day before giving birth, the female rabbit plucks her own down and lines the nest with it.

Feeding before mating

A nutritious diet provokes increased sexual activity in animals. Undernourished or obese females most often do not fertilize, and males develop low-quality seed.

Mandatory feed before mating will be legume hay, silage, oats, carrots, a mixture of cake with bran, salt, meat, bone and fish meal. You can give tree branches, sprouted grains of barley and oats.

In winter, females are given high-quality hay, silage, root vegetables, grain mixtures (corn grains, legumes, oats), bone and meat meal, bran, salt, boiled or raw potatoes. Fish oil is also included in the diet - 2g per day, chalk - 2g. Number of feedings – 3 per day.

Feeding pregnant and lactating females

At this time, proper varied nutrition is especially important, because underfeeding causes disruptions in the normal development of embryos and reduces milk production in a lactating female.

In summer, the female is given a large amount of dried grass, in winter - high-quality hay. In addition, the diet includes silage with the addition of meat and bone meal and concentrated feed, and root vegetables. Nursing mothers are given daily milk - 100g, chalk - 2g, salt - 1g.

Do not feed moldy or frozen food to avoid causing a miscarriage.

5-10 days before birth, they reduce the amount of roughage (dry leaves, hay) and completely stop producing silage. There must be water or snow in the cage in winter! Otherwise, the female, experiencing a lack of water, may eat her entire litter.

The number of feedings for a pregnant and lactating rabbit is from 3 to 5 times a day. When the rabbits begin to leave the nest, increase the amount of food.

When breeding rabbits, novice rabbit breeders are capable of making mistakes that can have catastrophic consequences. Lack of experience and lack of knowledge are the main reasons.

• A pregnant female may experience a spasm of the uterus, which will cause the death of the animal. The provocateur is often severe fear and stress. Therefore, an experienced breeder approaches the nest, trying to make as little noise as possible.
• If the location of the uterine house is incorrect, the female will drag the rabbits from corner to corner, ultimately causing their death. The area of ​​the house should be reduced.
• If the mother rabbit has an excess amount of milk, the babies may die of starvation due to the fact that the glands become very dense and the rabbits cannot grasp them. In this case, massage of the mammary glands and timely expression of excess milk is necessary.

Today, rabbits have become champions for domestic breeding due to their fertility and early maturity. In addition, their meat is very dietary. Therefore, it is very important to know all the intricacies of their cultivation.

Meat, skins, fluff and fertilizer are products that can be obtained by breeding rabbits. This activity is less expensive than, for example, raising pigs or cows. Over the course of a year, a healthy female reproduces 6 times. This will result in over 25 babies and close to 70kg of meat when they grow up.

Biological characteristics of rabbits

Three rabbits in a cage

The rabbit is a rodent mammal belonging to the Zaitsev family. The domestic rabbit is descended from the wild South European one. By mating a domestic and wild rabbit, you can get good offspring. Crossing a rabbit with a hare is impossible because they have different biological characteristics.

Cubs can manage without the help of a female rabbit at 3-4 weeks of life. They begin to eat food on their own without stopping drinking milk. The time that the rabbits will spend in the queen cell depends on the amount of milk from the mother. Milk production can be determined by the appearance of the cubs. If their skin is smooth, without folds, and they lie quietly, then the milk content is high. The highest occurs after 4 births.

Obesity and low physical activity of the animal can reduce milk production. An obese female cannot become pregnant. To avoid this problem, you need to reconsider her diet: increase the amount of greens, limit the consumption of grain and mixed feed. And give more space so she can move.

Rabbits see much worse than they smell. If you give someone else’s baby to a rabbit, she will identify it by smell, regardless of color. She will not accept strangers. Rabbits also get used to new food by sniffing for a long time.

Breeding rabbits at home

The rabbit gnaws exclusively plant food, which is why it has a unique teeth structure. He has molars and incisors that grow throughout his life. The animal has no fangs. The incisors on the front are covered with a ball of enamel, and are sharpened in the process of eating food.

The digestive system of rabbits is well developed. The stomach is voluminous and is characterized by high digestibility of food due to the high acidity of gastric secretions. The food can remain in the animal’s stomach for 3-10 hours. The rabbit's intestines are 10 times longer than the length of the animal (up to 6 meters).

Another peculiarity of rabbits is that they eat their excrement at night. They contain a large amount of protein and vitamin B. This is how rabbits have adapted to replenish the required microelements by the body.

Growth and development of rabbits

The cubs are born blind, but after 10 days they are already able to see. Baby rabbits develop fluff on the 7th day. They are completely covered with full fur closer to a month. Then they begin to feed on their own.

