We all know this expression that has long become winged: “Rabbits are not only valuable fur ...”, but even to get this fur, not to mention 3-4 kilograms of dietary digestible meat, you need to make a lot of effort.
What is the true value of rabbits?
These cute animals are considered the most profitable because of their precocity and breeding rate. They can be safely kept at home. Think for yourself: only one rabbit can produce offspring from 25-30 long-eared heads per year, the total weight of which will be about 1 centner! What can we say about the benefits of rabbit meat - it is recommended to include it in the diet of children and adults, patients (especially those who complain of problems with the stomach and liver) and healthy. One cannot but recall the skins of these rodents, which are so widely used for sewing clothes and accessories. And rabbit fur carefully crafted using modern methods can easily be confused with much more expensive material.
For these reasons, rabbit breeding has become very popular in our country. But it often happens that poor animals become only funny toys in the hands of inexperienced owners who do not even have a clue about the contents of such pets. A true rabbit breeder should know literally everything about these animals, in particular, how to properly care for, breed, what can and should not feed rabbits. In this article we will talk about the maintenance of such a farm in the winter.
Rate your strength
Let's say right away: before you buy the first rabbit, objectively evaluate your capabilities and desires. After all, the aforementioned offspring will require more than 100 kg of hay, about 115 kg of all kinds of root crops (for example, potatoes) and a little less than half a ton of green grass. And then, find out how to feed rabbits so that they grow up healthy.
Take into account the fact that the eared eater will spend his whole life in the cage that you create for him, so it should be as convenient as possible.
These animals are quite clean, so they need dryness and cleanliness, protection from severe frosts and drafts. Although they love the sun, they cannot do without a secluded dark corner. The shelters you have built are best placed under a canopy or in a separate barn, so that they do not succumb to rain and strong winds. Not very economic rabbit breeders are surprised why their pets are exhausted and easily succumb to all kinds of diseases. The answer is simple: the inappropriate keeping of rabbits is to blame. In winter, this manifests itself even more clearly.
General principles of housing
So, it will be right to equip your rabbitry so that its so-called facade faces the southeast side. Thus, direct sunlight that these rodents so dislike will not get here, but there will be access to the morning rays that are so useful to them. Such protection does not mean at all that rabbits should be raised in the shade - a moderate amount of daylight kills harmful microbes in animal houses, and allows them to always remain dry. In addition, under the influence of the sun, the animal's body produces the optimal amount of vitamin D2, which contributes to rapid growth.
It is generally believed that a rabbit needs very little space for normal life, it all depends on the breed:
- for animals of small breeds, 0.5 sq.m is enough;
- the average breed can be limited to 0.75 square meters per head;
- large breeds need a minimum of 1.25 sq.m. area.
Cages of the required size can be installed in several floors, usually rabbitry is a three-tier structure.
How to insulate a house for an eared speaker?
Small rabbit farms are usually equipped with uncomplicated rabbitries made of grooved planks (although log structures are considered to be of the highest quality). Such shelters require additional insulation in the winter. This can be done by filling the existing space between the walls with natural heat insulators. Most often, some branches or leaves, straw, moss, etc. are used. If the weather conditions in your area are quite severe, then it is advisable to trim the outer sides of the cells.
For covering, sheet metal is used, or, as it is also called, roofing, which has excellent waterproofing characteristics. Sheets of this material should be laid horizontally and lapped so that rainwater does not seep inside.
Proper breeding of rabbits in the winter provides for the mandatory warming of the bottom of the cells, which is often done from the net. In this case, you need to build a kind of pallet with a slope in the center, into which animal waste will fall, and only then lay a protective layer of insulating material.
The cells must have good ventilation, therefore, holes must be made in their lower and upper parts through which air is drawn in and out. To keep the rabbits comfortable in the winter, these openings must be equipped with valves and, in case of severe cold, close them.
Cells can be either single or double. To breed offspring in the cold months, the bottom of such rabbitry should be insulated with straw, and the mesh doors should be covered with protective wooden sashes.
How to furnish a rabbit housing?
As we have said, rodents need daily comfort. The main thing for them is nutrition, so each cell needs to be equipped with a feeder. For this purpose, you can use both improvised tools and special bunker devices sold in pet stores. The latter are very convenient, because you can fill them with food only once a week. The principle of their operation is quite simple: a hopper in the form of a funnel with a narrow hole at the bottom is covered with friable feed mixture, which enters a kind of trough, from which the rabbit eats. Such a simple mechanism allows owners not to worry about the satiety of their dependents for a long time, therefore it is optimal for use on large farms.
As home-made feeders, you can use ceramic vessels or cans with low edges, in the center of which you need to fix a jar of smaller diameter. This design does not allow rabbits to get into the feeder with legs and stain food, which is especially convenient when breeding young animals.
To make rabbit breeding more efficient in winter, cages can be equipped with wooden nests or maternity wards. These are original boxes with a height of 30-35 cm, the corners of which are studded with metal squares (so that the rodents do not sharpen their teeth about them). Similar designs can be made both from wood and polystyrene.
Vital
The water balance in the rabbit's body is the key to his health. A lack of fluid can lead to serious deformations of the liver, kidneys and spleen, digestive problems and the level of reproduction.
Very often, rabbits feeling a lack of drinking have jade, which in most cases leads to death. That is why the issue of providing water is no less important than feeding rabbits in winter.
Therefore, it is better to resort to the use of automatic drinking bowls, which will provide uninterrupted access to water. Such a device can be made by hand, filling a plastic bottle with water and turning it upside down so that the neck is at the bottom of the drinking vessel (for example, a can of suitable size). To let the water flow for several days, you should use a bottle with a capacity of 1 liter, which can be easily attached to the cage with a wire.
How to feed rabbits?
