Mating decorative rabbits. The most important thing to know about rabbit mating. How to tell if a mating was successful

Rabbit breeding has become a profitable industry in agriculture. This is facilitated by high fecundity, accelerated growth and weight gain of rabbits, and short gestation periods for the female. In order to obtain good offspring of rabbits, it is necessary to breed only the best individuals.

Mating rabbits at home is a responsible process. With a competent approach to this issue, it is possible to significantly improve the gene pool in the rabbit "family".

Terms for fertilization

Rabbits are fertile animals. Females can become pregnant at 4–5 months, males are ready to cover a female rabbit at six months of age. The exact time depends on . Small, ready to breed earlier, become sexually mature 15–20 days later.

Experienced breeders can determine that the rabbit is ready for mating by the following signs: the female plucks the fur on her stomach, runs restlessly around the cage, and carries grass from one end of the cage to the other.

You should know that rabbits are able to breed in winter and summer. Mating is allowed during the period of sexual hunting of the female. In summer - every 6-7 days, in winter months - every 9-10 days.

How to distinguish a rabbit from a rabbit

For it is not always clear why it is necessary if it is not supposed to be left for the continuation of offspring. This is also necessary for the safety of animals. When rabbits of different sexes sit together, males arrange fights, inflict sensitive injuries that do not always go unnoticed. It will be possible to consider obvious differences in gender no earlier than the rabbits are one month old. The female has a characteristic "loop", the male's testicles are well palpable.

You can also distinguish between a female and a male by other signs. In a female, the curves of the body are more rounded, voluminous croup, and the fur is softer. The physique of the male is stronger, the croup is narrow, the head is larger. If you plant rabbits side by side, the differences will be striking.

Given that rabbits occur at the age of 4 months or more, at this time the secondary signs are already evident.

Thoroughbred rabbits, which are intended for breeding for a tribe, it is advisable to show the veterinarian before buying so that he excludes developmental anomalies.

Features of the choice of partners

To get a high-quality viable offspring, you should carefully choose the producers. You can keep a rabbit for offspring if she is endowed with the instinct of motherhood. Unfortunately, this can only be seen when feeding rabbits.

Rabbits must meet the standards of the appropriate breed, be well-fed, completely healthy.

When selecting manufacturers, the following prohibitions should be considered:

• it is impossible to mate rabbits of relatives, especially those born in the same litter;
• no need to take individuals with large body fat for breeding;
• the covering of females is not allowed by sick animals, therefore, before mating, the rabbit must be carefully examined;
• animals that have an active molting process;
• a female, once seen eating offspring, is not suitable for bearing offspring;
• rabbits who had problems with milk production are not suitable;
• 20 days after vaccination, animals cannot be mated.

Rejection is carried out gradually. Infertile rabbits, aggressive, barren, are revealed. Not all breeds of rabbits can be crossed with each other.

The age of the animals matters. The female brings healthy offspring within 3-4 years. Approximately the same age is considered the best for males.

It is advisable to keep a written record, write down the data of the animal:

• date of birth;
• breed (including parents);
• mating and birth dates,
• how many rabbits are in the litter
• the number of non-surviving newborns.

This will help to cull and eliminate the problems associated with obtaining rabbit offspring.

If you happen to have rabbits from the same litter, the offspring will be weak, unviable, with low immunity to disease. Anomalies of physical development are possible.

How to prepare animals

Before the case of rabbits, they must be prepared in advance. Not later than 14 days before the selected animals change the diet, improving its quality. With insufficient weight, food should be more high-calorie. It is especially important to enrich the diet with fortified feed in the winter.

Practice shows that it is better to feed males during this period with potatoes and oats. Females are given concentrated feed and hay. Overfeeding animals is harmful, reproductive functions are reduced.

In order for the rabbit to walk the rabbit the first time, it is necessary to provide comfortable conditions for keeping. Animals should not be disturbed, temperature fluctuations, drafts and overheating should not be allowed. In winter, livestock breeders practice an artificial increase in daylight hours up to 15 hours with the help of lamps.

In large livestock farms, artificial insemination of rabbits is practiced. To carry out this procedure at home, you need to seek help from veterinarians.

Mating Technology

In the summer, it is better to mate in the morning or evening hours, in the cold season - in the afternoon.

It should be borne in mind that often after mating the rabbit is aggressive. Remove everything from the cage. The feeder is taken out. The cage must be clean.

It is recommended to pair young females with older males. If the rabbit fell after mating with a characteristic squeak, then the coating process has taken place. Rabbits who are on the hunt freely let the male in.