Replacement of baby teeth with permanent ones occurs from the 18th day. It will be completed by the month. Rabbits shed all year round. In the first month - the first, at 4 months - the second, at 7.5 - the third. In addition, seasonal molting occurs.

At birth, the cub weighs 40–60 g, and after 2 days it is already twice that size. A month later it already increases 10 times. This is due to the high content of beneficial components in rabbit milk.

After 3-5 months, the weight of a healthy rabbit becomes 2-3.5 kg. The most accelerated growth occurs between 3 and 4 months of life.

Rabbits have a delicate spine and thin tubular limb bones. This feature leads to injuries, especially to rabbits. Damage to the spine or a broken leg can paralyze a rabbit.

On average, a rabbit lives 8 years. An animal can be used for breeding for a maximum of 4 years.

Even before the rabbits appear, they already need to be taken care of. It is worth taking care in advance about organizing the premises for cultivation and the necessary equipment.

Preparation for reproduction

The essence of preparing for mating is to select healthy female rabbits with high milk production. Individuals who eat rabbits are taken from the herd.

If there are a lot of rabbits, then it is difficult to keep all the information about them in your head. To do this, it is better to nail a sign on each cage with the rabbit’s date of birth and from which parents she was born. This information is important to prevent mating of related individuals. It is necessary to record the dates of matings, the number of cubs, including stillborns. All the necessary entries are also made on the male’s plate (date of birth, parents, whether he eats rabbits).

The male and female that are intended for mating must have good body condition. Poorly nourished females are poorly fertilized, and the cubs are born weak and develop slowly. In order for underweight animals to become well-fed, 3 weeks before mating they are fed oats, hay, bran and potatoes. But obese individuals become less sexually active and are poorly fertilized. On the contrary, they need to reduce the amount of food.

A pregnant female needs to be well fed. The food should be the same as in the diet of a regular rabbit, only the quantity is greater.

Before preparing rabbits for mating, all individuals with defects are discarded. One male is assigned to 8 females.

Peculiarities of reproduction in rabbits

There is no seasonality of reproduction in rabbits. They can give birth all year round. An unfertilized female rabbit shows signs of heat every 5-6 days. In summer, estrus lasts about 9 days, in winter – about 6. During the hunting period, females have a poor appetite and are in an excited state. At mating, 3-9 eggs are released from each ovary. The number of cubs at birth can be 6-12. A day or two after giving birth, the female can already become fertilized.

Sperm in males are produced in the testes. When the testes are retracted into the abdominal cavity, if they have not descended into the scrotum, the rabbit is considered infertile. During mating, the male produces up to 1.5 cm 3 of sperm. In the genital tract of a female rabbit, sperm is active for no more than 24 hours.

The first mating in rabbits is best done at 4-6 months after birth. Previously, it was not recommended so as not to harm the health of parents and their future offspring.

Cages for young animals

A cage for young animals should consist of 2 compartments: the first - for walking, the second - as a shelter, where the animal enters through manholes. The flooring should be mesh with cells 18x18 mm. You can make it wooden from slats. Feeders, drinkers and nurseries are placed in the cage. The roof can be made pitched. On the front wall the height is 60-70 cm, on the back wall - 30-40 cm.

For raising young animals for skins, the cage design may differ. Its dimensions reach 3x0.7 m. It is divided in half by a wooden partition. In each half, 12 individuals are kept up to 3.5 months of age of the same sex, age and weight. Then they make more partitions so that each rabbit has a separate compartment. The width of each is 25 cm. Animals are kept in such compartments until slaughter.

Queen cells for rabbits

During birth and during the period of raising the cubs, a queen cell is placed in the cage of the female, the dimensions of which are 50x30x27 cm. The dimensions of the loophole are 18x18 cm. The queen cell should be easily removed from the cage, which makes it possible to easily inspect the rabbits. It also maintains a constant temperature. The lid of the queen cell should also be easily removed and secured with latches so that the female cannot open it.

It is necessary to provide for the possibility of insulating the floor in winter. For this purpose, a special film is laid with built-in low-power heaters. You can install a temperature control sensor. If it is not there, then you need to heat the floor with caution, since an excessive increase in temperature can lead to the death of the cubs.

Cages for mating rabbits

The cage intended for mating must be disinfected and cleaned in advance. You need to remove the feeder, drinker and other items from it. Mating usually takes place in the morning on the male's territory. If you place it in a female's cage, it will take a long time to develop the territory, which will delay the mating procedure.

When the male rolls off the female rabbit to the side or back and purrs, then mating can be considered successful. It is necessary to make an appropriate entry in the notebook about the time of mating and which male produced it.

Feeding rabbits

Rabbits need to be fed in a balanced manner so that they can produce good offspring, meat and wool. A rabbit can eat continuously throughout the day. First, it is better to feed the animal with ready-made feed, which balances all the necessary microelements.