The daily diet of adults should help maintain the already acquired fatness. This means that neither starvation nor overfeeding should be allowed. But in order to get a good and healthy offspring, before the beginning of the period of sexual activity, the intensity of bait can be increased, because the size of the future brood and its quality directly depend on the amount of protein and vitamins consumed. So at this time, you can give the "farm" more grain (including sprouted), bran, oilcake, grass meal. This assortment of food for rabbits will be enough even more than. In the winter, you can feed the rabbit with pine, spruce or juniper branches, limiting the daily dose to 200 grams. In order for such a feed to retain all the vitamins in itself, it must be kept in a dark room or directly under the snow. Potato, which must be thoroughly washed beforehand, may turn out to be an irreplaceable food for a rabbit.
Rabbits do not refuse from food prepared by humans: bread crumbs, cereals, soups. The main thing is that the delicacies are not sour or moldy. It is better to dry the bread from the beginning in the oven, and the rest of the soups can be mixed with dry food. But it is better to limit the animals to a daily dose of 200 g.
How to feed a rabbit in the winter during mating?
Winter has come, so it's time to prepare the rabbits for mating. In this matter, proper nutrition plays an important role. Before you bring a couple of mature rodents to produce offspring, it is better to feed them well with sprouted grain, which contains vitamin E, which is so valuable for the effective process of reproduction, One individual is enough up to 20 g of feed per day. An alternative is to add baker's yeast to the food at the rate of 5-6 g per day for 5 days, after which you can take a short three-day break. Salt can be mixed daily into the feed: about 1.5 g is given to mature individuals, and 0.5 g is enough for younger individuals. Rabbit breeders also often practice mixing small amounts of chalk, bone or fish meal, food phosphates, etc. into food. In general, for feeding rabbits in the winter to be optimal, it is necessary to take into account their state of health, and only then make a daily diet.
Sacral females, which give the majority of all the beneficial substances that enter their body with food, to rabbits, require more calories. Therefore, their daily menu should consist of protein products: up to 100 g of oats, legumes and animal feed crops, up to 50 g of sunflower meal and about 30 g of soy. All kinds of mineral impurities and root crops will also be useful.
If you expect replenishment in your farm by winter, it is worth considering what is the best way to feed rabbits in this case. Nursing females, in addition to regular food, need products that promote lactation. The main components of the winter diet containing dairy substances will be legumes, silage, dried herbs, etc. The most active period of feeding is the 20th - 45th day of lactation, when each little rabbit requires from his mother to eat 30 g more grain and 20 g more hay.
How to properly breed offspring?
To give a good start to a newborn, you need to know well how to feed a monthly rabbit. Born babies who have been weaned (this is most often done after the 30th day of rabbit life) do not require a lot of food. But even that smallness, which must be provided for, must be very high-calorie. At this age, the young’s digestive system is still not quite ready for coarse grains and plant foods, so the first few days after weaning, the eared can be given fresh milk, whey and special mineral supplements.
Then you can gradually introduce easily digestible products into the diet, such as young grass, red carrots, boiled potatoes, and not very coarse hay of cereals and legumes. In winter, bone meal helps to gain weight. So, how much to feed a young rabbit like food? One-month-old cubs require only 1 g., Two-month-olds - 2 g., And three-month-olds - 4 g. given flour.
What herbs to prepare for winter?
A good way to quickly grow a rabbit is to regularly feed it. But if for some reason this is not possible, then there is a worthy alternative - herbal flour, which must be prepared in advance. To do this, green grass must be thoroughly dried in the shade, and then put it in a bag of natural material so that it is not tamped. Densified plants quickly oxidize, as a result of which the destruction of carotene, the most valuable component of this feed, is accelerated.
Immediately before use, dried raw materials must be thoroughly ground into flour, which will retain the maximum useful properties. Moreover, in terms of nutritional characteristics, it is almost not inferior to grain.
What to feed domestic rabbits in the winter should be taken care of in advance, so prepare a good supply of hay from cereal plants and all kinds of herbs (preferably young ones that have not yet pepper). Try not to use marsh or steppe grasses as food - they will be very harsh. Pea, oatmeal or millet straw are perfect.
Root crops - a source of vitamins in the cold months
In order not to constantly wonder about what to feed the rabbit in winter, take care of the preparation of his favorite treat - carrots. If the crop of this vegetable does not allow to feed it with the eared ears, you can replace it with Jerusalem artichoke or Kuusik (a mixture of rutabaga and fodder cabbage).
The last plant has large root crops reaching 7 kg, so even a large number of rodents can be fed with them. A good vitamin vegetable for them is pumpkin, which, among other things, can be stored easily and for a long time. It can be given to rabbits raw, cut into pieces, or boiled, adding to dry food. The whole complex of useful substances that is in the pumpkin contributes to the good allocation of milk in nursing females, the accelerated growth of offspring, as well as improving the quality and taste of rabbit meat. And seeds can be used as a remedy for worms, which often appear in a young offspring.
Grain Feeding
Experienced rabbit breeders are well aware of how to feed rabbits with grain in order to maintain their fatness. Cereals are rich in all the necessary components for rodents:
- proteins, which are mainly concentrated in leguminous plants;
- carbohydrates accumulated in cereals;
- fats, the source of which are oil plants.
This type of feeding is especially important in the winter, when the lack of vitamins is sharply felt.
At this time, rabbit breeders actively give their pets wheat, barley, corn and oat grains. The last rabbits love the most - they are very nutritious and do not contribute to the excessive accumulation of fat. Coarse barley and corn before feeding is better to grind a little, because delicate rabbit stomachs can not withstand such a load. But you should not give them only one type of grain - they need to be combined.
Do not forget that the rabbit's body also requires a certain routine, so you need to feed it at about the same time. In this way, you will do well for the animal and save feed.