What are the key points for winter breeding management of wild hares?

As people's living standards continue to rise, game meat is becoming more and more popular, but wild resources are far from meeting people's needs, so artificial breeding has become a fairly popular entrepreneurial project at present. It can both meet people's needs and let some people make money.

Key points for winter breeding management of wild hares

The wild hare is a special wild economic animal valued for its fur, hair and meat. It mainly feeds on various natural wild grasses, green vegetables, tree leaves and so on, with no pollution. Its meat is tender and mellow, rich in nutrients and full of game flavor, and is highly favored by consumers. The winter breeding and management methods for wild hares are introduced as follows:

In winter, the doors and windows of the rabbit house should be closed properly or hung with straw curtains, and the temperature inside the house should be kept above 15°C. At the same time, wild hares consume a large amount of heat in winter, so the daily ration should be increased by more than 30% compared with other seasons, and more high-energy concentrated feed should be fed, with added vegetable leaves, carrots, barley sprouts or vitamin additives, so as to avoid a shortage of vitamins and nutrients in winter due to the scarcity of green feed. Wild hares have the habit of resting by day and coming out at night, and they feed frequently at night; nighttime intake accounts for more than 70% of the whole day's ration. Winter nights are long, so more feed should be supplied at night.

Techniques for breeding wild hares in winter

1. Do a good job of heat preservation: keeping the rabbit house warm is the key point of winter management. Doors and windows must be closed tightly, wind holes must be plugged, and draughts must be strictly prevented from entering. For outdoor cage rearing, straw curtains or plastic film should be hung on the cage doors at night for heat preservation; during the day, the straw curtains or plastic film should be rolled up so that the rabbit house is ventilated and the wild hares can get more sunlight. The temperature in the rabbit house should be kept balanced at all times and must not rise and fall abruptly. Otherwise, wild hares are prone to catching colds. 

2. Scientific feeding: wild hares consume a large amount of energy in winter. Regardless of the size of the wild hare, the feed amount must be increased by 1/3 compared with other seasons, and in particular energy feed should be increased by about 1/10. Green feed is relatively scarce in winter, so forage such as winter grazing 70 ryegrass can be planted, and some vegetable leaves, carrots and the like should be added as far as possible to supplement vitamins. Winter nights are long, so an extra feeding should be given at night. At the same time, attention should be paid to drinking water; in low temperatures it is advisable to drink warm water. 

3. Do a good job of winter breeding: winter temperatures are low and there are few diseases, and the survival rate of young rabbits is high, so doing a good job of breeding in winter is also very important. However, low winter temperatures and insufficient vitamin feed make it difficult for female wild hares to come into estrus, which is an unfavorable factor. Therefore, in winter the temperature of the rabbit house should be kept above 10°C, more green feed rich in vitamins should be fed, and at night electric light bulbs can be used to increase light, prompting female wild hares to come into estrus. 

Disease prevention and control of wild hares 

1. Colds. They are mainly caused by sudden climate changes, dampness in the rabbit house, improper ventilation and other reasons. 

2. Diarrhea. It is mainly caused by dampness inside the rabbit house and the wild hares catching cold, and especially by wild hares eating spoiled and deteriorated food, sudden changes of feed, and young rabbits overeating. After onset, the wild hare's appetite decreases, the frequency of defecation increases, and the stool is thin and watery. This disease is mostly seen in young rabbits. 

3. Pneumonia. It is mainly caused by dampness inside the rabbit house, poor ventilation, and various harmful gases accumulating inside the rabbit house for a long time and irritating the wild hares, and it mostly occurs in young rabbits. After onset, the wild hare is listless, its body temperature rises, its appetite decreases, it has difficulty breathing, its head tilts upward, and it coughs, accompanied by runny nose, sneezing and other phenomena. 

Treatment: 200,000 units each of penicillin and streptomycin (halve the dosage for young rabbits) can be injected intramuscularly, twice a day for 3-5 consecutive days; kanamycin 200,000 units (halved for young rabbits) can also be injected intramuscularly, twice a day for 3-5 consecutive days

Feeding and management of free-range wild hares  

The feeding and management of wild hares is the key to successful wild hare breeding. In an artificial rearing environment, the rabbit house should be kept clean and hygienic, cleaning should be insisted on every day, and the wild hares should be supplied with enough green feed and drinking water. Dirty and unhygienic forage must never be fed to wild hares, so as to prevent the invasion of external sources of disease. Wild hares should be placed one male and one female in one rabbit house; it is not advisable to put in more, because wild hares have the bad habit of fighting, and putting too many together can interfere with the normal mating of female wild hares and can also cause the wild hares not to reproduce. Wild hares have poor maternal instincts, which is also a danger to the young wild hares.  

In an artificial domestication environment, it takes one to one and a half years to successfully raise a pair of wild hares. The gestation period of domesticated female wild hares is 31-35 days; each litter can produce 2-4 young wild hares, and the young wild hares open their eyes as soon as they are born, can run, and have hair all over their bodies.

Because wild hares have poor maternal instincts, pregnant female wild hares should be strictly observed, especially near the time of giving birth, when management should be strengthened even more, so as to prevent the young wild hares from running around after birth, being harmed by animals such as dogs and cats, or freezing to death in cold weather. During the lactation period, wild hares should be given enough green feed, and the feeding amount of green feed should be increased, to satisfy the food intake of the wild hares, so as to increase the amount of colostrum and meet the growth needs of the young wild hares. Wild hares and young wild hares have very strong immunity themselves and generally do not need drug immunization. 

As far as the current breeding industry is concerned, wild hare breeding is still not particularly widespread; many people may not yet know the nutritional value of wild hares, so there is still great room for development in wild hare breeding, and breeders can develop and tap into it well.