Rabbits eat

In summer, the basis of the diet is greens - branches, foliage, grass, etc. Branches of fruit trees, acacia, birch, and willow are especially useful for rabbits. You can also give tops of garden crops. The animal loves bitter and aromatic herbs: wormwood, chicory, dill. In addition, they protect against worms and improve appetite. Dried garlic stalks are recommended for young animals to prevent stomatitis and gastrointestinal diseases.

Nettle, which is collected before flowering and dried in the shade, is rich in vitamins. It is recommended to be given as the first spring greens. Since it can sting an animal, it must first be crushed and chopped. Willow branches are also useful for young animals, as they protect against diarrhea. They feed the rabbits before switching to greens.

In winter and early spring, rabbits are given fortified supplements, which are found mainly in root vegetables. This is especially important for nursing rabbits. Rowan berries are rich in vitamins.

In late autumn, rabbits can eat vegetable tops and dry flower stems. At the beginning of November, when the green leaves are gone, the animals are switched to mineral feed in granules. During this period, rabbits are fattened, given a lot of feed and feed grain.

In winter, tree branches can be added to the hay for feed. They replace hay in the diet by half. Grain can be replaced with potato peelings or grain waste.

It is also worth considering that rabbits have difficulty adapting to new food. Therefore, they need to be accustomed to it gradually, increasing the dose over time.

Annual feed requirement per adult rabbit

To determine the annual feed requirement of rabbits, you need to take into account a number of factors:

• duration of feeding in summer and winter;
• number of litters per year;
• age of sale of young animals (slaughter, sale or replenishment of the herd);
• live weight of rabbits;
• diet in different seasons.

Average amount of feed per year in kilograms for adults:

• coarse: for females 35-40, for males 23-35;
• juicy: for females 50-60, for males 40-50;
• green: for females 200-250, for males 150-160;
• concentrated feed: for females 35-35, for males 22-25.

Vaccinations for rabbits at home

To eliminate possible infections, rabbits are vaccinated. The most common diseases And . They have no cure and are fatal in almost 100% of cases. It is definitely necessary against them. Before you do it, you need to make sure that the animal is completely healthy, otherwise it may not survive the vaccination. In addition, it is necessary to carry out prevention against worms. To do this, use means that are harmless to the rodent’s body: Parasiticide suspension or Dirofen paste.

Vaccinating a rabbit

A vaccinated rabbit retains immunity against infection for 6-9 months. The best age for vaccination is the seventh week of life, when rabbits tolerate the procedure most easily. Body weight must be more than 0.5 kg. It is better not to vaccinate a pregnant or lactating female.

A vaccinated rabbit should be isolated from others for 2 weeks to avoid catching the infection from a sick animal. After this time, the risk of infection disappears. Feeding remains the same, you just need to increase the amount of water.

Conventional vaccination schedule:

• the first (for viral hemorrhagic disease) is carried out in 45 days;
• the second (from myxomatosis) after 14 days;
• the third (repeated from myxomatosis) 3 months (not earlier) from the previous one;
• the fourth (from a viral hemorrhagic disease) 14 days after the third.

Repeated vaccinations are carried out throughout the life of the rabbits every six months. Alternately vaccinating against myxomatosis, and after 2 weeks against viral hemorrhagic disease.

Raising rabbits at home can be an excellent additional income for you. Your home will always have tasty and high-quality dietary meat, as well as a good monetary profit, which will be achieved through well-established sales channels.

Breeding rabbits will not require large material costs from you. It’s quite possible to make cages for animals yourself.

The final result of raising rabbits at home can be:

• from four to five kilograms of meat per rabbit;
• skin;
• from one kilogram of fluff from a female rabbit with offspring.

Additional income can come from selling young animals.

What breeds of rabbits are best suited for breeding at home?

In order to choose the right breed, you need to clearly define the end goal. In total, there are more than 200 varieties of these animals, which are divided into three main types:

• meat;
• meat-skinned;
• skin or down.

Domestic rabbits will bring income only if the young animals are selected well. You need to pay attention to the following signs:

• the rabbit's hair should be quite dense and shiny;
• eyes must be clean;
• strong body;
• good activity;
• well-fed body.

The specimens you select must have all the necessary characteristics of the corresponding breed (body length, coat color, weight, etc.). It is better not to buy animals that have any defects. Disadvantages may be of the following nature:

• at least one of the paws is crooked;
• elongated skull shape;
• the tips of the ears should not droop;
• protruding hips;
• sagging back or tummy;
• the pile should not be tousled or fall out;
• exhaustion or obesity of the baby rabbit.

Proper arrangement of housing for rabbits

If you have clearly decided that you are ready to start raising rabbits at home, then the next step will be arranging housing for them. There are two types of keeping domestic rabbits:

• open - in the open air on the street, each individual is located in an individual cage, enclosure, pit;
• closed – in special premises – rabbit hutches.

