I. Principles and practice of weaning rabbits
The main purpose of rationally arranging the weaning of young rabbits is to allow the mother rabbit to have sufficient time to recuperate, restore her physique, and prepare for the next birth. At the same time, exercise the adaptability of young rabbits early to promote the healthy development and growth of young rabbits.
Under normal circumstances, it is recommended to wean them when they are 30 to 40 days old for young rabbits such as breeding rabbits, long-haired rabbits and rex rabbits; It is recommended to wean them around 28 to 35 days of age.
In addition, if the rabbits are subjected to the frequent breeding method, if the rabbits are to be blood-matched, be sure to arrange the pups to be weaned before the 28th day of age, otherwise the normal delivery of the mother rabbit and the birth of the next litter will be affected. Normal growth and development will be seriously affected; if blood matching is not implemented, the pups can be weaned around 42 days of age.
Generally speaking, if small breed rabbits are around 40 days old and weigh 500-600g, they can live independently, and they can be weaned; if it is a large breed rabbit, the weight reaches 1000 g ~1200g, consider weaning them. Generally, the larger the weight of weaned rabbits, the easier it is to raise after weaning, and the survival rate is also higher. In addition, if the growth and development of the pups are neat and robust, weaning of the pups at 35 days of age can generally be considered. Conversely, if the pups are thin and stunted, their weaning time should be extended appropriately.
Second, the method of weaning the baby rabbits
The baby rabbits are weaned once There are two methods of sexual weaning and staged weaning. The specific method to be used depends on the strength of the whole litter of rabbits. If the growth and development of the whole litter of rabbits is uniform and the physique is relatively robust, one-time weaning method can be adopted for them. The one-time weaning method refers to feeding the mother rabbit and the pups separately on the same day. For the female rabbit after weaning, within 2 to 3 days after weaning, the pet owner needs to stop feeding it with concentrated feed, and only feed it with green roughage, so that it will stop milking. If the whole litter grows unevenly, it is best to adopt batch weaning method. The batch weaning method means that the healthy young rabbits are weaned first, and the remaining small and weak young rabbits continue to let the mother rabbit breastfeed, let them eat breast milk for a few more days, and then wean the body when they are stronger, which is more beneficial to the weak young. Rabbit development, improve the survival rate of weaned rabbits.
2 to 3 days before weaning of young rabbits, reduce the feeding of concentrate and juicy feed to female rabbits, and increase the feeding amount of high-quality green hay accordingly, so that female rabbits can reduce milk secretion and prevent induced Doe mastitis. At the same time, in order to wean the young rabbits smoothly, they need to start feeding the young rabbits around 18 days of age, so that the young rabbits can gradually adapt to eating feed, so that they can grow and develop normally by feeding on their own feed after weaning. Continue feeding the young rabbits the same feed after weaning, and then gradually transition to the fattening feed after a few days.
3. Precautions for weaning of young rabbits
It is not advisable to leave the original rabbit house immediately after weaning of young rabbits. constant. Generally, after weaning, the young rabbits continue to be raised in the original rabbit cage for 3 to 5 days, and then live in the young rabbit cage. The new environment can improve the young rabbit’s ability to adapt to the new environment and reduce casualties. If the young rabbits are immediately moved to a new and unfamiliar environment as soon as they are weaned, and they cannot see the mother rabbit or smell the familiar smell in the original cage, they will be very restless, lose their appetite, and their vitality will decrease. Waiting for the stress response, the survival probability of the pups will be greatly reduced.
