Fattening rabbits for meat at home, 2 working methods, how much to raise before slaughter

Livestock » Rabbits

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Kira Stoletova

Nowadays, one of the most popular pets, the breeding of which has recently been quite actively carried out, is the rabbit. In order for a rabbit to grow up healthy, it is necessary to take good care of it, including monitoring its daily nutrition. Anyone who is faced with raising this pet for the first time often wonders how much feed a rabbit eats per day. Let's consider how to feed this animal correctly and what the daily amount of food it should consume should be.

How much feed does a rabbit eat per day?

What is included in rabbit feed?

The main components of the feed are grains: wheat, corn, barley, oats, etc. They make up from 30 to 45% of the total mass of the feed. Next come components containing a lot of protein: cake, soybean and/or sunflower, as well as hydrolyzed yeast and soybean sprat.

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Types of feed

Before clarifying the question of how much feed a rabbit needs for normal growth in one day, you should understand what types of such feed exist. Among them it is worth highlighting the food:

• rude;
• green;
• juicy.

If we consider the coarse type of feed, then it is worth including a number of elements, which include: flour, hay, tree branches, dried grass and other options. If you decide to give branches to your rabbit, then pay attention to the fact that the animal’s body has a negative attitude towards apricots. The best option may be linden and ash branches. As for the preparation of hay, it should be prepared only from the grass that he eats daily raw.

If we talk about green food, this includes cabbage and the most common greens. This feeding diet should be present in the summer; at other times of the year it is advisable to use a different feeding option. In addition, it is important to pay attention to the fact that not all types of herbs that exist can be consumed by a rabbit. The best option may be clover, lupine, legumes and cereals. Among vegetables, preference should be given to potatoes and beets. If your rabbit consumes green food excessively, you need to carefully monitor his body, as sometimes problems can arise in his digestive system.

An equally interesting option is juicy compound feed. This includes various fruits, berries and other fruits. In fact, this animal is a real gourmet, so sometimes it can eat carrots, pumpkin and even watermelon. An excellent option would be silage made from root vegetables and well-ground grass.

Disadvantages and advantages of such feeds

In addition to how much food a rabbit can eat during the day, it is worth paying attention to the advantages and disadvantages of compound feed. The main advantages include:

• providing the body with useful substances;
• the possibility of rapid growth and weight gain;
• the fact that this is an ideal option for nursing rabbits;
• simplicity in terms of transportation and storage;
• possibility of independent use at home.

In addition to the advantages, there are also certain disadvantages, which include:

• quite high price;
• the need for the correct selection of food for each animal;
• short shelf life;
• the need to constantly monitor the composition so that there is no excess of certain elements.

If you decide to raise rabbits on your farm, you must take a responsible approach to their nutrition so that the pets grow up healthy.

Nutrition Basics

To raise rabbits, you need to know the basics of rabbit farming. It is important to carefully monitor compliance with the following rules:

• It is forbidden to feed food with signs of spoilage and mold. Such food can not only poison, but also kill your pet.
• The greens are given without dew; they should be dry to the touch.
• A varied diet changes from time to time and is supplemented with new products.
• There should always be fresh water in the drinking bowl, which is changed every 1-2 days. Absence will cause constipation and decreased lactation in lactating females.
• Rabbits are trained to a feeding schedule by giving food at specific times each day.
• Rabbits of different ages, genders, breeds and purposes have different diets.

Experienced rabbit breeders advise that the animal always have stable access to a food source. In the wild, they do not feed on a schedule. This must also be ensured in cellular conditions. You can read more about this in Mikhailov’s method.

The pet should eat not only plants, but also animal products (fish oil, bone meal). In addition, it is useful to provide silage, which includes the necessary microelements.

Daily norm

For young animals there is a more detailed gradation depending on how many days of life have passed since birth. The dosage for a female rabbit is mainly tied to her task of increasing offspring: litter and lactation. Different breeds require an individual approach.

The use of mixed feed does not affect the amount of water required. It should always be in sufficient quantities and be fresh.

Is it possible to place baby rabbits with another female rabbit?

The owner of a rabbit family can solve the problem of feeding abandoned rabbits with the help of a wet nurse, if there is one on the farm. There is a chance that she will accept and feed other people's cubs. Among potential adoptive mothers, it is recommended to choose one that meets the following requirements:

• she does not have a very large litter (5-7 rabbits);
• she gave birth no earlier than 3-4 days before the birth of the abandoned babies.

You need to place baby rabbits with another female rabbit correctly. It is important that the adoptive mother does not notice the catch. How to replant:

1. We remove the future nurse from the cage.
2. We take fluff from her nest and rub the bodies of the adopted ones.
3. We place the abandoned rabbits directly in the center of the new queen cell. We place them between the siblings.
4. We cover them with mother's down.
5. After 30-40 minutes, when the babies acquire a new smell, we return the rabbit to the cage.

If everything is done correctly, the nurse will not distinguish her cubs from strangers. She will take them in and feed them. In rare cases this does not happen. Then their owner will have to take care of the babies.

Reviews

Nikolay, 37 years old

We have a large farm, so we specially go to the feed mill to buy feed. To save money, we buy concentrates, which we add to the main diet. We directly pour the granules into the feeders, and we dilute the loose feed and give it out in mash. After switching to specialized feed, our weight gain increased and the quality of the skins improved.

