How to improve the quality of fall breeding in domestic rabbits

Adjust feed and increase nutrition. 15-20 days before breeding, breeding rabbits should be given extra nutrition. In the morning and evening, feed more protein-rich feed, such as soybeans, sprouted barley, wheat bran, fish meal, silkworm pupa meal, etc. The mixed concentrate should contain 18% crude protein, and the crude fiber content should be above 10%, and 1% salt and 2% bone meal or stone meal should be added, with clean drinking water supplied. For breeding bucks in poor condition, 20 cooked soybeans can be given daily to increase protein supply and improve semen quality.

Match reasonably and prevent inbreeding. It is best to mate a prime-age buck with a prime-age doe; a buck should rest 1 day after 2 days of breeding, and 1 buck can be assigned to 8-10 does. To avoid breed degeneration and prevent close inbreeding, there should be no common blood relationship within at least 3 generations, and premature first mating should be prevented.

Watch the timing and breed promptly. Does are induced ovulators and only ovulate after stimulation from mating with a buck, so they should be mated again 8-10 hours after the first mating to increase the conception rate. Around 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. are the best times for mating.

Use manual assisted mating to ensure conception. Rabbit breeding generally uses two methods: natural mating and manual assisted mating. In the natural mating method, the external genitalia of the estrous doe and the selected buck are wiped clean with warm water, then the estrous doe is placed in the breeding buck's cage and allowed to be chased and mated freely by the buck. Some does are in estrus but do not accept mating, so the manual assisted mating method can be used. That is, place the doe in the buck's cage, first gently hold down the doe, grasp the skin of its neck and both ears with the right hand, insert the left hand under its abdomen between the hind legs, and support both sides of the doe's genitalia with the thumb and index finger, raise the doe's hindquarters so that the doe is in a head-low, tail-high posture and accepts mating from the buck. After mating ends, suddenly slap the doe's rump with the hand to make its hindquarters tense and draw the semen in deeply.

Avoid rain and increase light. When there is a lot of rain and the temperature is lower in the morning and evening, pay attention to keeping breeding rabbits warm, and never let breeding rabbits get rained on. During the rabbit breeding period, artificial lighting time should be appropriately extended every day and light intensity increased to improve the conception rate of does and the survival rate of young rabbits.