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07/04/2018 Many farmers breed these animals because it is very profitable. But beginning rabbit breeders may have quite a lot of questions related to sexual hunting and mating.
How to tell if a female rabbit is in heat
Often, mating occurs immediately after sexual intercourse. How do you understand that this period has arrived?
The main signs are:
- excessive worry;
- aggression;
- lethargy;
- refusal of food;
- slouch;
- decreased activity;
- the external genitalia are red or swollen;
- the rabbit can run around the cage, press against the walls and rub against them.
It will also be useful for you to learn how rabbits mate and how pregnancy occurs in rabbits.
Mating pets of different breeds
One of the main points that interests all rabbit breeders is the possibility of crossing rabbits of different breeds belonging to different breeds. This method is necessary if the goal is to make the characteristics of the offspring better.
After crossing different breeds, the rabbits are born healthy and large. They are able to gain weight even with a small amount of food.
In addition, interbreed mating helps to remove any disadvantages that purebred pets have.
What breeds of rabbits can be crossed? Of course, these breeds should be different, but at the same time combined with each other. In particular, a hybrid can be obtained by breeding a gray giant rabbit with a chinchilla.
Why doesn't the female rabbit come into heat?
Sometimes the female does not show sexual desire towards the male. This can happen for various reasons.
- A delay in readiness for mating can occur due to an incorrectly selected diet or lack of vitamins and minerals.
- Insufficient daylight hours (less than 7 hours per day).
- An excessive amount of offspring weakens the animal.
- Weather conditions – excessively high or low ambient temperatures.
- Pet obesity.
- Elderly age. In this case, it is impossible to stimulate the female to mate.
- Disturbances in the functioning of the reproductive organs.
- Small cage.
Important! If an animal is obese or underweight, it is necessary to immediately adjust its diet.
Factors of influence
The behavior of the female during the hunting period is directly influenced by the season, time of day, feeding and housing conditions, as well as weather. The most stimulating factors are the season, feeding and proximity to males. The lack of effective and complete lighting has a detrimental effect on the body and, as a result, on the behavior of the female rabbit during the hunting period. To do this, in winter and autumn, as well as in early spring, 14-15 days before mating, it is necessary to increase daylight hours, which can be done with the help of artificial lighting. Also avoid foods containing high doses of vitamins.
In winter, it often happens that the hunting period for females goes almost unnoticed. The only factor by which this can be determined is that the female rabbit constantly watches the male and chases him throughout the cage, trying to turn around with her back part of her body when approaching. This means that your pet's hunting season has already begun.
How to induce heat in a female rabbit
When a female does not want to mate with a male, you can induce the desire yourself.
The following recommendations will tell you how to get your rabbit to do this:
- It is necessary to determine why the female refuses the male.
- You can stimulate the individual with vitamins.
- If there is insufficient lighting, the cells are taken out into the sun.
- Include celery in your diet.
In order for the female rabbit to properly experience the mating period, it is necessary to carefully monitor her behavior and, if any signs of illness appear, show her to the veterinarian.
Rabbit raising technologies
The farmer chooses the technology for producing rabbit meat based on the size of the enterprise, conditions of keeping and feeding.
The following technologies are distinguished:
- industrial;
- compacted litters;
- traditional.
Industrial technology
Large rabbit breeding enterprises receive 7 litters, despite the fact that a female can become pregnant and bear offspring 10 times a year. It is considered optimal to have 6 rabbits in a litter. At the first litter, the female gives birth to 3 to 5 cubs. Breeders evaluate the parent based on the quality of the offspring. Female rabbits that bear highly productive rabbits are exploited until the age of two, while the rest are slaughtered after the seventh litter.
The female is allowed to recover after childbirth and occurs on the 20th day of lactation. Rabbits are weaned on the 35th day so that the second half of pregnancy occurs without overload for the mother’s body. The mammary gland tissue is restored during two weeks of rest and prepared for a new lactation.
Errors in feeding, maintenance or individual characteristics of the female lead to inflammation of the mammary glands - mastitis. The female refuses to feed the cubs. The babies are distributed among other female rabbits.
Compacted births
Compacted litters are called industrial technology brought to perfection. Rabbits are kept in rooms with a controlled microclimate. They are fed ad libitum with granulated feed, which is intended for different age and sex groups. The female rabbit is born 1-3 days after giving birth; the young are weaned at four weeks of age. The body wears out quickly and the rabbit is discarded.
Semi-compacted breeding technology is a breeding technology that occupies an intermediate position between industrial and compacted technology. Females are born 14 days after birth, and five-week-old cubs are transferred to solid food.
Farmers are adapting the semi-compacted litter method to raise rabbits on small farms. The method only works when proper feeding with granulated feed with the addition of hay and green fodder has been established. To raise high-quality replacement young animals, they use the method of parallel mating. At the same time, an elite female rabbit and a female are bred, whose offspring are not highly productive. The cubs of a low-productive mother are destroyed, and the offspring of an elite female are added. After 2-3 days, the female rabbit is born again and her offspring are used to repair the herd.
