Starting a rabbit farming business in Nigeria? find out what you will be facing

Problems Affecting Rabbit Production in Nigeria

Rabbit production in Nigeria has seen some setbacks due to but not limited to the following reasons:

Reluctance to accept something new

Most important in a situation where one is the first to start with rabbits is that often people are reluctant to accept something new. Whereas in Europe, Kenya and the U.S. there is a well-established market for rabbit meat, in the tropics the market becomes more and more organized for chickens; there are few countries with a ready market for rabbit meat. This reduces potential money income, but it should be no problem where the intention is to raise rabbits as a family enterprise, mainly to provide meat for the family where the diet may be lacking in protein.

Diseases

Diseases are common and unlike chickens, specific rabbit medicines are not easily available in Nigeria. Moreover, veterinarians (even in Europe and the U.S.) do not usually have much experience in the diagnosis and treatment of rabbit diseases. On the other hand, with good hygiene and common sense, added to information found in this blog one should not have too many worries about diseases. Most animals get sick occasionally, and a dead rabbit is less of a worry than a dead goat or cow.

Viral Diseases

Infectious myxomatosis is a fatal disease transmitted by mosquitoes, biting flies and by direct contact. (Aduku and Olukosi, 1990). The disease is characterized by conjunctivitis and the animal appears listless, anorexic with high temperature. In severe outbreaks, animals die within 48 hours after manifesting signs. The disease can be prevented by vaccination. Other viral diseases include rabbit pox and papillomatosis both of which affect the skin and integuments (Aduku and Olukosi, 1990).

Bacterial Diseases

Pasteurellosis – This highly contagious disease is caused by Pasteurella multocida. The disease is manifested as inflammation of the mucus membranes of the air passages and lungs. Pasteurella spp can also cause abscesses, which may be found on any part of the body (Mercks, 1998). Mastitis also known as “blue breast disease” is caused by Streptococcus or Staphylococcus in lactating does. The mammary glands become hot, reddened and swollen and the doe may have fever as high as 40⁰C or more (Aduku and Olukosi, 1990). Other bacterial diseases are pneumonia, conjunctivitis (weepy eye), spirochetosis (vent disease) and enteritis.

Fungal Diseases

Ringworm is caused by Trichophyton mentagrophytes and is characterized by lesions which may occur in any area of the rabbit’s skin with loss or thinning of fur. The affected area may be inflamed or capped with white bran-like flaky material (Mercks, 1998).

Parasitic Diseases

Coccidiosis is a major disease problem in rabbit production. This disease is caused by a protozoan parasite Eimeria stiedae, E. magna, E. irresiduna, E. media, or E. perforans. Affected rabbits exhibit diarrhea, anorexia, rough hair coat and unthriftiness (Aduku and Olukosi, 1990). Mange is also a major cause of poor production in the rabbit industry. The disorder may be caused by Sarcoptes scabiei or Notoedres cati. Pruritis and alopecia are major clinical signs. Rabbits are intermediate hosts to some intestinal tapeworms such as Taenia pisiformis and Multiceps seraslis. In addition, pinworm and ear mite infections are common to the rabbit (Rai, 1988). Problems can be also be caused by such external parasites as ear mites and chicken fleas.

Non-Infectious Conditions

The common noninfectious conditions in rabbits include cannibalism, sore hocks, dental malocclusion, bloat and fur eating. However, cleanliness and good management, which does not necessarily have to be sophisticated or involve the use of expensive drugs, can be extremely effective in the prevention of disease (Stewart, 1974).

Climate

Heat is one of the most important climatic factors which may affect rabbit production in Nigeria. The rabbit is very largely dependent on respiratory evaporation for the regulation of its body temperature and this confers only a limited power of adaption to hot climates. Heat is also dissipated by radiation and convection, but these are somewhat restricted by the rabbit's furry covering. Johnson et al.., (1957) reported that short hair and larger ears helped the cooling process in New Zealand White rabbits. According to these workers, growth and development were impaired at ambient temperatures of 28.3°C and above. Generally the higher the ambient temperature the greater was the disturbance of the rabbit's functions.

The temperature of a rabbit's body is best measured by recording rectal temperature. A rectal temperature of 38°C is considered to be within the normal range. Lee et al., 1944 reported that at ambient temperatures above 29.4°C the rectal temperature begins to increase in the rabbit. When the rectal temperature of Angora rabbits reached 39.8°C, the animals became disinclined to move; at a temperature of 40°C they lay down on their sides; and at 41.7°C the rabbits suffered obvious distress but were able to carry out ordinary movements. These rabbits were found to be unable to tolerate ambient temperatures of 37.8°C to 43.3°C for more than 7 hours, within which time the critical rectal temperature of 41.7°C was reached.

Reproduction

There is proof that high ambient temperatures can harm the reproductive performance of rabbits. In New Zealand Whites a temperature of 32.8°C reduced fertility in the male rabbits, a continuous high temperature being more unfavorable than intermittent heat (Oloufa et al., 1951). In the female, smaller blastocysts and embryos, and an increase in embryo mortality rates were also observed. El Sheikh and Casida (1955) concluded that the maximum temperature to which rabbits could be exposed (for 1 hour) without harming health or sperm motility was 43.3°C at a relative humidity of 30 to 40%. Chou et al., (1974) heated the testes of live rabbits to 43°C for 20 min on three successive days. No spermatozoa were present in the seminiferous tubules up to 30 days after the treatment. However, recovery was complete at about 10-14 weeks following the treatment. Hiroe and Tomitzuka, (1965) observed a marked fall in semen quality in male rabbits subjected to ambient temperature of 30°C for 14 days. These changes in quality were associated with an increase in the pH of the semen, a fall in sperm motility, a decrease in sperm concentration, an increase in the percentage of abnormal spermatozoa and a decline in libido. These workers found that, with the exception of sperm concentration, the changes could be reversed by reducing the ambient temperature. Embryo survival was depressed by heat stress and this was more severe under constant heat stress than under fluctuating heat stress, and was due largely to post implantation losses. Embryo survival at 12 days post insemination was lower at 32.2°C than 21.1°C. Shah (1955) reported that severe prenatal losses occur in pregnant does exposed continuously in the first 6 days of pregnancy to environmental temperatures sufficiently high to cause a rise in body temperature of 1.2°C to 1.7°C. Such losses occurred through resorption of embryos following implantation. When laboratory rabbits were exposed to a Sahelo- Sudanean dry climate, breeding was only successful for 5 months out of 12 (Tacher, 1970).

Time

Keeping rabbits will certainly take up some of your time. In general, it is hard to say how much. It depends on the number of animals you keep, the housing system and the way you are able to obtain feed. For example, keeping 5 to 10 rabbits will take you about 1 to 2 hours a day for cleaning, managing and feeding.