I. Growth and development characteristics of rabbits
1 , The late embryonic development is fast
The growth and development of rabbits in the embryonic period has the following characteristics: the growth and development are slow in the early stage and fast in the later stage. Fetal weight is mainly affected by the number of fetuses and the nutritional level of the female rabbit, regardless of gender.
2. Rabbits grow rapidly
When the young rabbits are born, they are hairless, with closed eyes and occluded ear holes. However, the growth and development of the young rabbits after birth is very rapid. The fluff begins to grow at 3 to 4 days after birth, the eyes begin to open at 10 to 12 days after birth, and they start to eat food at about 20 days. The birth weight of most breeds of rabbits is only about 50g, the weight at 1 week of age can double, the weight at 4 weeks of age is 10 times of the birth weight, and the weight at 8 weeks of age can reach the annual weight. 40%.
3. The growth rate of young rabbits is affected by the amount of milk sucked
There are many young rabbits in one litter, and the young rabbits have great growth potential within a few weeks after birth. But it will be limited by nutrient supply. The milk production of the mother rabbit and the number of littermates affect the growth rate of the pups to a certain extent. If the number of littermates is large and the milk production is insufficient, the growth and development of the young rabbits will be greatly restricted, resulting in slow growth.
4. The growth rate and feed conversion rate of young rabbits are higher
Under normal circumstances, the body weight of young rabbits will increase with the increase of age. In the case of New Zealand white rabbits, the daily weight gain peaked at 8 weeks of age, and after 9 weeks of age, the growth rate gradually slowed down. The feed conversion ratio was 2:1 when the pups were 3 weeks old, and the conversion ratio was the highest at this time, and then the feed conversion ratio gradually decreased. : 1.
During production, the owner must pay attention to the feeding and management of young rabbits in a timely manner according to the law of rapid growth and development of rabbits in the early stage and high feed conversion rate.
5. Different rabbits have different growth and development.
There is a certain difference in the weight gain rate of young rabbits of different genders. This difference is generally at the age of 8 weeks. It will be clearly displayed later. Before weeks of age, male rabbits grow slower than females. During this period, under the same feeding and management of the same breed, the weight of male rabbits is always lighter than that of female rabbits.
2. Moulting characteristics of rabbits
Rabbits are born The whole body is naked, and the coat
does not start to grow until 3 to 4 days later. The lanugo is taken off at about 1 month old, and then it begins to enter a regular age-related molting and seasonal molting period.
1. Age-related moulting
The young rabbit will lose the old hair and grow new hair after a certain period of growth. This kind of hair loss caused by age, rabbits experience a total of two times in their lives: the first age-related molting is about 30 to 100 days old in young rabbits; the second age-related molting is mostly in young rabbits. 130 to 190 days old. In addition, depending on the rabbit breed, nutrition, ambient temperature and other factors, the age-dependent molting time of young rabbits may vary.
2. Seasonal molting
Adult rabbits will molt once in spring and autumn every year. Gradually increasing and the weather is getting warmer, the rabbit will take off the “winter clothes” and put on the “summer clothes”; in autumn, the hair is usually changed from August to September, when the sunshine time is gradually shortened and the weather is getting cooler, the rabbit needs to take off the “summer clothes” and change Put on “winter clothes”. In addition, the morning and evening of hair growth and the duration of molting in rabbits will be affected by age, gender, health status, nutritional level and climate. Seasonal hair growth in rabbits is a normal metabolic condition. During this period, feeding is mainly to supplement the rabbit with rich nutrition.
