Methods of breeding rabbits at home: arrangement of the cage, diet, reproduction and care

Breeding rabbits at home can be a great additional income for you. In your home there will always be tasty and high-quality dietary meat, as well as a good cash profit, which will help to get well-established distribution channels.

Breeding rabbits does not require large material costs from you. It is quite possible to make cages for animals on your own.

The final result of growing rabbits at home can be:

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

Additional income can be the sale of young individuals.

What breeds of rabbits are best for breeding at home?

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

• meat;
• meat-skin;
• skin or downy.

Domestic rabbits will bring income only in the case of a quality selection of young animals. You need to pay attention to the following signs:

• rabbit pile should be quite dense and shiny;
• eyes must be clean;
• strong body;
• good activity;
• plump body.

The specimens you have chosen must have all the necessary characteristics of the corresponding breed (body length, coat color, weight, and other features). 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 shape of the skull;
• the tips of the ears should not be hanging;
• protruding hips;
• sagging back or tummy;
• the pile should not be disheveled or fall out;
• exhaustion or obesity of a rabbit.

Proper home improvement for rabbits

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

• open – in the open air on the street, each individual is located in an individual cage, aviary, pit;
• closed – in special rooms – rabbitries.

These types of content can be easily combined with each other. For example, in summer, rabbits can be outdoors, and in winter in rabbitries, although adult hardened individuals easily tolerate frost up to 20 degrees. The main thing is that the cages, pits or enclosures are always clean, dry and bright. These animals do not tolerate moisture and drafts.

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

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

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

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

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

Cells can be entirely composed of metal meshes. Such designs have both positive and negative sides.

Pros:

• lungs;
• compact;
• easy to maintain.

Cons:

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

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

If you are unsure of your abilities to make rabbit cages on your own, then use the drawings 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 tip them over. The cage should have placed feeders for concentrated feed and root crops. If you want to feed the animals with hay, then you need to think about it in advance.

Basic rules for breeding rabbits at home

1. Animal cages, as well as feeders and drinkers, must be cleaned every day.
2. Disinfection of all cell equipment is carried out every 10 days.
3. Eliminate all possible sources of drafts.
4. Ventilate rooms regularly.
5. Check animals daily.

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

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

For vaccinations, you can use an associated vaccine that will have a preventive effect for several diseases or a single vaccine for one disease. Your veterinarian can vaccinate your pet at your home.

A balanced diet for a pet rabbit

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

In order to prepare enough products, you need to focus on the following data. A rabbit with offspring needs the following amount of food per year:

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

Rabbits need to 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.

Reproduction of rabbits at home

If you plan mating correctly, you can get offspring throughout the year. It would be advisable to run several animals for mating at once, since the milk yield of females is different. If one of the rabbits does not have enough milk, her cubs can be planted with another.

Reproduction of rabbits falls during the hunting of females. It can take place at any time of the year and last from 3 to 5 days with a break of 8 to 9 days. You can repeat the rabbit after birth the very next day. Male able to fertilize up to four females in a day. It is necessary to give the animal after this two days of rest, so you can prevent the exhaustion of the animal.

Before each mating, you need to conduct a thorough inspection of the individuals. If there is a sick animal, you will easily notice it. So, you can prevent the infection of others. In no case should such a rabbit happen.

You should not allow rabbits who have been ill with mastitis, as well as females from their offspring, to mating.

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

• the female is restless;
• refuses to eat;
• the genital loop turned pink and increased.

The rabbit needs to be transplanted into a cage with a male. The mating must be carried out in this sequence, and not vice versa, because the male will need time to adapt to the new cage, and the female will immediately let the rabbit in. In a cage there should be no extra itemsthat might disturb the animals. After the end of copulation, the male emits a piercing squeak and falls to one side. After 5 minutes, there may be a second mating. The control mating should be carried out in a week. If the rabbit becomes pregnant, she will aggressively attack the male.

Do rabbits need to be castrated?

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

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

Closed. The testicle is removed without damage to the shell. This way helps to prevent the development of inguinal hernia and inflammatory processes.

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

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

It is necessary to treat the wounds that remained after castration with streptocide.

Adults are castrated percutaneously. The scrotum with the testis of the animal is tightly tied at the base; within 4 to 6 days, a lack of blood supply will lead to the disappearance of the testis.

rabbit slaughter

If you decide to breed rabbits at home, and not for decorative purposes, then you need to face 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 this should happen as follows. Hold the animal firmly by the hind legs and apply a strong blow with a heavy object between the rabbit’s ears.

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