These types of content can be easily combined with each other. For example, in summer rabbits can be outside, and in winter in rabbit hutches, although mature adults are seasoned easily tolerate frost up to 20 degrees. The main thing is that cages, pits or enclosures are always clean, dry and light. These animals do not tolerate humidity and drafts well.

Juveniles and adults must be kept separately from each other. Young animals under the age of 3 months are allowed to be placed in a group cage. After them definitely needs to be resettled to individual ones, as their aggressiveness increases significantly.

The female's cage should be equipped with a queen cell, where the little rabbits can live comfortably for the first month after birth.

Of course, animal cages can be bought at a specialty store, but making them yourself is absolutely not difficult and much cheaper. You will need the following materials:

• iron mesh;
• wooden slats;
• beams or boards;
• plywood.

To construct the floor, it is best to use wooden slats, leaving a distance between them of slightly more than 1 centimeter. It will help maintain cleanliness in the cells between major cleanings.

Cages may consist entirely of metal mesh. Such designs have both positive and negative sides.

• lungs;
• compact;
• easy to maintain.

• can cause prodermatitis - a disease of the paws in rabbits.

If you decide to keep rabbits outside, then the animal cages must be insulated.

If you are unsure of your abilities to make rabbit cages yourself, then use the drawings that have been developed by experienced farmers or take those from the World Wide Web.

A rabbit must have clean water in its home, so it is necessary to pay due attention to drinking bowls. They must be easy to clean and also be securely fastened so that residents cannot knock them over. There must be in the cage Feeders for concentrated feed are placed and root vegetables. If you want to feed your animals with hay, you need to think about this in advance.

Basic rules for raising rabbits at home

1. Animal cages, as well as feeders and drinking bowls must be cleaned every day.
2. Disinfect all cage equipment every 10 days.
3. Eliminate all possible sources of drafts.
4. Systematically ventilate the premises.
5. Inspect animals daily.

If during one of the examinations you identify a sick animal, it must be immediately isolate from others and call the vet.

Rabbits kept at home require compulsory vaccination for the prevention of diseases such as hemorrhagic disease and myxomatosis.

For vaccinations, you can use an associated vaccine, which will have a preventive effect for several diseases, or a monovaccine for one disease. A veterinarian can vaccinate your animal at your home.

Balanced diet for domestic rabbits

Rabbits happily eat almost all crops that are in the garden. The diet needs include fruits and grains(oats, barley, wheat). Clover, dandelions, alfalfa, vegetables, hay and other grasses intended for animals should be grown away from the roadway and cars.

In order to prepare enough food, you need to focus on the following data. A female rabbit and her offspring need the following amounts of food per year:

• green grass - 412 kilograms;
• hay – 107 kilograms;
• concentrated feed - 330 kilograms;
• root vegetables - 120 kilograms.

Rabbits must be fed regularly, and water and hay must be kept in the cage at all times. Animals consume several times more water than food. Rabbits cannot survive without water for more than three days.

Breeding rabbits at home

If you plan your matings correctly, you will be able to produce offspring throughout the year. It would be advisable to mate several animals at once, since the milk production of females varies. If one of the rabbits does not have enough milk, her babies can be placed with another.

The breeding of rabbits occurs during the hunting season of females. It can occur at any time of the year and last from 3 to 5 days with a break of 8 to 9 days. You can breed a female rabbit again after giving birth the very next day. Male capable of fertilizing up to four females per day. It is necessary to give the animal two days of rest after this, so you can prevent the animal from becoming exhausted.

Before each mating, you need to conduct a thorough inspection of the individuals. If there is a sick animal, you can easily notice it. This way, you can prevent others from becoming infected. Under no circumstances should such a rabbit happen.

Rabbits who have had mastitis, as well as females from their offspring, should not be allowed to mate.

Signs by which you can determine the onset of hunting in rabbits:

• the female behaves restlessly;
• refuses food;
• the genital loop turned pink and enlarged.

The female rabbit must be transplanted into a cage with a male. Mating must be carried out in exactly this sequence, and not vice versa, because the male will need time to adapt to the new cage, and the female will immediately allow the rabbit to approach her. In a cage there should be no unnecessary items that could interfere with the animals. After copulation is completed, the male emits a high-pitched squeak and falls to the side. After just 5 minutes, re-mating may occur. A control mating should be carried out after a week. If the female rabbit becomes pregnant, she will aggressively attack the male.

Do rabbits need to be neutered?

Removing the spermatic cords from males will lead to rapid weight gain and will also improve the quality of the meat. If you decide to carry out a similar procedure, then you need to do this before the onset of puberty, at 3-4 months.

