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What preparations and management are needed for Rex rabbits before and after kindling?
Generally, the gestation period of Rex rabbits is 31 days. When there are many fetuses, the gestation period is shorter; when there are few fetuses, the gestation period is longer. Oversized fetuses tend to prolong the gestation period and may even cause dystocia, so special attention should be paid to observation. When conditions permit, it is best to move pregnant rabbits at 25 days of gestation into the same housing unit, or gather them into several adjacent cages, so as to facilitate observation and management. Three to 4 days before kindling, thoroughly clean and disinfect the rabbit house and kindling box (2%-3% Lysol or 0.1% benzalkonium bromide are both acceptable). After disinfection, the cages and kindling boxes should be rinsed clean with water. Movable kindling boxes should be dried in the sun before being placed into the cages, to remove the residual smell of the disinfectant, so as to prevent the doe from becoming restless and burrowing and bumping everywhere. Then put in soft bedding straw so the doe can become familiar with the environment and conveniently carry straw and pull fur to make a nest. Pregnant does should have their concentrate feed supply reduced 2-3 days before kindling to prevent mastitis. For first-time kindling does, their pre-kindling behavior should be checked. If they are found unable to carry straw in their mouths or pull fur to line the nest, manual assistance should be given. Use soft fur and straw to make the kindling nest well, and carry out manual fur pulling. Practice has proved that this can stimulate lactation: does that pull little fur secrete little milk, while does that pull a lot of fur secrete more milk. Before kindling, feed and drinking water must be prepared. If conditions permit, soybean milk, thin porridge, and the like can be prepared for the doe to eat and drink after kindling. After kindling, the doe's belly is very empty, and she is both thirsty and hungry. If drinking water and feed have not been prepared in advance, the doe will be forced to eat her young rabbits. On the eve of kindling, someone needs to be on duty to provide care, in case the young are born outside the kindling box and fall into the manure and urine ditch, dying of cold and starvation. If there are stillborn or malformed fetuses, they should be removed in time to prevent the doe from eating the stillborn fetuses together with the afterbirth, so as to avoid developing the bad habit of eating her young. Before kindling, quiet must be maintained, and disturbance must be strictly prevented. Kindling in does is very quick, requiring only 20-30 minutes, with about 1 young rabbit born every 2-3 minutes. During kindling, the back arches, the mouth licks the vulva, and sometimes calls are made, and the young rabbit is delivered together with the afterbirth. The doe bites off the umbilical cord, eats the afterbirth, and after licking dry the amniotic fluid and blood on the young rabbit's body, the young rabbit goes to nurse, and immediately afterward the doe gives birth to another young rabbit.</p><p>After kindling is completed, take out the kindling box, count the young rabbits, weigh the birth weight and individual weight, keep good records, and assist the doe in rearranging the kindling box.</p><p>Methods for pre- and post-kindling management of Rex rabbits: Rex rabbit breeding now requires us to carry out the breeding, and especially in other feeding and management aspects we must be more attentive. Let us now look at how Rex rabbits should be cared for before and after kindling so as to better reduce our losses:</p><p>(1) Make good pre-kindling preparations. Three to 4 days before kindling, the doe begins to carry straw to make a nest. The keeper should prepare a kindling box for her in advance and, when the time comes, spread bedding straw, which must be soft, cut short, sun-dried, and disinfected. At the same time, prepare some green, juicy, and highly palatable forage for the doe and put it into the rabbit cage together with the bedding straw, and put in some drinking water with added brown sugar to help the doe lactate. Immediately after kindling, clear away the filth in the kindling box.</p><p>(2) Let the young rabbits take colostrum in time (within 24 hours after birth). Rex rabbits generally nurse once a day, and nursing should be at fixed times.</p><p>(3) Earnestly pay attention to preventing and treating mastitis in does and yellow urine disease in young rabbits. Check carefully and regularly. Once illness is found in a doe or young rabbit, treatment should be given immediately. If treatment is too late, it can lead to the death of the entire litter of young rabbits. Even if it is discovered late or treatment is not timely, the mortality rate will increase, and even if the young rabbits do not die, they will grow slowly.</p><p>(4) Frequently check whether the young rabbits can eat their fill or whether the doe's milk is sufficient. If individual young rabbits are found not to eat their fill, they can be given one supplemental feeding separately. If most young rabbits cannot eat their fill because the doe's milk is insufficient, measures should be taken to prevent the young rabbits from starving to death. In addition, in winter, cold damage should be prevented; in summer, heat should be prevented; and rodent damage should be guarded against year-round.</p>
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