What is the outlook for Rex rabbit farming? Key points of management techniques for baby rabbits and young rabbits

Spring and summer weather is warm, and it is an important period for Rex rabbit farming. Recently, while visiting the countryside, a reporter heard some farmers say they wanted to newly develop Rex rabbit farming, but they knew too little about this area and hoped an expert could provide some technical introduction. The reporter recently interviewed He Guiming, head of the Rex Rabbit Research Institute of the Sichuan Academy of Grassland Sciences and a famous Rex rabbit farming expert, on this topic. Following high-quality commercial rabbit production techniques, he introduced Rex rabbit farming knowledge to farmers.

Management of baby rabbits and young rabbits

Newborn baby rabbits: no more than 7 per litter; the extra ones are foster-nursed by does with similar age, and the weak and small ones are directly culled.

Start time of supplementary feeding: baby rabbits begin feeding at 18-22 days in winter; in summer it can be advanced by 5-7 days, and the feed amount should follow the principle of small meals more often.

Weaning time: after 28 days, use two meals a day as a transition for weaning. The overall feeding amount should be flexibly adjusted according to body condition, and the weaning time is 30-35 days.

Epidemic prevention injections: after 35 days, inject the combined vaccine against pasteurellosis and bordetellosis; after 45 days, inject Clostridium welchii vaccine; at 60-70 days of age, give a booster injection of the combined vaccine against pasteurellosis and bordetellosis.

Feeding: baby rabbits are fed complete feed continuously until 80 days, twice a day, without adding green grass, at fixed times and fixed amounts (50-150 grams).

Cage separation: after weaning, do not move cages temporarily. After 10-15 days from weaning, once the baby rabbits have adapted to weaning stress, they can be divided into 2 per cage. It is best to divide each litter into about 3 groups to avoid fighting between different litters. After cage separation, the baby rabbits directly enter the young rabbit house to reduce stress (the previous method of separating once at around 50 days and moving them into the young rabbit house at 2.5-3.0 jin resulted in one extra step). During the process of transferring baby rabbits into the young rabbit house, males, females, and defective rabbits are moved separately into the young rabbit house and kept in single cages.

Identification and culling: identify newborn baby rabbits with 7 as the standard. Extra baby rabbits should be foster-nursed by other does if possible (choose those with a littering difference of no more than 3 days; from the rabbits exceeding the standard number, select the larger ones for foster nursing and leave the smaller ones in the original cage for feeding). The too weak and small ones are directly culled. After 80 days, commercial Rex rabbits with dull coat color, sparse fur, arched back, weak constitution, malnutrition, or hidden defects on the body surface such as wounds, scabs, and cysts are culled, and culled rabbits are handled as meat rabbits. If body weight does not meet the standard, they can be specially kept together and sold after reaching the standard, and no longer fed. After 80 days, carry out irregular culling. For those with poor fur density, poor smoothness, and excessively high coarse hair rate, promptly cull them as meat rabbits.

More and more people in rural areas are also raising rabbits. Rabbits are divided by size into three types: large, medium, and small, and can also be divided into three types: edible, pet, and fur-bearing. Rabbits are herbivorous mammals. In our rural areas, relatively many Rex rabbits are raised. Rex rabbits are mainly sold for their fur, and the price of rabbit meat is also good.

Compared with other livestock, rabbits have relatively weak immunity and resistance, and relatively low resistance to various diseases and pests. Rabbits have a high reproduction rate, but the survival rate of baby rabbits is key to economic returns. Strong breeding techniques and scientific farming are necessary to create greater economic benefits for us.