Castration is carried out in two ways: open and closed.

Closed. The testis is removed without damaging the membrane. This way helps prevent the development of inguinal hernia and inflammatory processes.

Open. The scrotum is dissected and an incision is made in the membrane of the testis, then the spermatic cord is cut off.

To prepare an animal for surgery, it must stop feeding and drinking 15 hours before the operation.

It is necessary to treat wounds left after castration with streptocide.

Adults are castrated using the percutaneous method. The scrotum with the testis of the animal is tightly bandaged at the base; within 4 to 6 days, a lack of blood supply will lead to the loss of the testis.

Slaughter of rabbits

If you decide to breed rabbits at home, and not for decorative purposes, then you need to come to terms with the idea that sooner or later the animal will have to be killed. Of course, you can resort to the help of other people. But, if you decide to do it yourself, then it should happen as follows. Hold the animal firmly by the hind legs and strike firmly with a heavy object between the rabbit's ears.

To obtain meat, slaughter can be done after reaching 4 months. If you are interested in the skin, then you need to wait 6 to 8 months.

Compared to others, this method has many advantages. Keeping rabbits in cages allows you to accurately regulate the amount of food they eat and ensure that they receive all the vitamins and minerals necessary for normal development. Also, when in cages, the possibility of uncontrolled mating is completely eliminated.

These animals often suffer from infectious diseases. In this case, the loss of life in the herd can be very large, since the infection spreads quickly. When kept in cages, animals contact each other less often. In addition, it will be much easier to notice a sick animal and isolate it in time.

What should cells be like?

Of course, housing for animals should be prepared in advance. There are several varieties: for males, for grown young animals and for females with offspring. If animals are to be kept in very large numbers, housing for them will most likely have to be purchased. For small livestock on a personal plot, cages can be made independently. Their walls and lid are usually made of boards. The floor is made of metal mesh, under which a tray is installed to collect manure. The entrance from the facade is covered with bars. Feeders and drinkers are located outside the cage. The easiest way is to hang them in front of the door so that the animal can easily reach the food by sticking its head between the bars. Typically, cages for keeping rabbits outside have this design.

The floor of the “houses” for animals is sometimes done differently. For example, a farmer with twenty years of experience, N.I. Zolotukhin, advises making it slightly inclined towards the rear wall and solid. In this case, the tiers of cells are shifted relative to each other so that the manure can roll out into the hole covered by the grate. Keeping rabbits in cages of this design has some advantages in terms of cleanliness. There is practically no manure on the floor, and animals’ homes have to be cleaned less often.

In cages for females there should be space for a queen cell. The mother rabbit will feed her babies in it.

Optimal sizes

Providing spacious housing is one of the rules for successfully raising animals such as rabbits. Breeding and keeping (cells can be either purchased or homemade) in unsuitable conditions will lead to frequent diseases. Rabbits are active animals and do not tolerate cramped conditions very well. In addition, when there is a lot of crowding, various types of infections spread faster. The specific cell sizes depend primarily on the breed of animal. For small animals, you can make smaller cages. For large animals, it will be necessary to make larger dwellings accordingly.

The minimum cage sizes for keeping rabbits are:

• width - 70 cm;
• height - 50 cm;
• length - 150 cm.

This option is suitable either for a female with offspring, or as a home for two teenage individuals. For a breeding rabbit, you will need a cage measuring at least 70 x 50 x 100 cm. The length of the home for young animals should not be less than 3 m (about 10-12 heads).

Ready-made cells: which ones to buy

Industrially, rabbit housing is often made entirely from galvanized mesh and sold in modular blocks. Rabbits will also be comfortable in such cages. But in this case, you will have to additionally build a special shed for them - a shed. Keeping rabbits in cages of a similar design right outside in the winter is unlikely to be a good solution. Full mesh cages are ventilated, and there is nowhere for the rabbit to hide from the wind. Animals can even simply freeze. In summer, rabbits will suffer from the heat due to the lack of shade. A shed is a long shed in which blocks are stacked in rows along the walls.

Therefore, keeping rabbits in mesh cages outdoors is unacceptable. If you don’t want to build a shed, you should look for and buy regular cages. They are also available for sale. Private owners also make such housing for rabbits. They are sold at the market - the same place where the animals themselves are sold. You should not buy used cages. In any case, they should be thoroughly disinfected before moving in.

Keeping rabbits in cages: detailed experience

Of course, for beginning farmers, advice from those who have been breeding these animals for a long time would be very useful. Therefore, below we present to your attention information on raising rabbits, collected on specialized forums and based on the recommendations of experienced fur breeders.

