What are the construction requirements for a wild hare farm?
Environmental Requirements for a Wild Hare Farm
The environment of the rabbit housing is closely related to the growth, development, health and reproduction of wild hares. There are many factors that affect the environment of the rabbit housing, such as temperature, humidity, ventilation, lighting, noise, dust and so on.
1. Temperature: Wild hares have extremely underdeveloped sweat glands and a dense coat on the body surface, so they are quite sensitive to ambient temperature. According to experiments, the optimum temperature for young wild hares is 30-35 °C, for juvenile wild hares 20-25 °C, and for adult wild hares 15-20 °C. Ambient temperature should be taken into account when building the housing. Wild hares have a strong tolerance to low temperatures; healthy wild hares can still survive normally at -40 °C, though they need to consume more nutrients to maintain body temperature.
2. Humidity: Wild hares prefer a dry environment. The most suitable relative humidity is 60%-65%, and generally it should not be lower than 55% or higher than 70%. High temperature with high humidity and low temperature with high humidity are harmful to wild hares, as they are unfavorable both for heat dissipation in summer and for heat preservation in winter, and they also make it easy to contract internal and external parasitic diseases. Production practice shows that excessively high air humidity often leads to unbearably damp cages and housing, soiling the coat, and favoring the reproduction of bacteria and parasites, causing the spread of mange and eczema. Conversely, if the air in the rabbit housing is too dry and the humidity remains too low for a long time, it causes dryness and cracking of the respiratory mucosa, leading to bacterial and viral infections. In view of the above, the humidity in the rabbit housing should be kept as stable as possible. The feces and urine excreted by wild hares, the water vapor they exhale, and the water used to wash the floor are the main causes of increased humidity in the rabbit housing. To reduce humidity inside the housing, ventilation can be strengthened, or quicklime, plant ash, etc. can be spread; during rainy and humid seasons, try to avoid washing with water when cleaning the housing.
3. Ventilation: Ventilation is a good way to regulate the temperature and humidity of the wild hare housing. Ventilation can also remove foul gases, dust and excessive water vapor from the housing, and can effectively reduce the incidence of respiratory diseases. The feces and urine excreted by wild hares and contaminated bedding, under certain temperature conditions, can decompose and release harmful gases such as ammonia, hydrogen sulfide and carbon dioxide. Wild hares are highly sensitive animals, and their tolerance to harmful gases is lower than that of other animals. When wild hares are in an environment with high concentrations of harmful gases, they are highly prone to respiratory diseases, which aggravates the spread of pasteurellosis, infectious coryza and so on. Ventilation methods can generally be divided into two types: natural ventilation and mechanical ventilation. Small farms often use natural ventilation, using air convection through doors and windows or exhaust holes and air inlet holes in the roof for regulation. Large and medium-sized rabbit farms often use exhaust-type or supply-type mechanical ventilation; this method is mostly used in hot summers and is an auxiliary form of natural ventilation. The suitable wind speed inside the rabbit housing is 0.4 m/s in summer and 0.1-0.2 m/s in winter. It should be emphasized that the rabbit housing must be strictly protected against draft invasion in winter. To reduce the concentration of harmful gases in the housing, the air inside the rabbit housing can also be kept fresh by frequent cleaning, frequent washing, and strengthened ventilation and air exchange.
4. Lighting: Lighting plays an important regulatory role in the physiological functions of breeding wild hares. Suitable lighting helps enhance the metabolism of wild hares, improve appetite, and promote calcium and phosphorus metabolism; insufficient lighting can lead to a decline in sexual desire and conception rate of wild hares. In addition, lighting also has the effects of sterilization, keeping the rabbit housing dry, and preventing diseases. Male and female wild hares have different lighting requirements. Generally speaking, breeding female wild hares require long lighting, preferably 14-16 hours of light per day, showing a high conception rate and a large number of offspring, which can achieve the best reproductive results. Under long lighting conditions, the semen quality of breeding male wild hares declines, and 10-12 hours of light per day gives the best results. Small wild hare farms generally use natural lighting. The lighting area of doors and windows in the rabbit housing should account for about 15% of the ground area, but direct sunlight should be avoided; large and medium-sized wild hare farms, especially intensive rabbit farms, mostly use artificial lighting or artificial supplementary lighting. Incandescent light is preferable as the light source, at 3-4 watts per square meter of ground, with lamps generally 2-2.5 m above the ground.