After 5-6 days, you should make sure that the event was successful. For this, a control case is carried out. The fertilized female fights furiously, does not allow the male to approach.

What to do if the rabbit does not let the rabbit

The mating of rabbits is not always successful. When it becomes clear that, shows signs of aggression, her. Try again every other day.

To get a rabbit to mate, you need to figure out why she is showing aggression. There can be a lot of reasons: improper care, incorrect determination of the days of sexual hunting, loud sounds frighten the female. Noise is a common cause of failure. The rabbit shows unmotivated stubbornness if for some reason she “did not like” the rabbit. There is a possibility that the animals will not show reciprocity, then other partners are selected.

Experienced farmers can immediately understand that the rabbit is ready for mating by external signs, and at this moment they put her in a cage with the rabbit.

How to check the result

Successful mating of rabbits or not is checked in the following ways:

• observe the behavior of the female during the control mating;
• 10 days after mating, the rabbit gently, so as not to provoke, probe the lower abdomen to identify a small oval seal.

In a female who bears offspring, behavior changes dramatically. She becomes calmer, her appetite improves. He shows distrust towards the owner, to the point that he does not allow himself to be taken in hand.

If there is not enough experience, there are doubts, the rabbit can be shown to the veterinarian.

Pregnancy lasts about a month. Dampness and drafts are contraindicated for the rabbit, you need a balanced diet, enough water.

Mating is a very responsible event, extremely important for successful breeding work. To improve performance, you should heed the advice of experienced livestock breeders:

• they do not plan mating on days when it is hot or very cold, since activity in animals decreases under adverse climatic conditions;
• during the molting period, the animals are weakened, the result will worsen;
• when the rabbit is ready to mate, she is placed in a cage with the male, and not vice versa;
• control cases cannot be neglected;
• do not allow inbreeding;
• it should be borne in mind that a rabbit can cover no more than 4–5 females per day;
• the rabbit must be young enough, not obese, not emaciated;
• it is necessary to happen rabbits for the first time according to this principle: young rabbits are selected in a pair of experienced ones;
• chronic lack of sunlight and fresh air causes deterioration in the health of rabbits and reduces their ability to produce viable offspring;
• in order to artificially inseminate rabbits, you must have at least a veterinary education and appropriate conditions, otherwise you can ruin the animal;
• to get healthy rabbits, the female needs to be given rest between births;
• it is not advisable to use an artificial pathogen for obese rabbits, since the use of hormonal agents will lead to a deterioration in the health of the animal, miscarriages, and the birth of unviable rabbits;
• rabbits begin to mate at the age of 4-5 months, so the rabbits need to be seated by this time;
• the longer the rabbits are with their mother, the healthier;
• males older than 4 months are seated in cages.

The main thing is that animals must be healthy, receive the necessary care and feeding for full development.

Are you already raising rabbits or just going to? So, you will be interested to know the following: how to mate them correctly in order to increase the offspring; what conditions are necessary for mating; why it is necessary to take into account some breed nuances; what mating period is considered the best.

Features of breeding work in households

An amateur rabbit breeder who breeds rabbits willy-nilly faces the problem of selection work. If this is not done, then inbreeding will eventually lead to the degeneration of the herd. Not to mention the defects that will appear every time with the new generation.

What to do in such a situation? Given that this problem concerns all small farms without exception, we need to help each other out, that is, to exchange either males or females. No wonder it is believed that breeding rabbits is a collective activity.

If there is no possibility of exchange, you can sell your producer and buy someone else's to renew the blood of the family. Another option is to take the rabbit to mating.

What is more profitable? Like it or not, it is still profitable to purchase a male for the farm if you have several females. Because it is he who will be the fresh blood of the rabbit family.

Adventures of rabbit breeders

Breeding rabbits should not be spontaneous. To avoid confusion, each rabbit breeder keeps a journal where he records all the changes in the rabbit family: mating, birthing, vaccinations, best rearing results, a good diet.

Rules for the selection of females and males

To get a good offspring when kept in cages, you should take care of it in advance and choose the right females and males.

Rule #1

Breeding rabbits should be based on the knowledge of specialists, and they recommend starting mating only when the female reaches the age five months, large breed - eight. The male is allowed to mate when he is six months old, large breeds - nine months. All animals must be healthy.

Rule #2

Overfed animals should not happen, but exhausted animals are not recommended.

The weight of animals can be from 3.5 kg, and large ones - from 5 kg.

Rule #3

If the animals molt, then the body is weakened. In this case, you need to wait until the molt passes, and only then can you have a female. The male will have to skip two molts.