How to choose manufacturers

Experienced farmers advise beginners to purchase rabbits and female rabbits only from proven farms. In this case, you can be sure that the animals are vaccinated and healthy. For one male they usually buy 4-5 females. The most popular breeds among domestic rabbit breeders at the moment are the Soviet chinchilla, Flanders, Rex, gray giant, Californian and some others.

Feeding rabbits

An activity such as keeping rabbits in cages can be difficult for novice fur farmers, so food must be given to each animal separately. In an enclosure, for example, this is not necessary. But if there are few cells, this will not cause any particular difficulties. On large farms, automatic food supply lines and specially designed drinking bowls are usually installed.

The ratio of types of food for rabbits can be, for example, as follows: boiled potatoes and vegetables - 50%, (mainly crushed barley) - 35-40%, protein supplements (fish waste, whey, etc.) - 10-15% . Carrots and grass can be given as much as possible. Cabbage is fed once a week and little by little. Fresh branches (willow, elm, elm, birch, etc.) must be included in the daily diet. In winter they provide hay and dried brooms.

Reproduction

The first mating is carried out at the age of 6-8 months (depending on the breed). The female is always placed in the cage with the male, and not vice versa. In this case, he will be more confident and the chances of success will increase. Control mating is carried out after two weeks. At the same time, they monitor the behavior of the rabbit. If she snaps and does not let the gentleman approach, it means that she will soon have cubs.

The female carries the rabbits for about a month (28-32 days). The number of newborns also depends on the breed. There can be from four to 16. Young rabbits bring fewer babies, experienced ones - more. Keeping rabbits in cages (see photos of newborn babies below) also has the advantage that the pregnant female at the end of pregnancy can be observed and the exact time of birth can be determined.

About a day before giving birth, the female begins to build a nest. She covers it with her own down. Therefore, if you notice scraps of it on the floor of the cage, it means that most likely your population will be replenished by morning. During birth, the female rabbit drinks a lot of water. This stimulates lactation. Therefore, it is advisable to put an additional drinking bowl in the cage. If there is not enough water, the female may bite off part of the litter. The queen cell is placed in the cage a few days before the birth.

Why does a female chew on baby rabbits?

There are several reasons for this unpleasant phenomenon. The main ones, in addition to the lack of water during birth, include:

• Mastitis. To prevent the female from getting sick, the floor in the cage must be kept clean.
• Foreign smell. It is advisable not to touch newborns with bare hands. Inspection of the nest after birth is carried out wearing rubber gloves.
• Lack of space. As mentioned, space is something that rabbits love. Breeding and maintenance (the cages should not be small, especially for females with offspring) must be carried out according to the rules.
• Fright. Rabbits are generally very afraid of sharp noises, and when afraid they behave unpredictably.

But the main reason for female rabbits eating is still a lack of milk. If during the pregnancy of an animal the recommendations of specialists regarding the diet are not followed, the likelihood of losing the litter is very high.

Feeding baby rabbits

The cubs begin to follow their mother out of the nest approximately 3.5 weeks after birth. Mainly to eat grass with it (it’s better if it’s slightly dried). Complementary foods can be started at this time. This could be, for example, crackers or bran. Gradually crushed grains and root vegetables are introduced into the diet.

Baby rabbits are separated from their mother at 2-3 months (not earlier than one and a half months). The next mating can be carried out a month or two after that. The animal's body must rest.

Rabbit diseases

In terms of resistance to infections, rabbits are significantly inferior to most farm animals and poultry. They can get sick very easily. Moreover, the infection usually affects most of the herd at once. Therefore, it is very important to carry out preventive measures - get vaccinated on time, clean the cages daily, disinfect at least once or twice a month. There are many diseases that rabbits are susceptible to, and they all have different symptoms. The most dangerous are:

• Typical form of pasteurellosis. At the beginning of the disease, the animal's temperature rises greatly. The rabbit does not eat, and there is a serous discharge coming from his nose. There is no cure for this disease.
• When an animal becomes ill, symptoms begin to appear only after intense damage to the body. The animal refuses to eat, its mucous membranes become icteric. On the sixth day the rabbit dies.
• Myxomatosis. Symptoms of this disease are swelling and the appearance of gelatinous nodules on the body. Lumps and red spots may form on the ears and eyelids.

Infected rabbits must be isolated. The carcasses of dead or slaughtered sick animals are most often burned.

Very often, the infection is transmitted to rabbits through infected food. Therefore, you should not buy crushed powder at the market. It is through this that all rabbit infections usually spread. It is better to purchase food that is more expensive, but from trusted suppliers with a good reputation. It is highly recommended not to keep rabbits near chickens and other poultry.

Often, rabbit infectious diseases affect the entire herd, and the farmer has to start all over again. Of course, it is expensive to throw out homes in which sick animals died. Especially if these are expensive modular mesh cages for industrial keeping of rabbits. But in any case, thorough disinfection should be carried out. This can be done with “Whiteness” or a strong iodine solution. Metal mesh should be additionally scorched with a gas burner.

