Detailed Explanation of Key Technical Points for Rabbit Rearing and Management in Summer

In summer, temperatures are high and humidity is great. Rabbits, because they have underdeveloped sweat glands and poor heat tolerance, and because heat and dampness favor the spread and reproduction of various pathogens and viruses, pose a great threat to the rabbit farming industry. So what are the techniques for rabbit rearing and management in summer? The specific rearing techniques are as follows:

1. Avoid breeding in summer

Summer is hot and rainy. Does often come into heat abnormally and are difficult to conceive. The few that do conceive and give birth also suffer from poor appetite due to the heat, resulting in insufficient milk and poor development of the kits; poor management can easily lead to the death of the kits. Even if they survive, their poor development and weak constitution make them susceptible to coccidiosis after weaning, causing heavy mortality. Some pregnant does often suffer heatstroke due to high temperatures, resulting in miscarriage and difficult birth. Bucks often experience testicular atrophy due to high temperatures, with reduced semen quality and more dead sperm, making successful mating difficult. Therefore, breeding should be stopped in summer.

2. Prevent heat and lower temperature, reduce humidity

Open-air rabbit houses should have shade shelters erected to block sunlight from directly hitting the rabbit cages; indoor houses should have doors and windows opened wide to allow air convection, lowering temperature and humidity. For wool rabbits, the entire body coat, including the hair on the head and face, should be cut short, and the cages should not be too crowded. The ideal temperature for rabbits is 15°C~25°C. If the rabbit house temperature is above 30°C, when the house temperature exceeds 30 degrees, water should be sprinkled on the cage house floor (if conditions permit, electric fans, exhaust fans, air conditioners, water curtains, etc. can be installed) to lower the temperature.

The ideal relative humidity inside the rabbit house is 55%—65%. If it is higher than 80%, rabbits will develop gastroenteritis, coccidiosis, fungal diseases, sarcoptic mange, etc. The rabbit house should be ventilated and aired in a timely manner. If there is continuous high temperature and rain, some dry sandy soil should be scattered inside the rabbit house or some quicklime placed to achieve the purpose of reducing humidity.

3. Reduce density

Rabbit cages should not be set up too crowded, and the rearing density inside the house should not be too high; otherwise the air will become foul, and the concentration of harmful gases such as carbon dioxide and ammonia will be too high, causing respiratory diseases in rabbits. Young rabbits should be separated into different cages for feeding to reduce rearing density and keep the air inside the rabbit house fresh; unweaned kits should be kept in spacious cages and raised separately from the doe, with scheduled nursing; weaned young rabbits, after adapting for 1-2 weeks, can be raised 2-3 per cage or one rabbit per cage to ensure body heat dissipation.

4. Provide sufficient clean drinking water

When the temperature inside the house reaches 25°C, the water intake of rabbits begins to increase. At this time, rabbits must be guaranteed fresh, clean, and sufficient drinking water, and 0.8% salt or multivitamins should be added to the water to help lower body temperature while replenishing the consumption of body fluids in rabbits.

5. Keep quiet

Rabbits are timid and afraid of disturbance. During rearing and management operations, movements should be gentle to avoid sounds that easily frighten the rabbit group. Keep the rearing personnel stable, do not catch rabbits easily, and prevent strangers from entering the rabbit house. Invasion by dogs, cats, rats, etc. should be prevented to avoid stress in domestic rabbits. At the same time, during the day, as long as there is sufficient drinking water in the rabbit house, rabbits should not be fed as much as possible, so as to facilitate full rest for the rabbits, promote their growth, and help them pass the summer safely.

6. Careful feeding

Use a reasonable feed formula, prepare fresh feed, pay attention to feed quality, and strictly prohibit feeding spoiled, moldy feed, as well as wild grass carrying rainwater or dew; it is advisable to feed breakfast early, add bran water for the midday meal, feed dinner late, and also feed more green fodder. The feeding time should also be adjusted, that is, from 8 p.m. to 7 a.m. the next day as the feeding period, divided into 4—5 feedings. At other times, do not feed as much as possible, allowing the rabbits to rest fully. In particular, feed once after 10 p.m., provide sufficient drinking water, and add 1% salt to the drinking water to replenish the body's salt consumption. Try to achieve feed diversity, mainly green fodder with concentrate as a supplement. Generally, green fodder should be controlled at 35% of body weight, to the extent that it meets the needs. According to the nutritional needs of physiological stages such as growth, pregnancy, and lactation, the supplemental amount of concentrate is 50-100 grams per rabbit per day. In the mixed daily ration mainly composed of grass-family seeds and their by-products, 10-20% bean cake protein feed should be added, with crude protein at 15-17%, and attention should be paid to the supplementation of minerals.

7. Strengthen hygiene and disinfection

Manure and pollutants inside the rabbit house should be removed every day to keep the rabbit house clean, dry, quiet, and well ventilated. Feeding troughs and water troughs should be washed frequently and disinfected regularly with 0.1-0.5% potassium permanganate or caustic soda.

8. Actively prevent and treat diseases

In summer, with high temperature and high humidity, common diseases are mainly intestinal infectious diseases and coccidiosis, etc. Therefore, starting before the beginning of the dog days, some chopped plantain, dandelion, scallions, garlic, etc. can be added to the feed and fed continuously for two weeks. Mixing pediatric anodyne, oxytetracycline, and Rendan into the feed for kits can prevent disease while keeping rabbits healthy. Vaccination and epidemic prevention work should also be done well. Persist in observing the rabbit group every day so that problems can be discovered in time, achieving early prevention when there is no disease and early treatment when there is disease.