Elena, 29 years old

I have a small decorative rabbit, it eats very little, I buy a full ration of food for it at the pet store. Very convenient: the bag for the animal contains a specially selected composition of vitamins, fiber, proteins, protein, and microelements. There is no need to think about what to feed your pet - just pour granules into a cup, and all problems are solved. After eating, the rabbit is always cheerful and energetic, the fur is smooth and shiny.

In modern rabbit farming, the use of compound feed is a prerequisite for obtaining stable weight gain, high-quality wool and healthy offspring.

How much of this food should a rabbit eat in one day?

When the question arises, what should be the daily amount of compound feed eaten by a rabbit, you must proceed from the breed and age of the pet. The daily value can be calculated in several ways.

• You can calculate the so-called feed unit. For example, 100 g of feed unit may contain 100 g of oats or other crops.
• Calculate the daily intake of proteins. For animals that have not yet reproduced, the daily norm should be about 150-160 feed units. For an adult male, these figures per day should be 180 feed units, but a female who has given birth and is nursing should consume about 300-700 feed units. The daily rate may even depend on the color of the rabbit. A light-colored rabbit eats much less than a dark-colored rabbit. During the mating period, they should be given much more food per day than during the normal period. When raising an animal for further slaughter, it is necessary to fatten it in advance, thereby increasing the amount of food not only per day, but also per month. In this case, it is possible to determine the norms that are necessary for the rabbit’s body.
• Adults weighing up to 5 kg need to eat about 5-6 kg of food per month.
• If the rabbit is no more than 4-5 months old, he will need approximately 3-4 kg per month.

Based on approximate annual and monthly calculations, you can create the nutrition that a rabbit should receive per day.

• for a nursing rabbit - approximately 100 g;
• for sufficiently mature males - 60-70 g;
• for still young rabbits - 40-50 g;
• when raising decorative rabbits - no more than 1 tbsp. l. per day.

It is worth paying attention to the fact that for still small rabbits, the norms for such consumption will be completely different. If a small rabbit is already 35-40 days old, then it can be given about 100-130 feed units per day. In 1 day, a small rabbit aged 60 days eats approximately 150 food units. If the question arises of how much a 4-month-old rabbit needs, such norms should be about 200 feed units. For young animals aged 120-130 days, these indicators should be at the level of 225 feed units.

A small lyrical digression.

Some of my friends would not mind having rabbits on their farm. They have a great desire to care for them, feed them, and, if necessary, take care of the health of their charges. But as soon as they think about their ultimate fate, their enthusiasm drops sharply. Potential rabbit breeders are frightened by the slaughter process itself, which is quite natural for the vast majority of normal people. It is especially difficult at the initial stage, when there are still few rabbits and you know almost all of them by name and nickname. In this case, there are two options. The first is to get a couple of decorative rabbits, the second is to use the services of slaughter stations or the help of experienced rabbit breeders you know.

In the future, as the economy grows, psychology undergoes some correction. The spirit of the hunter, the breadwinner of the family, is increasingly awakening in men, which also fits perfectly into human nature. By the way, not a single world religion prohibits killing animals for further consumption as food. The main thing is to observe morality and legality. Specifically, this is the complete absence of cruelty in actions, the quick and painless killing of an animal, not accompanied by a feeling of anxiety and fear. The animal must receive adequate care until the very moment of its killing. It should not be carried out in a room where animals are kept; it is prohibited to kill some animals in front of others, as well as in the presence of young children. If you wish, you can find more precise and complete wording in the laws of your countries.

A few words about waste.

Slaughterhouse waste includes: paws, skins, technical offal during the slaughter process they are thrown into containers, and after completion of the slaughter they are sent for disposal.

That’s all we wanted to consider in this article, as you can see, the equipment as such comes down to an electric stunner and a high-quality cutting line, and most operations are performed manually, productivity in this case is determined by the number of personnel.

But for more productive enterprises, much more serious equipment will be required; we will continue to consider products and equipment for rabbit breeding in subsequent publications.

Stun.

Electro-stunning is necessary to ensure, firstly, anesthesia for rabbits, and secondly, with electro-stunning, the animal’s heart continues to work, this means that the rabbit is immobilized, unconscious, but at the same time it is still alive, this is also very important, as we will make sure when considering the following processes, and thirdly, it significantly reduces the risk of injury to miners.

The fact is that if slaughter is carried out immediately, without rapid stunning, then animals often die from painful shock, and if the animal’s cardiovascular system stops working, part of the blood will be retained in small blood vessels and capillaries, penetrating into the muscle tissue and thus causing the release of adrenaline into the blood (the acidity of the meat increases, and the acidic environment is favorable for the growth of bacteria, a specific smell appears, the shelf life is reduced), bleeding becomes more difficult.

It is because of this that the quality of the meat deteriorates, so our task is to make sure that the rabbit does not die from a broken heart at the sight of a healthy, bloody man with a hammer or knife in his hands.

Typically, manual or universal electric stunners are used for stunning; due to their low cost and sufficient reliability, they can be used in any enterprise. Such devices must be “grounded”.

Roots

Root vegetables are most often included in the menu in the cold season when there is a shortage of succulent food. In this case, the following vegetables are suitable:

• potato;
• carrot;
• beet;
• Jerusalem artichoke.

Root vegetables can be served raw or boiled. It is important to wash them thoroughly beforehand, peel them and cut them into small pieces. Boiled potatoes and Jerusalem artichoke can be added crushed to grain mixtures and mash.

Before serving, root vegetables must be selected correctly. The choice should be based not only on the quality of the food, but also on the characteristics of the breed. So, some of them are not recommended to include beets and carrots in their diet.