How to slaughter

Most often, rabbits are bred for meat. Animals less than three months old should not be slaughtered. By this time, their meat is not yet ripe and tasteless. Animals are slaughtered for their skins in the cold season, after molting, and not earlier than they are 5-6 months old. The skin of younger animals is also not mature. Slaughter can be carried out in several ways. In private households, they most often use a stick with a piece of hose attached. The rabbit is taken by the hind legs and sharply hit on the back of the head.

It is forbidden to kill an animal by cutting off its head. The fact is that after this the rabbit’s nervous system continues to function for a long time. All this time he is in severe pain. When hit with a stick, the nervous system switches off immediately. Before slaughter, the animal is not fed or watered for 12 hours.

Skinning the carcass

Cutting is carried out by hanging the rabbit on some branch or pole. The carcass is tied with twine by the hind legs. For better drainage of blood, the bridge of the nose must be cut immediately after killing. The skin is removed like a stocking, cutting it around the hind legs and cutting along their inside.

All organs are removed from the carcass except the liver, from which the bile is carefully removed. Before cooking, it is advisable to keep the carcass in the refrigerator for at least 24 hours. During this time, partial breakdown of the protein will occur, and the meat will become tastier.

As you can see, keeping rabbits in cages is quite a troublesome task. However, if the feeding rules are followed, the most important thing is cleanliness in the cages, and the success of this enterprise is guaranteed.

Breeding rabbits is quite a profitable business, but not too complicated. With proper care, you can get a lot of meat and beautiful skins from these animals, because they reproduce quickly. However, in order for baby rabbits to be born healthy and develop well, you should know how to choose the right sires, how to mate, what to do when giving birth, and much more.

At what age does mating take place?

Reproduction of rabbits at home occurs quite quickly also because these animals are precocious. Depending on the breed, they reach sexual maturity at 3-4 months. However, of course, it is not worth allowing such young animals to mate. Although the reproductive system of rabbits is already maturing by this time, physiologically they are not yet ready for conception and gestation.

The optimal breeding age for rabbits is 5 months for females and 7-8 months for males. Under no circumstances should you rush into mating. If the rabbit is too young, the offspring may be weak or completely unviable. Females who have not reached the age of 5 months often do not carry their rabbits to term. In addition, their maternal qualities subsequently deteriorate. They give birth to few young and become low-milk producing.

How to choose manufacturers

Rabbits reproduce very quickly. However, in order to have as many healthy rabbits as possible in litters, producers should be chosen correctly. Of course, first of all, these must be active, well-developed animals. There are several rules that must be followed when choosing manufacturers. A female rabbit should be culled if she:

• did not become pregnant after two or three consecutive intercourses;
• in two litters in a row, she raised less than 5 rabbits;
• ate her young.

A rabbit is culled if its efforts to procreate are unsuccessful in 30% of cases.

Physical defects

When choosing manufacturers, you should pay attention to their appearance. Animals that have:

• narrow chest;
• depression behind the shoulder blades;
• drooping croup;
• flabby stomach;
• too much dewlap;
• a rough head (for female rabbits) or too “tender” (for female rabbits);
• very thin ears;
• drooping ears (except for rams);
• hunchback.

Rabbit breeding: what else you should know

Among other things, producers must be of normal weight. Animals that are too thin usually give birth to babies that are not particularly viable. Obese rabbits often do not even go into heat.

It is best to mate a young female with an adult male, and vice versa. Mating is usually carried out when the female is in heat. In summer, this period for female rabbits occurs every 5-6 days and lasts 3-5 days. In winter, the female hunts every 8-9 days.

How to conduct mating

In order for this enterprise to be crowned with success, the female rabbit is placed in a cage with the rabbit. On the contrary, it is not worth doing. On foreign territory, the rabbit will not feel too confident.

Before mating, drinkers and feeders should be removed from the cage. Rabbits reproduce quickly, both in the wild and at home, primarily because these animals are very active. Therefore, during the mating process, all objects in the cage will most likely be turned over. Also, the mating site should be carefully inspected. There should be no sharp objects (nails, protruding wire, etc.) in the cage. They can cause injury to animals.

Control mating

In order to be sure that fertilization has occurred, after two weeks the female rabbit should be placed with the male again. If pregnancy has occurred, she will begin to run around the cage and behave aggressively towards the “gentleman”, not letting him near her.

The pregnancy of a female can also be determined by palpation. In this case, the animal is placed on the table and, holding its head, the belly is probed closer to the sacrum. In pregnant females it is very dense. You can also feel the fruits, the size of a small nut, arranged in a chain with your fingers.

