Matters needing attention in free-range breeding of rabbits

I. the living habits of rabbits

1. Nocturnal sex: rabbits are rarely active during the day, are very active at night, and feed frequently, accounting for about 70% of the total food intake during the day, so rabbits should be kept quiet during the day and enough forage should be added at night.

2. Timidity and fear: the rabbit has a gentle temperament and a keen sense of hearing, and any kind of noise can frighten it. For this reason, the house and the environment should be kept quiet at all times.

3. Like dry and afraid of dampness: rabbits like clean, dry and ventilated living environment. Once the house is wet, the morbidity and mortality will increase. Dampness should be avoided in the process of feeding.

4. Poor gregariousness and strong cave dwelling: bites often occur as long as male and female rabbits live in groups, and rabbits should be raised separately.

5, like to gnaw hard things: rabbits and mice are the same kind of animals, like to grind their teeth, it is better to have a brick-and-iron structure when repairing rabbit cages, bricks for cages and iron wire for cage doors. If you use wood or bamboo, it is easy to be bitten.

6. Herbivore and selectivity: rabbits are mainly plant-based foods and like to eat succulent and sweet green fodder and pellets. Rabbits do not like to eat powder, especially too fine powder, powder proportion is inappropriate, easy to cause enteritis.

7, cold resistance, avoid high temperature: relatively speaking, rabbits are not afraid of hot and cold, generally no more than 32 ℃, so pay attention to summer heat prevention. However, the newborn rabbit has no coat and is strongly dependent on the ambient temperature. When the temperature drops to 18 ℃ ~ 21 ℃, it will freeze to death, so the newborn rabbit should pay attention to heat preservation. The litter temperature is generally required to be about 30 ℃ ~ 32 ℃. The optimum ambient temperature of rabbits is 15 ℃ ~ 25 ℃.

8. Eating soft dung: rabbits like to eat their own soft dung at night, which is a normal physiological phenomenon.

9. Sensitive sense of smell: the opposite sex and habitat are often identified by the sense of smell, and the female rabbit uses the sense of smell to identify the offspring or offspring. Therefore, special methods should be used to make it difficult to distinguish the young rabbits when they are in need of mixed nests or foster care, so as to make the foster care or mixed nests successful.

Second, the suitable temperature of rabbits.

The suitable environmental temperature for rabbits is 30 ℃ ~ 32 ℃ for newborn rabbits, 10 ℃ ~ 25 ℃ for adult rabbits, and 5 ℃ ~ 30 ℃ for adult rabbits. The optimum temperature for its production, growth and reproduction is 15 ℃ ~ 25 ℃.

Third, sexual maturity and first mating age

1. Sexual maturity: general small varieties at the age of 4 months, medium varieties at the age of 5 months, and large varieties at the age of 6 months to 7 months.

2. The first mating age: 4.5 ~ 5 months old for small rabbits, 5 ~ 6 months for medium rabbits and 6 ~ 7 months for large rabbits.

IV. Estrus and estrus cycle

1. Behavior change

The estrus of the female rabbit is mainly manifested as active and restless, love to run and jump, randomly planing the bottom of the cage, and stepping on the floor of the cage hard. Eat less and often rub your jaw on the trough or other utensils. Female rabbits with strong sexual desire also take the initiative to approach and climb across male rabbits, or even their own young rabbits or other female rabbits. When the male rabbit climbs across, the female rabbit stands still, her hips are raised and her tail is raised to cater to the mating of the male rabbit.

2. Changes of reproductive tract

The vulva of the female rabbit becomes relaxed, flushed, swollen and moist. These oestrus manifestations, generally female rabbits last about 2-3 days, this period is called estrus. The estrous cycle varies widely, generally between 8 and 15 days.

5. Pregnancy and pregnancy diagnosis

1. External observation: on the fifth day after mating, the female rabbit is placed in the male rabbit cage for the male rabbit to chase and climb over the female rabbit. If the female rabbit does not accept the male rabbit to mate, she turns in the male rabbit cage or crouches in a corner with her tail between her legs, and there is no sign of mating. There is the possibility of pregnancy. Another trial can be conducted 16 days after mating in order to make a further diagnosis. At the same time, observe whether the appetite of the female rabbit is increased than before; whether it is better than before; the color of the hair becomes bright; there is a significant increase in weight, which may be signs of pregnancy.

2. Touch the tire: this is the most commonly used method in production. This method is more accurate, it can be carried out 10-12 days after mating, and experienced people can touch the fetus in 8-9 days. The specific method is: the foetus grasps the female rabbit on the table or on the ground, the rabbit's head faces the chest of the touchman, one palm upward uses the thumb and index finger to make a "eight" shape, and gently touches both sides of the abdomen from front to back, such as the abdomen is as soft as cotton, indicating that it has not been conceived. If you touch a meat ball the size of a peanut that can slide, it shows that you are conceived.

VI. Mating methods

1. Free mating refers to the mating between male and female rabbits after estrus under the condition of group breeding.

2. Manual control of mating

Also known as artificial assisted mating. Refers to the male and female rabbits are usually raised separately, when the female rabbit estrus and accept mating, the female rabbit will be caught in the scheduled male rabbit cage for mating, after mating, the female rabbit will be brought back to the original cage.