What should a mother rabbit eat to produce more milk? Milk yield and the number of times kits are nursed
After a mother rabbit gives birth, cooked soybeans are usually added to her feed to increase milk production. According to experiments, feeding peanut kernels works better than feeding soybeans. After a nursing mother rabbit is fed peanut kernels, milk secretion increases markedly and the quality is also better; the kits that consume it have strong constitutions, strong disease resistance, and grow quickly. Comparative trials show that compared with not feeding peanut kernels, the body weight of kits at weaning can generally increase by 100-150 grams. The feeding method is very simple: after the mother rabbit gives birth, feed her 6-8 mold-free peanut kernels every morning until weaning.
The milk of a mother rabbit is highly nutritious, and its nutrition comes from the feed. To improve a mother rabbit's milk production, the nutrition of the rabbit feed is key. In the feed of a lactating mother rabbit, attention should be paid to the content and balance of various nutrients. When farmers raise rabbits, most pay attention to energy feed while neglecting nutrients such as protein, minerals, and vitamins. Although a lot of feed is provided and the cost is not low, the mother rabbit's milk yield does not increase noticeably. Attention should be paid to supplementing vitamin A, vitamin D, and vitamin E, calcium and phosphorus, and lysine and methionine.
Additives: On the premise of ensuring nutrition, adding some milk-promoting substances to the feed is effective. Relatively good additives include rare earth additives, vitamin and trace element additives, and so on.
A mother rabbit nurses 1-2 times a day, usually once. Each time is very short. A mother rabbit feeds her kits very covertly, and people often cannot see the mother rabbit nursing. As long as the kits are pink and well kept warm, it means the mother rabbit is taking good care of the kits, and there is no need to worry.
A mother rabbit is very sensitive after giving birth, and human disturbance can easily cause the mother rabbit to refuse to raise her kits. Do not frequently check the rabbit nest or touch the mother rabbit. In particular, do not touch the kits with your hands; once the kits pick up other odors, the mother rabbit will think they are not her own children and refuse to care for them or even bite them to death and eat them. Before weaning, kits cannot easily survive without the care of the mother rabbit.