How to Raise Rabbits? A Detailed Guide to Feeding Methods and Key Technical Points
The rabbit is the collective name for all genera under the family Leporidae in the order Lagomorpha of mammals. Classified by body size, rabbits can be divided into large rabbits, medium rabbits and small rabbits. Large rabbits weigh about 5-8 kg (a few exceed 8 kg), medium rabbits weigh about 2-4 kg, and small rabbits weigh about 2 kg or less. Generally speaking, a rabbit's body can be divided into four parts: the head and neck, the trunk, the limbs and the tail. Body surface: covered with fur, which has a heat-retaining effect. Coat color: mostly white, black, gray, grayish white, grayish brown, yellowish gray, light earthy yellow, and also mixed-color. Rabbit teeth. Incisors: suitable for cutting food. Molars: suitable for grinding food. A rabbit's tail is short and fluffy, and it will curl up like a ball, very cute. Mode of movement: jumping. A rabbit's front limbs are shorter than its hind limbs, which is favorable for jumping. So how do you raise such a cute rabbit? What matters need attention when raising rabbits? How are the economic benefits of raising rabbits? Let the editor analyze it for everyone:
How to Raise Rabbits
1. About food. Rabbits under 6 months old should eat alfalfa hay plus young rabbit pellets plus timothy hay. Alfalfa hay provides sufficient nutritional value, but it must not be fed in large amounts. Rabbit pellets ensure the rabbit's basic food and warmth, and timothy hay plays a key role in promoting the digestive system and grinding the teeth. So the three should be combined: one handful of alfalfa daily, one handful of rabbit pellets morning and evening, and unlimited timothy hay. Remember, do not feed vegetables or fruit.
Rabbits over 6 months old are considered adult rabbits. They eat adult rabbit pellets and timothy hay. Adult rabbits no longer need alfalfa hay, because they have already finished developing. Alfalfa is more fragrant than timothy, so some rabbits refuse to eat timothy after having eaten alfalfa, and the switch must be made gradually. Adult rabbits can eat a small amount of vegetables and fruit as treats, but not much, otherwise they will have diarrhea.
2. About drinking water.
Life cannot do without water, and rabbits are the same. The water rabbits drink needs to be cooled boiled water. Remember, they must not drink tap water, which can cause E. coli to flare up, and once it flares up it is very hard to save them. Secondly, rabbits should drink from a dedicated water dispenser (water bottle), and you must not just use any container for them to drink from, otherwise their chin will become sore, which will make the rabbit very uncomfortable and cause it to lose its ornamental value.
3. Prevention of coccidiosis. Basically 80% of dead rabbits die from coccidiosis. When it flares up there is basically no saving them. This disease can only be prevented, not cured. When it begins, the rabbit's limbs become weak and it lies there dazed, unable to stand steadily, then it falls over with its head tilted back and its limbs paddling in the air.
4. Feeding hygiene. Rabbits love cleanliness. In a cage they will relieve themselves at a fixed spot, usually in the corner on the other side from where the feed is placed, so you can use a rabbit litter box. To prevent urine odor, you can line it with pet diapers or deodorizing wood pellets. It is recommended to clean at least once a day. Keeping it clean and hygienic is also a prerequisite for the rabbit's health. Outside the cage you can also make a fixed toilet. Prepare an outer paper box from a pastry, cut it into an L shape (removing the upper half and one side), then put in several layers of newspaper. When the rabbit finishes urinating, immediately clean up the soiled newspaper, otherwise it will not relieve itself in the same place. As for how to teach a rabbit to relieve itself at a fixed spot outside the cage, it is like teaching a puppy to relieve itself at a fixed spot. In this respect rabbits are smarter than dogs, and they will learn after being taught once or twice. Rabbits' emotions are mostly about food. When it is hungry and finds there is no food in the bowl, it will knock over all the bowls to make noise and tell you it is hungry. When it stamps its hind feet at you, then you must reflect on yourself. Because a rabbit stamping its hind feet means it is angry, or warning its companions of danger. Never underestimate a rabbit's intelligence. When you understand it, you will find that its intelligence is sometimes deeper than that of humans.
