Okrol rabbit at home
The rabbit's okrol is a responsible business, it requires attention from the farmer. Breeding rabbits is a fairly common type of animal husbandry, since these animals differ in simple maintenance requirements. However, here, too, it is necessary to have certain information, in particular, when and how the home care should be taken.
Okrol rabbit
What factors should be taken into account in order for the rabbit to successfully bear and give birth to healthy offspring? It is better to cover the eared ones so that the rabbits are okrol in winter. Rabbits usually reach sexual maturity by 3-4 months. However, this does not mean full readiness for mating in a few days. In rabbits, the optimal age for the first mating is 5-6 months, for males it is 7-8.
How long it takes for a rabbit to have an okrol may depend on the breed and on the body weight. The average readiness for mating is that animals reach a weight of 3.5-4 kg, which is about 60% of the total weight. By following simple and tried-and-true rules, you can avoid contingencies and achieve better productivity and, therefore, farm prosperity.
Preparing for mating
In order for the okrol to go as smoothly as possible, you need to carefully consider the planning of the mating. In order to get large and healthy litters, you should not allow sick and weak individuals to mate, which could affect the quality and reproductive capacity of the entire herd. It is necessary to be able to accurately determine the readiness of the female for mating before placing her in the cage with the male. In behavioral terms, the period of sexual heat in females is usually manifested by excitement, aggressiveness, "nesting" (the rabbit begins to pluck the fluff on her chest and abdomen, prepares a nest for future offspring).
Physical signs are also present: the genital loop and nipples turn bright pink, decreased appetite, and ear temperature may rise. On the 14th day before the planned mating, it is recommended to introduce concentrated mineral and vitamin feed into the diet, and feed the males with potatoes, steamed oats or other cereals. In rabbits, ovulation is provoked, which means that their estrus period depends on the diet, mating process and season. That is why, for the most successful mating, you can also artificially increase the length of daylight hours, stretching it to 16 hours.
Mating area
For mating, it is important that the male is in his territory, and not vice versa. The rabbit will take time to get used to an unfamiliar place, sometimes the female behaves aggressively. So if for some reason you have to put the male to the rabbit for mating, you should give him time (about a day) or even a few days and carefully monitor their behavior. The couple is left together for 2-4 hours. For mating and recoating, it is best to choose early morning or evening in summer and afternoon in winter.
How to understand that the territory is selected correctly and the male makes plans for the rabbit? It can be determined by the behavior of the male: after mating games and mating, he falls on his side and publishes a characteristic squeak or rumbling.
Overexposing a young rabbit with a male is not useful. Fertility will again be less, the female is able to refuse to feed the offspring, the period for breeding is also reduced. In addition, after reaching the age of six months, rabbits begin to rapidly gain weight, which makes the rabbits lose their ability to reproduce offspring.
Seasonal features of okrol
Since in rabbits ovulation is provoked, seasonal (winter or spring) changes in temperature, daylight hours, and diet are important. There are the most favorable periods for breeding and even a certain day. Depending on the season, rabbits will be born, different in the degree of endurance, resistance to diseases, and the ability to reproduce. Sometimes there are dead rabbits. How much and what will turn out, it is not known in advance. The farmer needs to find out which season the compacted rounding allows, and when it is ineffective and even harmful to the farm.
Rabbits breed in both winter and summer. However, seasonal animal care has its own characteristics that directly affect the quality of the litter and the health of the female. Oddly enough, but it is in winter and early spring that stronger and healthier rabbits with thick fur are born, and pregnancy is less likely to complicate. The best breeders grow out of winter rabbits, although the number of cubs in the litter in summer is greater, animals are often born weak.
The autumn period is considered the most unfortunate time for okrol, therefore, with the beginning of molting, which takes away a lot of energy from animals, it is worth taking a break for rest (40-60 days) to allow the rabbits to recover for the most critical winter season. When breeding in winter, cages or a house for animals must be additionally insulated (for example, with plywood or plexiglass). And yet, despite the cold, it is in winter that hunting and (with proper care) pregnancy in rabbits proceeds with the least risk of complications, so this time most happily leads to mating.
Training
A week after the first mating, a second control should be carried out to make sure of its success. A pregnant rabbit will try to keep the male away from her: she runs away from him, emitting a characteristic squeak. This path does not always allow to reliably determine pregnancy, therefore, in the second week, another procedure is usually carried out: the female is laid with her muzzle towards herself and, gently holding her ears and withers, gently palpate the abdominal wall. If the rabbit is pregnant (sucrol), the uterus will be enlarged, embryos are probed, similar to elongated soft peas.
If the result is positive, it is time to prepare for the okrol. Pregnancy in rabbits lasts an average of 30 days. The number of young rabbits in one litter can vary greatly: from one to two dozen. However, extremes are undesirable and females that gave such offspring should not be left for breeding. An average of 5-7 pups is the most optimal. It is preferable to give food to a pregnant rabbit in a larger volume (up to 30%), it is also important to monitor the volume of drinking water. For pregnant females, it is better to equip comfortable insulated nest boxes.
If there is a built-in queen cell, it must be prepared and disinfected in advance, the litter must be replaced with a new one, so that there are no difficulties during childbirth. The nest for future rabbits can also be additionally insulated with a fresh portion of hay for comfort. However, all these manipulations must be carried out very slowly and without sudden movements, so as not to frighten the rabbit and thereby not provoke an abortion or miscarriage.It is very important that the pregnant rabbit feels safe.
Carrying out an okrol
The behavior of the female before giving birth changes, sometimes the rabbit is breathing heavily. She also worries and is engaged in warming the nest for rabbits about a week before the birth of offspring. All the necessary preparations must be carried out in advance: cleaning and disinfection of the cell, installing the mother liquor, insulating the nest. The first home okrol for a rabbit is the most difficult for a rabbit breeder.
