Detailed Explanation of Key Technical Points for Winter Feeding and Management of Rex Rabbits
????Do a good job of cold protection and heat preservation
Rex rabbits fear heat and are relatively cold-tolerant, but their cold tolerance has a certain limit. When the temperature drops below 5°C they feel uncomfortable, and newborn naked, colorless kits are especially afraid of freezing: below 10°C they become frozen stiff, and below 5°C they freeze to death. Therefore, doing a good job of cold protection and warmth preservation in winter is very important for raising Rex rabbits well.
1. Although winter temperatures are low, except for newborn kits, the rabbit house temperature does not need to be very warm, but it should be relatively stable and not fluctuate between cold and hot. In winter, the optimal temperature for Rex rabbit growth should be 15°C~25°C; too cold or too hot both have a major impact on their physiological functions, and generally it should not be lower than 10°C or higher than 29°C.
2. Increase stocking density and rely on the rabbits' body heat to raise the temperature; kits and young rabbits must never be raised in single cages, and kits must be moved into heated rooms.
3. When raising rabbits indoors, close doors and windows well to prevent drafts from invading; when raising rabbits outdoors, hang straw curtains on the cage doors to prevent cold wind from entering. Try to reduce ventilation to the minimum so as to preserve the heat produced by the rabbits' bodies.
4. Sufficient and reasonable lighting is an essential condition for the normal growth and development of Rex rabbits, and generally two methods are used: artificial lighting and natural lighting. Transparent plastic film can be covered over the front and back of the rabbit house to make full use of sunlight, increase indoor light intake as much as possible, and achieve artificial warming. Rex rabbits can achieve good production performance under 12 hours to 16 hours of light per day. Where conditions permit, heating equipment such as radiators, electric heaters, and stoves can also be installed in the house.
Strengthen feeding management
1. Increase the feed supply. Because winter temperatures are low, rabbits consume more calories, so regardless of size, the daily feeding amount should be 20%~30% higher than usual, and the proportion of high-energy feed should be appropriately increased. In addition, because green feed is lacking in winter, vitamin deficiency is likely to occur, so efforts should be made to feed some vegetable leaves, carrots, barley sprouts, and tuberous feed to supplement the lack of vitamins.
2. Add a small amount of soybean residue or bran to the powder feed, mix it moist with warm water before feeding, and feed small amounts frequently to prevent leftover feed from freezing and then being eaten.
3. When using coarse powder feed, it should be reasonably moist-mixed. The coarse powder feed should be mixed and stirred evenly, and before feeding it should be moistened with warm water at 1:1; generally, the standard is that when the moist feed is grasped in the hand, water seeps between the fingers but does not drip down. Mix only what is needed for immediate use, and do not mix too much at one time, so as to maintain the freshness and palatability of the feed.
4. Reasonably match the feed. Rex rabbits are herbivorous animals. Because artificial breeding with only green grass cannot meet the nutritional needs of Rex rabbits, in daily feeding, in addition to regularly feeding some fresh green feed, complete pelleted feed should be prepared in a certain proportion. The advantages of complete pelleted feed are: it does not freeze in winter, does not mold in summer, Rex rabbits love to eat it, and it is nutritionally complete. When mixed feeding, green feed should be matched in multiple varieties, fresh and clean, and sufficient compound concentrate should be supplement-fed. When feeding freely, the content of various nutrients in the mixed feed should be controlled at 10.46 kJ~11.72 kJ digestible energy per kg of feed, 18% crude protein in the early stage, 14% in the later stage, 3%~5% crude fat, 12%~15% crude fiber, 0.5%~0.7% calcium, and 0.3%~0.6% phosphorus. Large-scale raising should use complete compound pelleted feed. When free-range raising, it is advisable to feed coarse feed first, then green feed, and then supplement enough concentrate.
????Do a good job of rabbit house hygiene and overwintering deworming
In winter, special attention should be paid to the environmental hygiene of the rabbit house, and the rabbit house should be disinfected regularly. Disinfection should use two or more disinfectants in rotation to prevent drug resistance; the rabbit house should be cleaned frequently, with feces and filth removed every day, and quicklime used to absorb moisture, keeping the house clean, hygienic, and dry to prevent the accumulation of manure and urine, reduce the production of irritating gases such as ammonia and hydrogen sulfide, and prevent respiratory diseases such as rhinitis and pneumonia. In addition, disinfection must be done carefully, and the rabbit house must be kept dry. To keep warm, the rabbit house is more sealed in winter, but poor ventilation leads to an increase in harmful gases such as ammonia, hydrogen sulfide, and sulfur dioxide, which easily induces eye conjunctivitis, rhinitis, and other diseases in Rex rabbits. Therefore, ventilation devices should be installed and automatic ventilation strengthened. Doors and windows can be opened from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. every day to use natural wind for air exchange, and this should be controlled at any time according to the strength of the odor. To help Rex rabbits overwinter safely and enhance their physique, before overwintering (in late autumn), drugs such as ivermectin or avermectin and tetramisole should be used, by injection or mixed into feed, to carry out one round of treatment against internal and external parasites for all adult and young rabbits, so as to prevent the invasion and harm of parasitic diseases.
????Do a good job of winter breeding and mating
While doing a good job of cold protection and warmth preservation, arranging winter breeding and winter raising is very important. Its advantages are a high survival rate of kits and a high market rate. Kits grow quickly, have large body size, are robust, and have high wool production, making them most suitable for retention as breeding stock. As long as cold protection and warmth preservation work is truly done well, winter breeding and mating can still achieve relatively good results, especially with a high survival rate of kits and young rabbits and few diseases. In actual production, as long as the kindling box is well insulated, with dry, soft, highly insulating, and highly absorbent bedding straw, and the house temperature is kept above 5°C, relatively good winter breeding results can be obtained.
In winter, temperatures drop, pathogenic microorganisms are not active, there are few infectious pathogenic microorganisms, rabbit diseases are few, and the survival rate of kits is high. As long as a constant-temperature environment is created for Rex rabbits, winter breeding and winter raising are entirely possible. Although estrus in breeding does is not very obvious, they can still come into estrus and ovulate normally. Therefore, we should seize the opportunity to mate breeding does, and the mating time should be chosen at noon on a sunny, windless day with warm sun. Mating should grasp the farming proverb well: pink is early, dark purple is late, and bright red is just right. To improve the conception rate, the mating method can use repeat mating or double mating. In addition, 12 days after mating, breeding does should be checked for pregnancy in a timely manner. The method of pregnancy checking is: the checker holds the doe's ears and neck skin with the left hand, fixes the doe on flat ground or a tabletop with the rabbit's head facing the checker's chest, and places the right hand in an inverted splayed shape under the doe's abdomen, gently probing from back to front. Embryos are spherical and elastic, while fecal pellets are hard spheres and have no elasticity. Empty does that are not pregnant should be mated again in a timely manner. In addition, the lactation period for winter-bred kits should be longer, and blood mating should generally not be used; it is advisable to breed 1 to 2 litters.