Breeding techniques of Meat Rabbit

In the process of meat rabbit breeding, the success rate of breeding will directly affect the benefit of meat rabbit breeding. in order to ensure the success rate of breeding, we can start from the following aspects:

Scientific determination of the age of first mating

The first mating age of meat rabbits is determined mainly on the basis of body weight and month age. Under normal feeding and management conditions, when the body weight of male and female rabbits reaches 70% of the standard weight of this breed, it has reached physical maturity and can begin to breed. In general, the initial mating age of small varieties is 4-5 months old and the body weight is 2.5-3 kg; the medium-sized varieties are 5-6 months old and 3.5-4 kg, and the large varieties are 7-8 months old and 4.5-6 kg. Because the age of sexual maturity of male rabbits is later than that of female rabbits, the first mating age of male rabbits should be about one month later than that of female rabbits. In order to prevent early mating and inbreeding, rabbits should be raised separately before sexual maturity.

Determine the useful life scientifically

Timely elimination and renewal of rabbits. The service life of male and female rabbits is generally 3-4 years, if the physique is strong and the use is reasonable, the mating life can be appropriately extended. However, if it is too old, the conception rate, litter size and survival rate are poor, and the quality of the newborn rabbits is also poor, so the rabbits should be eliminated and renewed in time. Generally, the annual elimination of 1max 3, to achieve a three-year rotation, so that the right age breeding rabbits in the rabbit herd has an absolute advantage.

Scientific arrangement of breeding season

Mastering the breeding season of meat rabbits is an important link to improve the survival rate of young rabbits. although there is no obvious seasonality, meat rabbits can be mated and reproduced all the year round, but it has a certain effect on the conception rate of female rabbits and the survival rate of young rabbits because of the difference of temperature, light and nutritional status in different seasons.

1. Spring and autumn. Mild climate, dry climate, strong sexual desire of breeding rabbits, high conception rate of female rabbits, large number of offspring and high survival rate of young rabbits are the best season for breeding and breeding of meat rabbits. Spring reproduction in many rabbit farms mostly adopts the method of frequent litter birth (blood matching). After giving birth to 2-3 babies in succession, they will adjust and restore their physical strength, and autumn reproduction will begin in August.

2. Summer. Mating and breeding should be stopped when the temperature is above 30 ℃, usually from June to mid-July every year. However, if the female rabbit is physically strong and has the conditions to prevent heat, it can still be properly arranged for breeding.

3. Winter. The temperature is low in winter, the breeding rabbit's physique is weak, and the conception rate is low. If there is no heat preservation equipment, the newborn rabbit is easy to freeze or freeze to death. Therefore, in order to reproduce in winter, nutritious feed must be provided to maintain a strong physique, and heat preservation measures should be taken, generally requiring room temperature not less than 15 ℃, nests of young rabbits not less than 30 ℃, and young rabbits requiring an environment of 20 ℃.

Timely breeding

1. Determination of natural mating period.

① determined the mating time according to the estrus performance of female rabbits. The estrous cycle of female meat rabbits varies greatly, generally in 8-15 days, and the estrous period is generally about 3 days. Estrus is characterized by restless behavior, loss of appetite, often in the past limb pickup box or hindlimb "foot", sometimes there is the phenomenon of grass nesting, wet redness and swelling of the vulva. The whole estrus is divided into Prophase, metaphase and anaphase, and its judgment mainly depends on the changes of vulva: proestrus becomes moist, slightly swollen, pink; mid-estrus is moist, swollen, bright red (commonly known as old red); late moist, swollen, purplish black. The best time for mating is in the middle and later stages of estrus.

The mating period was determined by ② trial. Put the female rabbit into the male rabbit pen, when the male rabbit chases and climbs, if the female rabbit makes an accepted mating position, indicating that the female rabbit has been in estrus, it can be mated. Otherwise, you can't mate without estrus.

③ blood match. That is, the female rabbits will be mated 1-2 days after giving birth.

2. Determination of mating period of artificial insemination. Female rabbits are irritant ovulatory animals and will not ovulate automatically without mating or drug stimulation, so ovulation should be stimulated before artificial insemination. Generally, reproductive hormone injection is used to stimulate ovulation, and the conception rate of insemination is the highest within 2-8 hours after stimulating ovulation. In order to improve the conception rate, ovulation should be stimulated at the peak of estrus.

3. Choose the appropriate mating time on the day of mating. Spring and autumn are best arranged from 8 am to 10:00, in summer when it is cooler in the morning and evening, and in the warmer noon in winter. In addition, one hour before and after feeding is not suitable for breeding.

Correctly master the breeding procedure

1. Check the breeding male rabbits and create a suitable environment. Male rabbits should be examined before breeding. Male rabbits with weak body, poor development, disease and consanguinity can not mate. Semen quality examination of male rabbits should also be carried out where conditions permit. After determining the male rabbit, remove all the utensils from the male rabbit cage and pad a large wooden board at the bottom of the cage to prevent the rabbit claw from getting sprained into the cage seam.

2. The female rabbits were put into the cage of male rabbits for breeding. The female rabbits which are in good estrus, healthy and suitable for breeding are gently put into the cage of male rabbits for breeding. The male rabbit can not be put into the female rabbit cage for breeding, if the male rabbit is put into the female rabbit cage, the male rabbit is easy to affect the sexual activity due to the change of environment, and even does not climb over the female rabbit, resulting in breeding failure.

3. Post-processing. Immediately after mating, give a hard pat on the buttocks of the female rabbit. as soon as the female rabbit is nervous, the semen can be inhaled deeply, which is beneficial for the sperm to move from the vagina to the uterus and prevent semen from reflux. After that, the female rabbit was removed from the male rabbit cage, the vulva was checked for false matching, and the female rabbit was sent back to the original cage, and the mating registration work was done in time.

4. Compound. In order to ensure the pregnancy of female rabbits and prevent false pregnancy, it is necessary to make a compound. There are two ways to mix.

① repeated breeding. The same male rabbit was remated 6-8 hours after the first mating. According to the experiment, the conception rate of repeated breeding can reach 95-100%.

② double breeding. About 10 minutes after the first mating, another male rabbit was used for the second mating. According to the experiment, the conception rate of double breeding can be 25-30% higher than that of single breeding. This method is only suitable for commercial rabbit production, because it is impossible to judge the paternal consanguinity when breeding.

Do a good job of pregnancy examination

Timely judge whether the female rabbit is pregnant, if not pregnant, should be replenished in time. External observation and fetal touch can be used for examination.