Young animals under a foster mother grow strong, since the suckling period is increased to 45 days.
In a personal backyard, this technique works in the summer, when the outside temperature is high and there is an abundance of green fodder. When the cold season sets in, farms switch to standard technology for raising rabbits.
Standard technology
The method is suitable for beginner rabbit breeders or when there is no possibility or feasibility of organizing a large enterprise. The female feeds the rabbits for 45 days.
By the time of laying, the cubs get used to solid food and do not require the use of young animal feed. The female rabbit is examined and, if her condition is found to be satisfactory, she is placed with the male a few days after weaning. Otherwise, give time to restore fatness. Theoretically, with standard technology, a female rabbit can produce 5-6 litters and 30-35 young rabbits. In practice, winter does not happen to animals if they are kept in sheds or cages without heating.
Along with the disadvantages, the traditional technology of raising rabbits has the following advantages:
- the duration of exploitation of the female increases to three years or more;
- maternal instincts are preserved, the female rabbit rarely eats the offspring;
- During the warm season, free feed is widely used.
What to do when the mother dies after giving birth or is unable to feed her cubs due to lack of milk or mastitis, and there are no other lactating females on the farm? It is necessary to transfer babies to artificial feeding.
Read more in the article: “How and what to feed small rabbits per week, 2 weeks, 20 days, 1 month without a rabbit.”
When to happen again
After giving birth, when can you cover a female rabbit? In order to again fertilize a female who previously gave birth to dead rabbits, it is necessary to understand the reasons for what happened and take measures to eliminate undesirable factors, if possible.
Rabbits - female and male
The mother rabbit gave birth to dead rabbits, when can she now be born:
- If it was a stressful situation for the animal, it is necessary to eliminate the source;
- If improper feeding is noticed, completely or partially change the diet, improve it so that the rabbit can regain her strength for subsequent births;
- After an illness, a period of rehabilitation is required, which ends only after the animal has fully recovered.
Rabbits
When miscarriages occur more than once in one rabbit, the rabbit breeder should think about replacing the animal with another that can give birth to healthy babies.
Important! Rabbit breeders with sufficient experience are of the opinion that no matter what the birth, it is better to give the female rabbit a break for at least a month. But the owner himself decides how long after giving birth the rabbit can be covered.
Rabbits, if all maintenance standards are observed, can produce healthy offspring. If a miscarriage occurs, the rabbit breeder needs, first of all, to establish the reason why this happened and eliminate it. It is important to adhere to the chosen timing to mate rabbits. Then only strong rabbits will be born on the farm.
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Postpartum care for the female rabbit and offspring
When the rabbit has given birth, what to do next? The cubs are born hairless, deaf and blind. On the 3rd day of life, hairs begin to appear on the body. Rabbits begin to see only on the 10th-11th day. While the cubs are lying in the queen cell, the rabbit takes care of them. During the postpartum period, the female must also be looked after; she needs high-quality nutrition with vitamin and mineral supplements.
We must not forget about water. Animals should maintain a temperature of at least 18°C in the room where they live. It is important to monitor the general condition of the female rabbit and cubs, whether the female has a full appetite, whether she is active, etc.
Rabbits have a well-developed maternal instinct, and they can take care of their offspring themselves up to two weeks of age. Then the female begins to leave the nest. At this time, it is very important to gradually accustom the rabbits to regular feed mixtures:
Food for the cubs must be of high quality. If grass is served, it is important to pre-treat it with pesticides. Hay must be supplied only well-dried, free from rot and mold. You need to put a drinking bowl in the rabbits' cage and make sure it is filled. Standard bedding for cubs is not suitable; experienced breeders advise placing a rag or towel in the cage.
Baby rabbits
Prevention
To ensure that all of the above problems do not affect rabbit farming at all or happen as rarely as possible, it is necessary to carry out constant prevention. Then the females’ pregnancy will proceed without complications, and the baby rabbits will be born healthy and strong. In this case, it will be necessary to make some efforts to prevent the situations described above.
Prevention of rabbits
Here are the preventive measures you need to take:
- Feeding a rabbit must be approached with the utmost seriousness. Feed should be varied and of high quality. There should be plenty of them;
- It is better to reduce stressful situations affecting the animal to a safe minimum. The room for him is spacious and separated from the rest of the rabbits. If possible, the area should be as quiet as possible. It is preferable to handle such an animal carefully and carefully, without sudden movements or loud voices;
Feeding a pregnant female - The location of the female must be kept clean, disinfected, and have good ventilation;
- Give the female water clean and fresh. The water container is washed before each filling with liquid;
- It would be better to carry out mating using standard technology, this way you can ensure the health of the rabbit for a longer period;
- Vaccinations of animals should be carried out strictly according to the recommended periods so that other animals cannot become infected.
Pregnant female
If a miscarriage occurs once, you can use the services of laboratories where biomaterial is sent to determine the true cause, so that this does not happen again in the future.
