What is the outlook for Sima rabbit farming in rural areas?
Rural areas are rich in crop resources and are suitable for developing this kind of grain-saving animal. Sima rabbit farming is a rural specialty farming project with low investment, a short cycle, easy raising and high returns. In recent years, as people's health awareness has grown, Sima rabbit meat, as a "three highs and three lows" health meat, has become even more favored, its consumer market has gradually expanded, and its price has shown a continuously rising trend, with good potential in both international and domestic markets.
Abundant feed resources
The daily diet of Sima rabbits is mainly grass, and they are a typical grain-saving herbivorous livestock. Sima rabbits are monogastric herbivorous livestock with the strongest tolerance for roughage. In Sima rabbit feed formulas, the proportion of raw grain averages 23%, while for pigs and poultry it is about 60%. Tests show that when the same amount of feed is used to feed Sima rabbits and beef cattle, the weight of rabbit meat obtained is 5 times that of beef, which shows that the monogastric herbivorous livestock Sima rabbit is more efficient than the ruminant herbivorous livestock cattle at converting grass into meat. For our country, where grain is relatively tight and forage resources are abundant, vigorously developing the Sima rabbit breeding industry is of great practical significance. By raising Sima rabbits, farmers convert abundant forage resources into rabbit meat, rabbit skins and rabbit wool, which is a good way to become wealthy.
High production performance
Sima rabbits have multiple litters and high yields, a short raising cycle and a high meat yield. Sima rabbits reach sexual maturity early, at about three to four months, are first mated at 6 months, have a gestation period of 1 month, produce an average of 7 to 8 young per litter, can come into estrus and be mated right after giving birth, and can produce more than 6 litters a year. The young grow quickly, are weaned at 1 month, and after weaning need only about 60 more days of raising to reach 2.5 kg and be ready for market. One female rabbit can produce 35 to 40 offspring in 1 year, equivalent to 20 to 25 times her own weight. For cattle and sheep it is only 0.35 to 0.63 times, and among the other livestock currently raised, it is very hard to compare with the Sima rabbit. Therefore, vigorously developing the Sima rabbit breeding industry is an important way to solve people's source of meat and enrich our country's food supply.
Low farming investment
Sima rabbit farming requires little investment, shows results quickly and brings large returns. Compared with raising other animals, Sima rabbits require less investment and have a high input-output ratio. The investment in raising Sima rabbits in rural areas can be broadly divided into breeding rabbit costs, feed costs, epidemic prevention costs, cage and housing costs, and so on. If five groups of breeding rabbits are raised, the gross profit per year can reach nearly more than twenty thousand yuan.
Simple feeding and management
Sima rabbit farming takes up little space and requires little labor, and every household can do it. Sima rabbits can be raised on flat ground or in three-dimensional cages, indoors or outdoors, on the ground, underground or on rooftops. Small-scale household raising can use courtyards or idle or old houses, and an ordinary household courtyard can accommodate a scale of about 30 foundation female rabbits. Raising rabbits involves no heavy physical labor, and both the elderly and women can do it. Rabbits like to be active at night, so raising rabbits does not conflict with the labor needed for farming. Farmers can completely use their spare time to raise them without delaying farm work.
Large market demand
The meat from Sima rabbit farming is the famous health meat and beauty meat, and it has dual market potential internationally and domestically. Rabbit meat has the characteristics of "three highs and three lows," and its comprehensive nutritional value is higher than that of pork, beef and chicken. Rabbit meat not only has relatively high nutritional value, but its fibers are fine and tender, and after processing it is easily digested and absorbed by the human body, making it a good nutritious food for the elderly, the sick, pregnant women and young children. In addition, people who often eat rabbit meat are less likely to gain weight, can maintain a beautiful figure, and also gain health benefits, with good effects on preventing atherosclerosis, high blood pressure and heart disease. Therefore, rabbit meat has long been called bodybuilding meat and beauty meat in developed countries and is deeply loved by people. At present, the vast majority of rabbit meat produced in our country is sold abroad. In recent years, eating rabbit meat in some domestic places has gradually become a habit, and in some places there is even a situation where no banquet is complete without rabbit, so the potential of rabbit meat in both international and domestic markets is very large, and Sima rabbit farming is worth vigorously developing in rural areas.