An article on “how to breed rabbits” may seem somewhat strange, since everyone knows that they are quite prolific creatures, and, as a rule, do not require help in their marriage games. But for responsible and caring owners, it’s important to understand the process. and manage it, not to step aside and just watch how everything happens naturally.
Many people who own a pair of rabbits think it’s “fun” and even profitable to breed and grow their offspring, but remember that any birth should not be taken lightly. Therefore, just thinking that raising rabbits is “fun” – insufficient reason for this.
If you are thinking about breeding your rabbits and want to know more about this, then let’s take a look at the details.
Responsible Breeding
Contents
I must say that rabbits are not difficult to find, and there is no shortages of rabbits for sale as pets. If you Feel you might want to breed your own rabbits and really care about your pet and his well-being, then it’s important to consider the consequences of breeding to make sure that you you do everything right both for the rabbit and for its offspring.
So, what are some good reasons to breed rabbits? First, do you have a healthy and strong individual with a good conformation, coloring and without known genetic defects and hereditary diseases? If so, your breeding will play an important role in increasing the overall gene pool of rabbits. So if u you have a healthy rabbit with a pedigree, then this is already very good cause! You should not consider rabbit breeding. poor standards, unhealthy rabbits or individuals that possess any genetic defect, both in terms of caring for it, so in terms of lowering health standards.
If you have a good thoroughbred female, then you most likely it’s easy to find her a suitable partner. Also important make sure before you start breeding that you can place all possible offspring at home. Dwarf breeds usually produce 2 to 4 rabbits, but large ones are much larger – up to 12. You may need a significant amount of space, to find where they can be placed.
You can talk to local rabbits at pet stores, maybe they can help you sell them. Also you You can advertise on sites like avito. It is important that rabbits were provided with all medical standards, which often checked at pet stores.
Basic responsibilities in rabbit breeding
If you plan to go forward, then you should have significant the amount of time and money to devote yourself to this. By the end during pregnancy and during childbirth, you must be careful and control rabbits 24 hours a day. Right after birth, you should begin to care for rabbits, and also take care of the female and help her in her courtship of the offspring, which may take a lot of time.
Also, as mentioned earlier, you should highlight a certain place for developing rabbits, preferably even before they birth. Start looking for suitable families and advertise your future rabbits – this will give you valuable information about potential interest in your rabbits. If you not find at least some interest and demand for offspring, then you should consider breeding these very rabbits.
How to start breeding rabbits
If you read to this place and are still interested in breeding then it’s great! But you need to analyze and think about a lot more details before starting work. This the list should provide you with basic steps and guidelines where you need to move.
- When you are ready to breed, put the female in cage to the male, and not vice versa. Bunnies can be quite territorial, and may consider the male a threat, and respond aggressively at him.
- Leave the rabbit and male alone for 30 to 60 minutes. Carefully monitor their actions and, in case of aggression or stress, be prepared at any time to remove the female from the cage. After mating, remove the rabbit from the male cage.
- In case you do not show the rabbit to the veterinarian, you do not you can probably find out if she became pregnant. Total term pregnancy in rabbits is from 28 to 31 days. You should not try to palpate the rabbit’s abdomen to try detect its fruits, as this can lead to damage, if they are present there. If after two weeks the rabbit doesn’t started to get fat and nest, then she most likely did not conceive offspring, and you need to try again to place it in a cage with a male. Give her extra lining and keep an eye out for signs of nesting, including plucking her fur, to align the nest.
- Do not stroke the rabbit after conception – leave her alone to the pregnancy went naturally without additional stress. Remember that some females when pregnant defensive behavior and can fight for their territory so that just follow the signs of this and do not defend your “space”, or gently iron it if it clearly looks miserable.
- The rabbit will require significantly more food, so when she will be pregnant and after childbirth, give her so much food and hay as she wants. You can also slightly increase servings of fresh vegetables, but be careful not to cause diarrhea and indigestion.
- When the female will give birth, do not disturb her if she will not to suffer very much. It is likely that you will not even know that she gives birth, so rabbits often give birth at night. Rabbits can easily leave your nest if you bother them, so don’t interfere with childbirth and a few days immediately after them. Check regularly state and development of rabbits, but listen to the signs that the female will give when you touch her or her offspring, and do everything possible to minimize the load on her and her rabbits.
- After the rabbits have reached 10 days, they will begin open your eyes and show interest in adult food, which the female is eating. At this point you should start to iron them and introduce them to people, if you haven’t done it yet.
- Rabbits can be weaned from 6 to 8 weeks old, or when they gain healthy weight and eat on their own. You can give them to another family at the age of 8 to 10 weeks, in depending on their growth and development. Also do not forget at this stage separate males and females in order to avoid further unwanted pregnancies.