Optimal conditions will contribute to a successful round-up:
- clean and dry bedding;
- protection from bright light;
- comfortable temperature conditions;
- quiet environment.
Nest or cage dimensions
- Miniature individuals - 25 * 25 * 35 cm.
- The average size of the rabbits is 30 * 30 * 45 cm.
- Large individuals - 35 * 35 * 55 cm.
Childbirth most often begins at night, but during the day you should not lose your vigilance. The whole process takes from 10 minutes to an hour. If after this time the okrol has not occurred, it is worth calling the veterinarian. After giving birth, the rabbit eats the afterbirth in order to restore the lost trace elements. You can understand that the okrol is over by the behavior of the rabbit. If she is calm, her stomach has fallen, everything went well. At home, the rabbit gradually recovers after birth and moves to the usual rhythm of life.
Most often, this is where the difficulties end, but sometimes it happens that the rabbits refuse to feed the offspring. Mom may even start biting her babies (especially if the birth was difficult). In this case, the female should be carefully examined and the problem identified. Most rabbits are very sensitive to their offspring.
They insulate the nest with fluff plucked from the chest and abdomen, then cover the newborn rabbits with it and after several days make a hole in the nest for ventilation. And if the rabbit refuses to feed the cubs, does not eat or drink herself, there must be a reason for this.
What if this continues for several days? The most common cause is hardened or cracked nipples. In this case, the animal needs to be carefully examined, massage its nipples and, holding, attach each baby. Gradually, the animal will get used to it and will feed the cubs. If the rabbit does not eat herself, but feeds the cubs, then it may be worth improving her diet. Before any procedure, hands must be rubbed with fluff and hay from the nest, so as not to scare off the female with extraneous odors.
Productivity after childbirth
Immediately after giving birth, the female first puts herself in order, she always eats the afterbirth and licks herself. After that, it will be the turn of the rabbits: she will lick everyone and feed them. The female, if this is her first round, is able to get confused. Then you need to make sure that the rabbits are covered with down and do not freeze. If there was a natural winter birth in rabbits, the place of birth should be insulated.
The first birth of a rabbit requires close attention of the breeder, since for the future breeding work of the female, it is necessary to determine her maternal qualities and milk production. It is important for the baby that milk is abundant.
Milkiness can be determined by the state and behavior of the cubs. If the young are calm, they have firm skin, they are well fed. If the cubs squeak and the skin looks wrinkled, there is clearly not enough milk. Do you need to either plant it with another individual or artificially feed it? If the female (or her mother) had mastitis, it is better to keep her out of mating. In addition, cannibalism can be characteristic of young rabbits.
If the rabbit had okrol and she ate the young, the reason for this was:
- fright;
- improper feeding;
- lack of vitamins;
- lack of fluid;
- obesity.
If the rabbit eats babies, she is no longer allowed for breeding, so it is important to maintain comfortable conditions. Sometimes it can happen that the rabbit had an okrol, and the young are born outside the warm nest or crawl out on their own.In this case, you need to rub your hands with hay and fluff from the nest and put the cubs back, covering them with fluff. For this procedure, the animal is lured out of the nest, and then launched back after 20 minutes, when other people's smells disappear.
Useful Tips
After the birth of the rabbits, they must be counted immediately. If there is a suspicion that there are stillborn individuals in the droppings, there are blood stains, it is better, again, to lure the rabbit out of the nest with a treat, rub your palms with fluff and hay and inspect the nest. During lactation, intervention from the breeder should be minimal.
During regular cleaning and inspection of the nest, care must be taken not to irritate the rabbit with extraneous odors. The feed should still be large compared to the usual amount. Sometimes, if one rabbit has 2-3 little bunnies in the litter, and the other has more than a dozen, equalization is performed in order to protect the female with excess offspring from exhaustion. However, this procedure is not always possible, since females rarely take other people's cubs.
After the young are placed in a new nest, they should be wiped off with the hay that is in this nest so that the new female will recognize them. It is worth preliminarily observing and evaluating the maternal qualities of the host female and the milk production of an individual with excess offspring. Perhaps you should just cut back on the frequency of coverings for the second and let her feed her rabbits on her own.
Twin pregnancy
Twin pregnancy is a rare occurrence associated with the physiology of rabbits. Females have a two-horned uterus, which theoretically allows her to be fertilized with eggs from one ovary during the first coating, and with control mating - again from the other. In this case, one rabbit can bear cubs of different ages at the same time. A second fertilization can also occur when females and males are kept together, which is highly undesirable for a variety of reasons. In the case of a double pregnancy, the breeder may find out a week after birth that the female has delivered a second litter.
Is this good or bad? This can be considered negative for two reasons. Firstly, if a twin pregnancy remains undetected, the necessary preparations are not made for a re-birth, which occurs after the same period of time as the second fertilization. Secondly, a double pregnancy is very depleting of the female, and the offspring are born weak and painful. We must remain vigilant. If the female is thin again, do not neglect the additional manual check of the rabbit's fertility.
Mating after okrol
When can the male be allowed to the rabbit after the birth? Physiologically, the time for re-mating after mating is calculated based on the condition of the individual. If she is not sick, then she is ready to mate on the second day after. Some breeders practice such a tight mating schedule, but experts are unanimous in favor of the most optimal regimen, in which at least 2 months pass between mating. The calculation is simple: after mating, a month of pregnancy follows, then about 3 weeks the female feeds the rabbits. For a year with this mode, you can get 6 offspring. More frequent births deplete the female, the quality of the offspring deteriorates, the period of breeding work of the animal is reduced.