Rule #4

Stronger offspring are obtained from spring births, so case the animals in the spring, starting from March, if the cages are not indoors.

Rule #5

Rule #6

If you notice that the rabbit is a bad mother, is infertile, cannot feed babies due to a small amount of milk, she should be culled.

Rule #7

Females and males for breeding should be kept in separate cages and receive a complete balanced diet.

Preparing for the mating

If you have already planned mating, then transfer the animals to enhanced nutrition in seven days. Arrange lighting with electricity if the cages are indoors. Make sure that the daylight hours are at least sixteen hours. In the case when mating is carried out in winter, the female needs to be fed vitamin E in the form of germinated grain for several days, compound feed with vitamin supplements, bone meal and cake of sunflower and soybeans.

When you notice that the rabbit becomes restless, plucking out the fluff and paving the place for the nest, then she is ready for mating. The females hunt every nine days, so as soon as the age of maturity of the rabbits comes, the young are seated by gender in different cages so that there is no spontaneous mating.

To make sure the rabbit is ready to mate, take her out of the cage or move her closer to you and stroke her back. If, under your hand, she begins to lie down on her stomach and stick out her ass, the female is on the hunt.

Before the mating process, remove the feeder and drinker, as the animals will be so active that they will turn them over.

What is the best time for mating

If you decide to have animals in the summer, you need to know that this should be done early in the morning or in the evening, when the heat subsides, because it greatly affects the process: animals in the heat will not have enough strength to mate.

In winter, on the contrary, plant the female during the day when it is warmest, and if there are frosts, it is better to wait until warm.

The nuances of mating rabbits

To keep rabbit breeding under control, you need to know some tricks.

• For mating, it is the female that is placed in the cage. Why? And because the male in a strange cage will be distracted, explore the territory, he will not be up to the rabbit. He must be at home, otherwise there is no guarantee of coverage.

• A young female may balk and even fight with a male. In this case, the rabbit breeder holds the rabbit lightly so that the rabbit makes a cage.
• Mating took place if the exhausted male falls to the side with a squeak. Two cages are usually carried out - the second will be the control.
• It takes several minutes for a rabbit to cover, sometimes more, but leaving the animals alone for a long time is not recommended, as they can injure each other.
• If the female categorically refuses the male, you must try again the next day. In case of failure, another rabbit is prepared for mating.
• To be 100% sure of success, you can repeat the mating again after six days, but rabbit breeders recommend not to do this, because there may be another coating.

How to determine sukrolnost

Watching the rabbit. If she is calm, has an increased appetite, is sometimes aggressive towards a person and is not given into her hands, she should be probed after two weeks.

Very carefully, first giving the animal a massage, that is, stroking the back so that the muscles relax, feel the stomach - you will feel tight lumps and a tight stomach under your fingers. In the future, palpation is not recommended so as not to harm the babies.

Sometimes there is a false pregnancy - all signs point to pregnancy: swollen glands, begins to build a nest, and after eighteen days everything goes away. If this happens repeatedly, the rabbit must be culled.

With repeated mating, another fertilization may occur, because rabbits have two wombs, but rabbits from the second are rarely healthy, as a rule, they are born dead. Yes, and the health of the female may suffer. Therefore, in order to breed rabbits to give good results, the control case should be resorted to as a last resort.

Methods for increasing offspring

In order to receive twenty-five rabbits a year, that is, to carry out four matings, it is recommended to make compacted rounds in spring and summer. In this case, the rabbits are taken from their mother after twenty-eight days. But it is better to plant the babies after forty days. Then semi-compacted mating can be done all year round.

Other important nuances:

• Strengthen the nutrition of the female, give vitamins. Otherwise, the female will not give healthy offspring.
• Mating is also carried out in winter, starting in December. In this case, it is necessary to provide animals with thick bedding.
• Before mating, rabbits are brought into rooms with a minimum temperature of up to five degrees and kept there until the rabbits are eighteen days old.
• The best females from the young begin to mate as early as four months.

As you already understood, breeding rabbits requires a competent, scientific approach. Then the offspring will be healthy and numerous, and females and males will not be depleted, and selection will give excellent results. And don't be shy to ask, get the opinion of experts. Their advice will help you avoid mistakes.

Control of hunting and fertility in rabbits:

It is no secret that rabbits often breed, which is why they have large offspring. For mating to be successful, the rabbit breeder must keep everything under control. This will allow healthy and full-fledged rabbits to be born.