5. Noise: Noise is one of the important environmental factors. According to experiments, sudden noise can cause pregnant female wild hares to miscarry, and lactating female wild hares to refuse to nurse. There are mainly 3 sources of noise: first, sounds transmitted from the outside; second, sounds produced by machinery and operations inside the housing; third, sounds produced by the wild hares themselves when feeding, moving about and fighting. If wild hares encounter sudden noise, they will panic, jump around wildly, stamp their feet and scream, resulting in loss of appetite and even death. In order to reduce noise, the construction of rabbit housing must be far away from high-noise areas such as highways, railways, industrial and mining enterprises, etc., and external noise interference should be avoided as much as possible; feeding and management operations should be gentle and steady, and the rabbit housing should be kept as quiet as possible.
6. Dust: Dust in the air mainly includes dry dust raised by the wind and a large amount of dust produced in feeding and management work, such as sweeping the floor, turning over bedding, and distributing hay and feed. Dust has a direct impact on the health of wild hares. When dust falls on the body surface of rabbits, it can mix and stick together with sebaceous gland secretions, rabbit fur, dander, etc., hindering normal skin metabolism; when inhaled into the body, dust can also cause respiratory diseases such as pneumonia and bronchitis; dust can also absorb water vapor, toxic gases and harmful microorganisms in the air, producing various allergic reactions and even infecting multiple infectious diseases. In order to reduce the dust content in the air of the rabbit housing, attention should be paid to the operating procedures of feeding and management; it is best to change powdered feed to pelleted feed and ensure good ventilation performance of the rabbit housing.
Building Requirements for a Wild Hare Farm
1. Warm in winter and cool in summer, with good ventilation: A vent window should be set on the roof. In winter, doors and windows are closed, and the vent window is used to discharge harmful gases. In summer, windows should be opened to reduce the room temperature as much as possible. The suitable temperature for adult wild hares is 15-25 °C, and the most suitable temperature for juvenile wild hares is 20-25 °C. The suitable temperature for newborn wild hares is 30-35 °C.
2. Sturdy and durable: Wild hares have the habit of gnawing, which easily damages cages, feed troughs and equipment. When choosing building materials, one should use local materials while also considering sturdiness and durability.
3. Sufficient lighting: The lighting area of the windows of the wild hare housing should account for 15% of the ground area, and the angle of incidence should be no less than 25-30 degrees. The window edge should preferably be close to the ceiling so as to make full use of natural light.
4. Good drainage: The rabbit housing should be provided with drainage ditches, drainage pipes and a manure and urine pit, etc. The foundation of the exercise yard for meat rabbits should be raised by 30 cm. The manure and urine pit should be set 5 m away from the housing, and the pit opening should be 10 cm above the ground to prevent rainwater from flowing in. The pit walls should be plastered tightly with cement so they do not leak, and the pit opening should be covered.
5. Quiet environment: Wild hares like quiet; they rest during the day and come out to move about at night.
6. Floor and walls: In production, cement floors are the most common, and the floor is required to be 20-30 cm higher than the ground level outside the housing. The walls should be sturdy, waterproof, fireproof, frost-resistant and corrosion-resistant, with a simple structure that is easy to disinfect, while also having good heat preservation and heat insulation performance.
7. Housing height, span and length: In cold regions, the housing height is 2.5-3 m; in hot regions, it can be increased by 0.5-1 m. The span is generally controlled within 10 m. The length can be determined according to site conditions, farm layout and production direction, and is generally controlled within 50 m.