Age of rabbits for mating and house rules for beginners
For the experienced farmer, mating domestic rabbits is a routine production process. The owner takes into account not only individual characteristics, but also the breed qualities of animals. You need to have a special flair to accurately determine which couple will become the parents of healthy, beautiful babies. The success of a delicate event depends on the age, weight and even the nature of the pets.
Features of choosing partners
Livestock breeders practice 2 types of selection of animals for mating:
- Homogeneous. The farmer selects a pair of rabbits with the same breed characteristics and productivity.
- Heterogeneous. In this case, on the contrary, the pair is formed by animals endowed with opposite qualities. For example, a large short-haired female occurs with a small long-haired male. The principle of heterogeneous mating is used for breeding rabbits for meat purposes.
When selecting pets for mating, the age of fluffy beauties is taken into account. High-quality offspring are most often obtained from 1.5-year-old males. It is this age category of producers that is suitable for young rabbits.
How to tell a rabbit from a rabbit
Finding out the sex of a pet is not difficult. To do this, put the animal on its back and, pressing it to the table, examine the rabbit's genitals. In females, the reproductive organs are formed in the form of a pink loop, while in males the reproductive organs have a curved, cylindrical shape.
How to choose rabbits
For mating, only healthy individuals are chosen that have fully reached maturity. The female is already at 3 months of age capable of fertilization and bearing cubs. However, offspring from a young female rabbit is likely to be unviable. Females reach real maturity at the age of 5 months. Males are ready to reproduce only after reaching 6.5-7 months.
The best age for mating is the first 2 years after birth. During this period, rabbits bring the most viable litter with pronounced breed qualities. The case is permissible for individuals with:
- weighing at least 3 kg;
- good immunity;
- fertility;
- lack of genetic abnormalities and deformities;
- maternal instinct.
Mating is carried out only after observing the behavior and habits of furry pets.
What is rejection
Breeders are selected from the first 2 litters of young, strong animals. Owners of a beautiful, shiny skin are considered promising animals. Rabbits must be harmoniously built and healthy. After reaching maturity, pets are re-examined and rejected.
Individuals are not allowed to breed:
- Females killing their young.
- Rabbits suffering from infertility (less than 5 pups per litter).
- Females in whom mating often goes unsuccessfully.
- Lazy, phlegmatic males.
- Rabbits having problems fertilizing females.
How do you know when it's time to mate rabbits?
A healthy male is ready to mate at any time. He is able to give attention to 4-5 females per day. In some cases, the cold in the room can become an obstacle to mating. The female is ready to breed during the period called the hunt. At this moment, the female becomes nervous, the animal is tormented by frequent urination. The genitals of the rabbit swell and acquire a bright pink hue. By these signs, it is easy to find out when the female is walking and is ready for a date with the gentleman.
A favorable time for mating comes every 5 days and lasts up to 3 days. Ripe eggs do not leave the animal's body, remaining in a state of "alert" for up to 10 days. This unusual property distinguishes the rabbit from most females of other animals.
Up to what age can rabbits happen?
For the first time, the female is allowed to mate at the age of 5-6 months. By this time, puberty ends in young rabbits, the animals acquire strength and endurance. After reaching 3 years of age, rabbits become old-born animals. From time to time they bring ever weaker offspring, so such females are replaced with young individuals.
Mating methods
Despite their "lovingness", pets obey the laws of nature, therefore, in the dark, cold season, their activity decreases. In winter, rabbits are mated during the daytime. During these hours, the air temperature in the room rises slightly, and the pets feel more alert. In spring and summer, mating is arranged in the morning or evening.
In order for the rabbit to cover the female chosen by the owner, the individual is placed next to the gentleman. After short play, the animals mate. The sexual intercourse does not last long - only 2-3 seconds. The end of mating is signaled by the characteristic posture (the rabbit lies on its side) and the rumbling sounds emitted by the male.
The covered female is removed from the cage and returned to her own apartment. After 5-6 days, the procedure is repeated. The result of the event will be known in a few days. The pregnant female becomes irritable, the gentleman does not let her anymore.
Livestock breeders practice 2 ways of breeding eared beauties - manual and free. Experienced farmers and breeding specialists prefer to make pets by hand. Rabbits are kept in cages, avoiding unplanned mating. Having chosen a suitable pair, the animals are allowed to mate. Thus, you can mix pets at your own discretion. The method allows you to preserve the breed characteristics of animals and reduce the number of genetic abnormalities in offspring.
Manual mating is often practiced by home-bred pet owners, but for novice farmers, the procedure is not so simple. Rabbit breeding requires knowledge of the intricacies of breeding thoroughbred animals. It is difficult for a beginner to immediately notice the errors that inevitably arise in the course of work. Only an experienced owner easily identifies walking rabbits and identifies females by touch.
Having chosen the manual method of mating pets, the owner:
- selects the best breeding animals;
- determines if the female is hunting;
- provides rabbits with an opportunity for mating and records the result of mating;
- repeats the procedure if necessary;
- after 14-16 days, reveals pregnant and single females;
- rejects pets that are not capable of full reproduction.
Adherents of natural reproduction prefer free mating of animals. The method is used to breed rabbits in a pit. In Spartan conditions, the male has a hard time. The rabbit is constantly among the females and fertilizes any of them at will.
There should be 10 females for one gentleman. An easy way of breeding animals is available even to novice farmers. In the pit, animals can reproduce uncontrollably and require almost no human intervention. However, it should be borne in mind that constant closely related relationships lead to the degeneration of the offspring. Therefore, the male needs to be changed from time to time.
How to determine pregnancy
You can be convinced of the interesting position of the female within 15 days after the last mating. To do this, you need to carefully feel the belly of the rabbit. In a pregnant individual, peas - embryos - are clearly felt.
Offspring care
If a young, inexperienced rabbit does not take care of arranging the nest, the owner will have to take the process into his own hands and build a brood house on his own. The manufactured "maternity hospital" is set up in a cage, the lower part of the nest is lined with down and straw.
After birth, the female must be transplanted into another cage and carefully examine the droppings. Dead cubs should be removed immediately. Otherwise, the rabbit may refuse to feed the offspring. The revision of the nest is carried out with gloves, the rabbit should not smell the human smell in the brood house. Newborn pets are examined daily and, if necessary, are consulted by a veterinarian.
After reaching 20 days of age, babies are treated with sprouted grains, grated carrots and granulated grass.
45 days after birth, the rabbits are separated from their mother and placed in separate apartments. At the age of 2 months, the rabbits are transferred to the usual diet for adult animals.
Possible problems
It may seem to a novice farmer that with the birth of cubs, all worries are left behind. Unfortunately, this is not the case at all.
- Sometimes a joyful event is overshadowed by the death of newborn rabbits. Hunger can be the cause of unhappiness. The validity of this assumption can be judged by the appearance of the kids. Starving rabbits have inverted bellies and wrinkled skin. In order to avoid a sad event, you need to monitor the quality of the diet and the health of the rabbit.
- In some cases, the female discards the cubs from her. As a rule, the reason for the aggression lies in the onset of the hunting period. The next mating with the eared gentleman will be able to calm the young mother.
- The early attempts of babies to get out of their native nest speak of the problem of offspring. In this way, the rabbits are looking for food for themselves. In this case, the female mammary glands should be examined. Probably, the rabbit has sore nipples or no milk at all. The only way out of a difficult situation is artificial feeding of pets.
