7 MUST KNOW RABBITRY MANAGEMENT OPERATIONS
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| Rex Rabbit |
Many things need to be taken into account with rabbit keeping: expenses for stable building, feed prices, purchase price of animals, etc. But let us not talk about bookkeeping although important! Most important from the management point of view is the registration of your animals: when they mate, when they kindle, who is their father or their mother, do they show disease, how fast do they grow, and so on and so on. In order to keep track of this information, proper administration is very useful.
In this post I am going to discuss the 7 most important management operations when it comes to rabbit farming.
1. OBSERVATION AND EXAMINATION
Like all animals, rabbits require proper care if they are to (re)produce well. Before going to sleep at night one should check them, and during the day one should keep a close eye on them. It is not enough to see that the animal is sick; one should learn to see whether the animal will be sick, it is not enough to see that the doe has made a nest and kindled, one should know beforehand that she will make a nest and will kindle. Animals have no holidays, even on Christmas Eve they need feed, they will kindle during Easter week, or they may get sick during Id.ul fitr or Ramadan.
Give your rabbits the best quality feed and drinking water.
Clean the hutches every day. If you take care, it is not necessary to take the animals out.
Always handle the rabbits in the proper way.
Those animals you want to use for further breeding should be given identification. Keep a close watch on their performance, do not kill the fast growers but use those for further upgrading your stock. Separate the males and females that you want to keep at early time, before they become sexually active (males 5 months, females 2 months later). Of those animals that you want to sell, males and females should be separated only if you keep them as long until they become sexually active. It is better not to put several litters together in one hutch, in order to prevent fighting.
After mating the first time, you should give the young doe’s separate hutches and then the whole cycle starts again.
Monitor patterns with your herd and eliminate does that consistently have higher mortality rates in kits.
2. WEIGHING AND RECORD KEEPING
Rabbit fryers are rabbits that are between 70 and 90 days of age, and weighing between 3 and 5 lb. (1 to 2 kg) live weight. Rabbit roasters are rabbits from 90 days to 6 months of age weighing between 5 and 8 lb. (2 to 3.5 kg) live weight. Rabbit stewers are rabbits from 6 months on weighing over 8 lb.
A convenient and simple record system is needed to keep track of breeding, kindling, and weaning operations. Information from the records can be used to cull unproductive animals and to select desirable breeding stock.
Records need not be extremely detailed, unless the personal desires and time of the operator allow for minute record keeping.
Whatever records are kept should permit the operator to calculate costs of production and evaluate the progress made over comparable periods of time.
Related: sample rabbit management records
Basic information desired includes: (a) the number of does bred, (b) the number of conceptions, (c) the number of does kindling, (d) the number of does raising a litter, (e) total young left with doe, and (f) total number of young weaned or raised per breeding. These facts will provide the necessary permanent production factors. Information can be obtained from the hutch record cards and compiled on a monthly summary form. The monthly figures can then be accumulated on an annual summary form; and an annual summary of the rabbitry can be ascertained by posting the accumulated investment, income, and expense figures on a summary chart.
Records are essential for success in a rabbitry whether it be on a commercial level or in the backyard and on a small scale. Highly productive does and bucks can be secured from past records for replacement stock and sale.
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| JF breeding record |
Let us say that if your doe Fix mates on 01/12/14 with male Thomper Jr. you write that down. Since she will be pregnant for just about one month, the next month, 01/01/15 you will expect her to kindle. Sometimes gestation may extend to 32 days, your breeding date and kindling date will take note of that.
The record-book
It is a good idea to keep a book with information on each of the rabbits. Even better are cards or a book with loose pages so you can rearrange the pages if necessary
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JF Rabbit register
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It is important that you know what happens to which animal at which time, if only to prevent inbreeding. Young rabbits intended for breeding can be given an ear number or simply a card or board on their cage when they start breeding. At that time you give them a page in your book or a card in the box. Another important thing which you might consider noting is the individual weight of each rabbit.
The Weekly Summary
By watching the animals closely you can check daily if some are ready to be mated or to litter, or to wean and so on. However you may also devise a summary booklet to keep watch on the happenings in the rabbitry on a weekly basis so as to be able to make appropriate plans and projections
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| Weekly plan |
3. IDENTIFICATION
First it is important to give your individual animals identification: colour patterns and size is one way to do it but if you have 5 white does you might lose track. You can make a tag (piece of plywood, cardboard, or from a tin can which is flattened out) to hang on the cage of each animal. Either you give them names, numbers, unique symbols or all. At the same time you can write on this tag the date of mating and the date of kindling. If you use blackboard paint you can use regular chalk, which later can be cleaned and used again once you have shifted the data to the special book. Every time you move the rabbit to another hutch, the identification tag accompanies him or her, without the risk of getting confused!