Otherwise, the rabbit breeder will not be able to achieve the desired result. In order to avoid troubles, including the degeneration of individuals, you need to know how to correctly case rabbits. The body of rabbits matures quickly, so they are usually ready for mating a few months after birth.

If the breed is not important for the pet, then from the moment it reaches 4 months, the mating of rabbits begins. If the animal is purebred, and the offspring must be improved, you should wait until the moment when you can have animals. That is, postpone for 1-2 months.

If rabbits weigh more than 2.5 kg, then they become sexually mature at the age of 6 months. After that, another 2 months must pass before the rabbits can be crossed.

How to understand that a pet is ready to mate

When puberty occurs in rabbits, they begin to mark the cage. If you do not breed animals of different sexes in separate cages in time, unwanted mating may occur. This, as you know, should not be allowed. To exclude unwanted sexual intercourse in animals, it is necessary to accurately distribute rabbits by gender.

How to determine the gender of a rabbit

To distinguish a boy rabbit from a girl, you will need special knowledge, without which it is often not easy to do this. It's all about the structure of the organs of the reproductive system, it is this that makes it difficult for beginner rabbit breeders to determine the sex of a rabbit. However, to be able to do this, that is, to have skill is a must.

Otherwise, as already mentioned, after birth, unwanted offspring will appear.

As a result, breeding of individuals may incur losses, since the rabbit breeder will be forced to seek advice from a veterinarian, that is, he will spend a lot of time, effort and money. Therefore, pairing for beginners should be done taking into account the tips and rules.

Sex determination is carried out when the pet is 1 month old. If the rabbit is younger, then it will not work to understand whether it is a boy or a girl. Especially, you should not torment a newborn pet, because because of this, the female may stop feeding the cub with her milk.

However, even if the rabbit has reached the desired age threshold, it is not certain that its gender will be determined correctly. It happens that mistakes are made by those who have been breeding these animals for years.

There are special rules to be aware of:

1. When purchasing small pets, you do not need to trust the sellers, as they may tell a lie in order to sell the rabbit more quickly.
2. When buying, you should consult with someone who understands and knows everything about these animals.
3. If there is uncertainty in choosing a pet, then it is better to think it over carefully and make a purchase later.
4. If there is a desire to buy a rabbit, then you should choose one that is already 2 or more months old, because then you can determine the gender of the animal.

How to determine the sex of an adult rabbit

To determine the sex of a pet, first you need to calm the animal, because in the process the rabbit will break out and may scratch with its claws on its hind legs. These animals have great physical strength, so the rabbit breeder needs to act carefully. Determining the gender of a pet includes the following steps:

1. The rabbit is seated on a plane and taken by the withers.
2. The pet is slightly raised and sit on the hind limbs.
3. Immediately the animal is knocked over on its tail. It is important here that the rabbit does not roll over on its abdomen.
4. While the pet is in this position, you should feel the area where the organs of the reproductive system are located.

If the pet is female, then when feeling, a sharp triangle will appear, similar to a tongue. Otherwise, you can see the penis, outwardly resembling a small bullet.

In addition, the boy's testicles can be felt, which act like tubercles. There must be two testicles, otherwise the pet is prone to cryptorchidism, which is difficult to treat even with a vaccine.

Experienced rabbit breeders are also advised to lay the pet on their knees with their backs and check the genitals, however, this method is dangerous for humans, since there is a risk of serious injury from a frightened animal. This advice is especially not recommended if large individuals are bred.

How to determine the sex of small rabbits

Since rabbits at a young age have not fully expressed organs of the reproductive system, they can be recognized with a magnifying glass. First you need to gently press on the central part of the area where the genitals are located. If the individual is female, then nothing can be seen. In boys, a bulge with a small hole can be seen.

To be able to correctly determine the gender little rabbit, it is worth practicing on older individuals. In this case, you should pay attention to every little thing and minor differences. Only by experience can a rabbit breeder be able to learn how to distribute rabbits by gender.

The criterion that some rabbit breeders resort to is the behavior of the pet. However, this is not the surest way, since all young individuals are distinguished by agility, playfulness, and mobility. This is triggered by hormones and the desire of pets to always be on the move. You can determine the sex in adults if you pay attention to the physical data of the rabbit.

For example, a male pet is larger in size, its head is also large. As a rule, it helps if the rabbit belongs to large breed. It is also important to know everything about puberty in rabbits in order to be prepared for this and prevent unplanned mating.