Precautions for Raising Rabbits
When picking up a rabbit, you must never grab its ears. The ears are an important organ of the rabbit. Rabbits have no sweat glands and must use their ears to dissipate heat. A rabbit's ears are not made for people to grab. If the rabbit's ears are injured by grabbing and nerve damage is caused, the rabbit's ears will be unable to stand straight and unable to turn. The correct way to pick up a rabbit should be: use one hand to support the rabbit's back, and use the other hand to lift the rabbit's bottom, so that the rabbit's legs and belly both face forward.
Rabbits' Living Habits
1. To raise a healthy and lively rabbit, you must not keep it locked in a cage all day. Raising a rabbit in a cage can be said to lose 90% of the fun of keeping rabbits. Let it out and you will naturally understand. Watching them hop and run all over the house is really delightful, and even if you have to follow behind cleaning up, you will put up with it.
2. Rabbits can be trained to use a pet toilet. If you see it relieving itself randomly, you can scold it loudly, but you must not physically punish it. When it relieves itself in the right place, reward it more. You cannot rush a rabbit; you must go slowly. You train it to use the toilet, and it trains your patience. But you should also be mentally prepared that your rabbit may be rather silly or rather stubborn.
3. The rabbit house should be cleaned frequently to avoid illness. If a wire cage is used, a mat should be added to prevent pododermatitis, because rabbits do not have paw pads like dogs do.
4. Rabbits love to gnaw things and love to dig holes, so protect your important things, especially cardboard boxes, which are prime digging ground. Also pay special attention to electrical wires. In places where rabbits often appear, protect the wires well to prevent electric shock. Do not think you can watch them at all times; it takes only a few seconds for them to bite through a wire. Them eating paper, cloth and plastic may cause intestinal blockage, so stop them promptly.
5. Rabbits do not need baths, and especially rabbits under one year old absolutely must not be bathed! Rabbits will lick their own fur. As long as you keep their house clean, they will also keep themselves very clean. A bathed rabbit is very prone to catching a chill, and once a rabbit catches a chill and starts having diarrhea, it can easily die.
How Are the Profits of Raising Rabbits
The group of people raising rabbits is not as large as those raising pigs, cattle or sheep, but the profits from raising rabbits are also quite considerable. It takes 4 months for a young rabbit to grow up, requiring an investment of about 20 yuan. The current market price of rabbits is roughly 10-15 yuan per jin. A rabbit can grow to 8-10 jin in 4 months, averaging 9 jin per rabbit. If you want to breed rabbits and then sell them, you need to raise them for 6 months, with a cost of about 30 yuan. A pair of rabbits can breed about 8 at a time. Relatively speaking, raising each rabbit for an extra 2 months is not a loss. After 4 months, 8 young rabbits, after deducting the cost of 20 yuan each, still leave a profit of 680. As long as you find a sales channel, raising rabbits will basically not lose money. But you must pay attention to disease prevention and understand rabbits' habits. To set up an ordinary rabbit farm of about 2000-3000 rabbits requires about 10,000 yuan. But if you have time, you can first buy 10 pairs of rabbits and take it slowly. That way the cost is relatively much lower, at around 2,000 yuan. However, to expand to 2000-3000 rabbits or more will take some time, since after all there is a growth period. Overall, the profits of raising rabbits are still quite considerable, but the premise is having a good sales channel.
The lifespan of a rabbit is about 5-12 years. Rabbits are very cute. Some people keep them as pets, and some people treat them as a product for breeding and getting rich. No matter for what purpose you do it, you must raise it well and healthily, so you must pay attention to some precautions for raising rabbits and not let it get sick. Treat the little rabbit by your side kindly.