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Cage with detail of rabbits in it
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The best system is to use a tattoo with which numbers are punched in the ear. This number can also be written on the tag outside the door. If you don’t have too many rabbits it is easy enough to identify them individually especially if you have spotted animals. A simple drawing of each animal can help you to identify them.
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| Tattooing |
4. REPRODUCTION MANAGEMENT
Rabbits have no clear reproductive cycle. Nevertheless they do exhibit periods of greater willingness. They do refuse the buck sometimes!
Signs of greater willingness are restlessness, noisiness (she will scratch the hutch), rubbing her chin on the feeding tray or drinking dish, the genital area will have a redder colour than usual. To mate the rabbit you do not have to wait until these signs show; she can be put with the buck at any time, as the egg will come free after mating. However, she may not always accept the buck. Does that are maintained in good physical condition should produce litters until they are 2 1/2 to 3 years old.
Mating should be carried out during the cooler times of the day, early morning or late afternoon. Always bring the doe to the buck and not the other way round. If you put the buck in the hutch of the doe she is liable to defend her territory and fighting can start. On the contrary, by bringing her to him she will smell the male and will not defend the territory. She may do some initial running around but will eventually accept the buck.
If she accepts the buck she will sit down in his hutch and raise her rear end. Mating has taken place when the male falls aside or backwards after mounting the doe. Often he (and not she) utters a characteristic cry of pain or pleasure (difficult to make out which!). He may mount again immediately and mate again as before or he will run around, stamp his feet, and after some time do it again! If the doe is willing to be mated, effective mating takes place twice within the first 5-15 minutes. After a successful first mating a second is not necessary. The second mating can even be used for another doe if the buck is very busy. If the buck does not have too busy a schedule there is of course nothing against a second time. If the mating was successful put the doe back in her hutch. If the female starts to run or fight it is better to try it again after a few hours, the next morning or evening. Do not leave the doe with the buck overnight or for a few days. You will not know then whether mating actually took place, fighting might injure either the doe or the buck and stress will be the result. Instead keep watching the mating without disturbing it.
If a buck shows no interest within the first few minutes, it is virtually no use leaving them together. In this case also try again later. What do you do if she does not accept the buck? In the first place she might be pregnant. She will almost certainly refuse the buck then, and every time she is bothered it will reduce the chances of a good litter. In the second place there might be antipathy between the buck and the doe. In this case try another buck.
Sometimes it may help to hold the doe while she is in the buck's hutch. One hand to hold her head and body from running away, the other hand under her body, raising her hind a little bit, thus initiating a posture which she should naturally or automatically take. Mating can be successful this way but probably are not as good as spontaneous mating. If none of these suggestions work, you may want to use her for meat.
Pregnancy control
A week or two after mating you will notice that the doe has become quieter, seems to eat less, and sits with her abdomen resting nicely on the floor. She will start pulling out her hair to make a nest at about 30 - 32 days after mating, soon followed by producing a litter. Sometimes she fails to produce a litter after making a nest. If this happens approximately 2 weeks after mating it is called pseudo-pregnancy. Don't be disappointed. This is a perfect time to rebreed her; she is willing and fertile right at the time of pseudo-pregnancy.
Related: Learn how to palpate
It is also possible to check for pregnancy by putting the doe with the buck again 12 days after mating. If she refuses, the first mating has almost certainly worked out well. If she is willing again, the buck can repeat his work. This method has the very small risk that an already pregnant doe gets mated again with the possibility of starting another pregnancy halfway through the first. This super-pregnancy occurs occasionally. The surest way of checking for pregnancy however is palpation
Kindling and mother care
When the doe is almost ready for kindling (about 4 weeks after mating) you can put a nest box in the maternity cage. Kindling can then take place in this nest box. Kindling can take place at any time of the day but morning seems to be the most popular time. All she needs now is rest and feed. A scared doe may eat her young. Cannibalism may occur for other reasons too, such as no drinking water, lack of minerals and sometimes for no apparent reason. However, unrest is likely to be a main cause. If a doe, especially after the second litter, keeps eating or biting her young it is better to kill her and eliminate this bad characteristic. Most does, however, have no problems and distinguish easily between the newly born young and the afterbirth: they lick the first and eat the second, although smell and taste cannot be so different.
Related: Why mother rabbits eat their young
Do not handle the kindles more than is absolutely necessary, but check the newborn trying not to disturb them too much. Wash your hands first, as the smell of dogs, cats or rodents may upset the mother. Check the kindles for full bellies and for dead ones. The smell of the nest will soon tell you if it is dirty. Does with diarrhea cause a distinct smell.
The doe does not take care of her kindles is a common complaint from beginners. In fact the doe only allows her kindles to suckle one or two times a day, and even then only for a short period. So the doe will rarely be seen with the kindles. Do not worry too much!
