Experience Sharing on Summer Management for Keeping Rex Rabbits Safe Through the Summer
Rex rabbits are difficult to raise, and especially hard to care for in summer. Whether Rex rabbits can safely get through the summer thus becomes the key to successful rabbit farming. For this reason, based on years of practical experience raising Rex rabbits, the author shares a few points of experience for reference.
Cool the rabbit shed to prevent heatstroke in Rex rabbits. Summer temperatures are relatively high, which can easily cause heatstroke in Rex rabbits. Appropriate cooling measures should be taken. First, improve the greening of the environment around the rabbit shed; vines such as grapes and pumpkins can be planted in front of the shed to avoid direct sunlight on the rabbit shed. Second, in hot weather, a water curtain can be used for cooling, and the effect is quite good. Rex rabbits can also be given fresh groundwater to drink, which also helps prevent heatstroke. Once a Rex rabbit suffers heatstroke, the sick rabbit should immediately be placed in a cool, well-ventilated place, and cool water should be sprayed on the head, limbs and other parts; the Rex rabbit will generally slowly revive.
Strengthen ventilation. Ventilation in the rabbit shed in summer is very critical. Through ventilation, the temperature inside and outside the rabbit shed can be regulated, and exhaust gas and harmful gases in the shed can be removed, which can effectively prevent the occurrence of respiratory diseases.
Strengthen feeding management, provide supplemental feeding at night, and be careful not to feed moldy feed. In summer, daytime temperatures are relatively high, and Rex rabbits have a poor appetite. When the temperature is lower at night, Rex rabbits have a stronger appetite, so feed should be added; first feed concentrated feed, then add enough forage grass. If feeding fresh grass, it is best to rinse it clean with water, drain it, and then feed it. Summer is hot and humid, and forage is very prone to molding; mold produces large amounts of toxins, and if Rex rabbits eat moldy feed, it will cause mycotoxin poisoning, with an extremely high morbidity and mortality rate. Therefore, moldy feed must never be fed. When feeding Rex rabbits, feed less but more frequently, which can both prevent molding and reduce feed waste. In addition, Rex rabbits must not be deprived of water, and cool water should be changed frequently.
Reduce mating and prohibit blood mating. Bucks show the phenomenon of “summer infertility,” so in principle Rex rabbits should not be bred in summer. However, if conditions permit, mating can be chosen at night, and during mating the doe should be placed in the buck's cage. In summer, blood mating of Rex rabbits should be prohibited; blood mating will not only reduce the physical condition of Rex rabbits, but the kits produced will also not grow well.
Pay attention to disease prevention, and the most critical is the prevention and treatment of coccidiosis. Summer is the period with the highest incidence of coccidiosis in Rex rabbits, and it is also the key to success or failure in raising Rex rabbits. The folk saying “Raising rabbits is not hard; what is feared is young rabbits causing trouble in the pen in summer” refers to the harm of rabbit coccidiosis. In fact, preventing coccidiosis in Rex rabbits is not too difficult; the key is to do a good job in coccidiosis prevention. The specific measures are: 1. Drug prevention. Weaned young rabbits can be given robenidine continuously for 2 months, 1 tablet per day. Sulfadimidine can also be used at 0.2-0.4 grams per rabbit per day, mixed into the feed and fed continuously for 7 days, then after an interval of 7 days used again for 7 days. It should also be used alternately with other anticoccidial drugs to prevent drug resistance. 2. Do a good job in disinfection and kill coccidial oocysts. The bottom board of the rabbit cage is best movable, making it easy to pull out for washing and disinfection. For disinfection against coccidiosis, the flame disinfection method is best. Manure should be cleaned up in time and piled for fermentation (biological oocyst destruction). 3. Prevent manure from contaminating feed; it is best to use an out-of-cage feeding method so that forage does not come into contact with manure. 4. Raise young rabbits separately from adult rabbits to prevent cross-infection among young rabbits.
The prevention and treatment of other diseases in Rex rabbits should not be ignored either. Vaccines should be injected regularly to prevent and treat various infectious diseases. In addition, common diseases such as rabbit pododermatitis and diarrhea should also be prevented and treated.