What should be noted when free-ranging domestic rabbits? Do these points well

　　I. Living habits of domestic rabbits
1. Nocturnal:Domestic rabbitsare rarely active during the day and very active at night, eating frequently, accounting for about 70% of the whole day's feed intake, so rabbits should be kept quiet during the day and plenty of forage should be added at night.
2. Timid and easily startled: Domestic rabbits are docile in temperament and have very keen hearing. Any kind of noise can startle them. For this reason, the hutch and surrounding environment should be kept quiet at all times.
3. Like dryness and fear dampness: Domestic rabbits like a clean, dry and well-ventilated living environment. Once the hutch is damp, the incidence of disease increases and the mortality rate rises, so dampness should be avoided during rearing.
4. Poor gregariousness, strong burrowing nature: Whether male or female, as long as rabbits live in groups, biting injuries often occur, so domestic rabbits should be raised in separate cages.
5. Like to gnaw hard objects: Domestic rabbits are the same type of animal as rats and like to grind their teeth. When building rabbit hutches, it is best to use a brick-and-iron structure, with bricks for the hutch and wire for the cage door. If wood or bamboo strips are used, they are easily gnawed and damaged.
6. Herbivorous and selective: Domestic rabbits mainly eat plant-based food and like juicy, sweet green feed and pelleted feed. Domestic rabbits do not like powdered feed, especially overly fine powder; an improper proportion of powdered feed can easily cause enteritis.
7. Cold-tolerant, averse to high temperatures: Relatively speaking, rabbits fear heat but not cold, generally not exceeding 32°C, so attention should be paid to heat protection in summer. However, newborn kits have no fur and are highly dependent on environmental temperature. When the temperature drops to 18°C-21°C, they will freeze to death, so newborn kits need to be kept warm, and the nest temperature is generally required to be around 30°C-32°C. The most suitable environmental temperature for domestic rabbits is 15°C-25°C.
8. Coprophagy of soft feces: Domestic rabbits like to eat their own soft feces at night; this phenomenon is a normal physiological phenomenon.
9. Keen sense of smell: They often use smell to identify the opposite sex and habitat territory, and does use smell to identify their own or other litters' kits. Therefore, when kits need to be merged into another litter or foster-nursed, special methods should be used to make them unable to distinguish, thereby making fostering or litter merging successful.
II. Suitable temperature for domestic rabbits
The suitable environmental temperature for domestic rabbits is 30°C-32°C for newborn kits and 10°C-25°C for adult rabbits, with an adaptable temperature of 5°C-30°C. The most suitable temperature for their production, growth and reproduction is 15°C-25°C.
III. Sexual maturity and age at first mating
1. Sexual maturity: Generally, small breeds reach it at 4 months of age, medium breeds at 5 months of age, and large breeds at 6-7 months of age.
2. Age at first mating: 4.5-5 months for small rabbits, 5-6 months for medium rabbits, and 6-7 months for large rabbits.
IV. Estrus and estrous cycle
1. Behavioral changes
The main signs of estrus in does are restlessness, liking to run and jump, scratching randomly at the cage floor, and stamping loudly on the cage floor with their feet. They eat little and often rub their lower jaw on feed troughs or other utensils. Does with strong sexual desire also actively approach and mount bucks, and may even mount their own kits or other does. When a buck mounts, the doe stands still, raises her hindquarters and lifts her tail to cooperate with the buck for mating.
2. Changes in the reproductive tract
The doe's vulva becomes relaxed, red, swollen and moist. These signs of estrus generally last about 2-3 days in does; this period is called estrus. The estrous cycle varies widely, generally between 8-15 days.
V. Pregnancy and pregnancy diagnosis
1. External observation method: On the 5th day after mating, place the doe in the buck's cage and let the buck chase and mount her. If the doe does not accept mating with the buck, turns around in the buck's cage or lies in a corner with her tail tucked in, showing no sign of mating, there is a possibility of pregnancy. On the 16th day after mating, another test of receptivity can be carried out to further confirm the diagnosis. At the same time, observe whether the doe's appetite has increased compared with before; whether she is quieter and less active than before; whether her fur color has become glossy; and whether her body weight has increased noticeably. These may all be signs of pregnancy.
2. Palpation method: This is the most commonly used method in production. This method is relatively accurate and can generally be carried out 10-12 days after mating; experienced people can determine pregnancy by palpation as early as 8-9 days. The specific method is: the person doing the palpation places the doe on a table or on the ground with the rabbit's head facing the palpator's chest, one palm facing upward, using the thumb and index finger in a “eight” shape, gently feeling from front to back along both sides of the lower abdomen. If the abdomen is as soft as cotton, it indicates that she is not pregnant; if a slippery meatball about the size of a peanut is felt, it indicates that she is pregnant.
VI. Mating methods
1. Free mating refers to mating between does and bucks under group housing conditions after the doe comes into estrus.
2. Artificially controlled mating
Also called manual assisted mating. It means that bucks and does are usually raised separately, and only when the doe is in estrus and accepts mating is she taken to the cage of the preselected buck for mating, and after mating the doe is returned to her original cage.