The hutch/cage should be large enough for the nest box and leaving space for the doe. If it is too small she might accidentally hurt the kindles by sitting on them. After two weeks they will start to come out of the box, depending on the size of the box, the amount of milk the mother has and other factors such as the temperature in the box. After about 3 weeks the nest box can easily be removed. If the floor of the maternity cage is of wire or has big holes which make it difficult for the kindles to put their feet down, give them a piece of plywood or something similar in a corner so they can sit easily. At this time they will also suckle (or seem to) more often in a day. Weaning usually takes place after about 4 weeks but should not be later than 6 weeks. Milk production seems to stop at that time, so there is no use for the young being with the mother any longer.
When to mate the doe again
The rabbit can be mated the very day of kindling and she is likely to become pregnant. However, results might be disappointing. The litters will be smaller, lighter and with a higher rate of mortality, not forgetting the stress on the mother, being pregnant and lactating at the same time. Even where feeding and other conditions are optimal it is common to mate again only after 3-4 weeks. In backyard farming practice feeding can be assumed to be less than very good. Therefore giving the doe more time between mating (10-12 weeks) will probably be better and result in larger and healthier (although fewer) litters.
Sometimes the doe will not accept the buck right after weaning, it may take quite a few days (weeks) to get her willing. What can you do?
Just wait and keep trying to mate! Willingness seems less of a problem right after birth or during lactation than later on around or after weaning! One more thing: there are advantages in mating two does at the time, if one of them does refuse to suckle the kindles or dies or whatever, you always have a foster mother at hand.
5. CULLING
Strict culling of undesirable rabbits is critical in cuniculture to prevent the spread of diseases, internal/external parasites and undesirable genes. Oren Reynolds of Illinois was the editor of Domestic Rabbits magazine for 25 years and president of the ARBA (American Rabbit Breeders Association) at one time. Born in 1902, he raised rabbits from most of the twentieth century and was extremely successful. This is what Oren Reynolds: "I am a firm believer in judicious culling. In fact, 90 percent of the mistakes made in rabbit raising are made the day the litters are culled." Unproductive, aged, and infected rabbits and rabbits possessing undesirable traits must be separated from other rabbits as soon as they are identified.
6. IDENTIFICATION OF UNHEALTHY STOCK
A healthy rabbit must show the following signs smooth coat, standing ears, clear eyes, quiet breathing, and no mange (scabies) forming crusts around the nose, eyes, at the edges of the ears or inside the ears as a dirty mass.
Put them on the ground and let them jump to watch for irregular legs, inspect the anus to see whether it is dirty from diarrhoea (should not be!) which is often the case in young rabbits.
Check the stomach (abdomen) of the animal. It should feel soft but smooth; a spongy feeling may indicate some intestinal troubles.
Watch for sneezing rabbits. Dirty front legs and/or dirty nose may indicate a coughing disease (pasteurelloses), because the animals wash their nose with their front legs. Long toenails indicate that the rabbit is older.
7. DISEASE CONTROL
When a high standard of hygiene and careful management are practiced (IFS, 1978), one distinct attribute of rabbit farming is the relatively low incidence of epidemic diseases. Rabbits do not require routine vaccination or medication for the prevention or treatment of specific diseases. This is an important factor since, in other livestock species, a lack of appropriate drugs is sometimes a major constraint to successful production. When a disease does occur in rabbit farming, local remedies can often be effectively used in treatment. One common disease condition, referred to as ear mites and caused by an external parasite, Psoroptes cuniculi, can be both prevented and treated by applying drops of an oil-kerosene solution directly inside the ear canal. Vegetable oil, red palm oil and even clean engine oil may be used. For the control of digestive disorders, diarrhea and constipation for example, various medicinal herbs and green vegetables like dried moringa leaves have been observed to provide similar therapeutic results in rabbits (Lukefahr and Goldman, 1985). Other conditions, such as abscesses, skin mange and warbles, have likewise been inexpensively controlled with proven local measures.
Steps to prevent diseases:
Make routine checks on the health of your rabbits:
- Check their nose, eyelids, ear edges for little crust (mange) and inside their ears for ear mites.
- Check their droppings; is it dry or pasty?
- Check their front legs as certain coughs produce a kind of mucus which then makes the front legs dirty.
- Check their cages for strong smells; diarrhea often causes a dirty smell.
- Keep the building and the cages clean and dry; clean them every day. Clean the cages from any lose hair. If you suspect any disease, disinfect the cages immediately. Clean the floor of the stable once every week with disinfectant.
- Keep any animals (especially cats and dogs) away from their droppings.
- Do not let any of the rabbits droppings come into contact with food and water.
- Separate or cull any rabbits you suspect are sick or becoming ill.
- Clean fresh air in the building is essential; a strong manure smell is not good for them and can cause respiratory problems. If you can the smell the ammonia, the rabbits most definitely can.