Number of manufacturers

The question of how rabbits reproduce at home also comes down to how to choose the correct ratio of the number of males and females. Usually a young rabbit is used as a breeder 1-2 times every other day. An adult male can cover up to 4 females daily. However, he should also be given a rest from time to time. Based on this, the required number of producers is calculated.

However, a novice rabbit breeder should also know that there must be at least two female rabbits per male. Otherwise, his quality as a manufacturer may deteriorate. The optimal ratio is considered to be 8-12 females per adult rabbit.

Pregnancy and childbirth

The female carries the rabbits for approximately 29-33 days. Just before giving birth, she begins to build a nest. First, the rabbit drags dry hay into some corner. Then it lines the bottom of the nest with its down, tearing it mainly from the chest. At this time, you need to put an additional drinking bowl in the rabbit’s nest. Otherwise, she may simply kill the cubs.

Birth in female rabbits usually occurs either at night or early in the morning. They most often do not take too long - 20-30 minutes. Rabbits are born blind, helpless and naked. To keep them from freezing, the rabbit wraps them in her down.

After birth occurs, owners must check the litter for stillborn babies. This happens quite often in rabbits. A dead rabbit, if not removed, will begin to decompose in the nest, attracting insects, which, of course, can lead to infection of healthy individuals.

Why does a mother rabbit abort her babies?

It often happens that the female throws the rabbits out of the nest. The reason for this phenomenon is that the babies are too tightly attached to the nipples, and the female rabbit simply pulls them out when leaving the nest. In this case, the cub should simply be carefully put back.

Some female rabbits chew on their litter. This usually happens if the female did not receive enough feed during pregnancy and has little milk. Also, those rabbits who have developed mastitis often chew their litter. To avoid this disease, the animal should be kept on clean, dry bedding. In any case, rabbits should be well cared for. At home, reproduction will then be much more successful.

A pregnant rabbit's diet must include a sufficient amount of protein-containing foods. You cannot feed a pregnant animal only grass, vegetables and root vegetables. You should definitely give him barley or crushed barley (you can use oatmeal, but this is worse), as well as boiled potatoes and dried white bread. Grain should be purchased only from trusted producers. You should not buy crushed barley at the market. Most infectious diseases in rabbits are transmitted through food.

Cubs development

If the female is chosen correctly, rabbits reproduce really quickly. In addition, the cubs develop very well. After just two weeks, they weigh 2-3 times more than after birth, and after a month - 10 times more. This rapid development is explained by the special properties of rabbit milk. It contains more proteins than any other mammal. Rabbit milk is fattier than even goat milk.

The cubs are separated from their mother at the age of 45 days. It is not advisable to do this before.

How to determine the sex of a baby rabbit

Only healthy cubs with pronounced characteristics of the breed are left for the tribe. In this case, breeding domestic rabbits on a farm will be much more successful. In every litter there is always the largest baby rabbit. Therefore, summer residents usually have no problems choosing a future sire from their own herd.

Finding out the gender of baby rabbits is easy. This can be done as early as two to three weeks of age. To determine the sex of a baby rabbit, it is picked up, turned upside down and placed on its knees, with its hind legs facing away from you. Next, you need to stretch the animal’s skin in the genital area. In female rabbits, a long slit will be noticeable, reaching almost to the anus. In males, only a small hole-tube is visible.

Breeding ornamental breeds

Owners of farms that breed animals for sale usually know everything about rabbits. Keeping, breeding and feeding these animals are procedures that are not particularly difficult for them. However, those who acquired an animal simply as a pet often make unforgivable mistakes, as a result of which the animal sometimes even dies. To avoid losing your pet, be sure to follow these rules:

• Under no circumstances should you suddenly change your animal's diet. This is especially true for small rabbits. New food should be introduced gradually, increasing the dose over the course of a week.
• It is not recommended to give babies foods that can cause gastrointestinal upset. These include, for example, raw potatoes, beets and cabbage.
• Animal cages must always be clean. Reproduction of decorative rabbits occurs as quickly as meat rabbits. However, these animals die very easily. This can happen from any, even the most harmless disease.
• For the same reason, drinking bowls and feeders should be washed daily.

Meat breeds are cared for in much the same way. That is, they do not change their diet dramatically and try to keep the cages or enclosures clean. As for reproduction itself, the mating process in decorative rabbits occurs in the same way as in ordinary ones. The female is placed in the cage with the male, and not vice versa. After two weeks, a control mating is carried out. The cage with a pregnant decorative rabbit should be placed in the quietest place in the apartment. These animals do not tolerate any kind of noise well.

This is how animals such as rabbits are bred. Reproduction and care for them are procedures that require compliance with certain rules. Rabbits' health is really poor. Therefore, content technologies must not be violated under any circumstances.