Who will be the successor of the family

The selection is based on the physical data of individuals, that is, the size and weight of the pet are important. It is these rabbits that mate with females to produce healthy offspring. In order for a male to be suitable for mating, she must be active, eat a lot and regularly, and have the right weight.

All this will allow the rabbit to be healthy and produce full-fledged offspring. To have a complete impression of the male, you should follow the process of mating. If more was expected from a rabbit, then it is considered culled and is unlikely to pass the sample next time. Among those who will not be chosen as the successor of the family, there may be:

• male individuals who are unable to have cubs;
• restless and nervous rabbits;
• rabbits over 2 years old.

After the round, conclusions are drawn regarding the female. From the subsequent sample, rabbits are excluded who:

• they ate the baby rabbits that were born or did not feed the cubs with milk;
• had 2 or more miscarriages;
• after several matings, they did not acquire a brood;
• they give birth to up to 4 cubs at a time.

How to prepare mating rabbits

Reproduction of rabbits at home has a preparatory stage. Before pairing begins, the following steps should be performed:

1. A few weeks before mating, the amount of feed should be increased, while hay and young tree branches should be left in the same proportion.
2. The female should not be over-fed, as fertilization may not occur due to this.
3. It is advisable to examine individuals after vaccination in order to identify the presence or absence of unpleasant symptoms that can lead to illness.
4. The male can be fed with boiled potatoes or steamed cereals.
5. Before mating, the rabbit is carefully checked, as there are times when the female does not want to mate.

To understand that the rabbit is ready to mate, you should pay attention to her genitals. If everything is in order, then the genital loop swells and has a rich pink hue. It happens that the female in a few days begins to behave restlessly and refuse to eat.

As a rule, after puberty in rabbits, estrus lasts about 4 days. In summer this happens regularly: every 2 weeks, and in winter about 10 days.

To mate rabbits most successfully, one of the pair must be much older than the other in age and already have experience in this matter, while the second mating may occur for the first time.

Note that 5 females can get pregnant from 1 rabbit. At the same time, the male occurs during the day with only two rabbits. It is better that the rabbit has a rest that will allow him to recuperate.

Rabbits breed regardless of the season. It is desirable that this happens in the summer, when pets are kept outdoors. If the rabbits live in a warm room, then it does not matter at what time of the year mating occurs.

mating process

It is naive to believe that the sexual intercourse of pets will happen in any cage. To achieve the desired result, the female must be placed in the usual conditions for her partner, that is, in his cage. Otherwise, the mating of rabbits will not bring any benefit.

The thing is that the rabbit should feel comfort and confidence, the cage in which he existed before mating has such an atmosphere. If the male is placed with the rabbit, then he will first begin to examine the new place and, perhaps, will not even pay attention to the partner.

The cage in which the pets will be mated is pre-cleaned and washed so that there is nothing superfluous left, and mating is not carried out on litters.

In most cases, rabbits begin to mate instinctively, so the process is not too difficult.

At the end of the mating, the male lies on his side and purrs. And a day after that, In order for fertilization to occur, a control mating is certainly desirable, which is resorted to after a few days.

And you can also put the rabbit in the male's cage for a couple of days. If the female does not want to mate and does not allow the rabbit to approach her, then soon she will have offspring.

Rabbit pregnancy symptoms

To understand whether a round will happen soon, you need to observe how the rabbit will behave during the control mating. As already mentioned, if she lets the male close to her, then fertilization did not happen. In the case when the female avoids a partner, she is pregnant. There is also the so-called false pregnancy.

It manifests itself in the fact that the rabbit behaves as is typical for pregnant females, but in the end the main thing does not happen - the birth. You can know for sure that the female is expecting cubs after a few weeks from the moment of mating. The rabbit must be examined to identify symptoms of pregnancy.

To do this, the abdomen is felt, if it was possible to recognize the balls there, the form of which the embryos take, then we can safely say that the female will soon have offspring. Otherwise, the breeder is dealing with a false pregnancy.

What is inbreeding

This phenomenon is a process when relatives happen. Since inbreeding can lead to the production of weak and unhealthy rabbits, whose immune systems cannot resist diseases and viruses, they try not to use it. Not a single rabbit breeder will deliberately cross related individuals with each other.

As a rule, this process occurs spontaneously, as it gives negative consequences. For example, if you keep many young pets in one cage.

Typically, inbreeding is used by breeders when related animals are mated for scientific purposes. If the rabbit breeder, who has his own farm, deliberately resorts to inbreeding, then this measure is forced, since there are only related pairs, and it is impossible to get others. For this case, there are special rules:

• relationship should be as far as possible, this will reduce the risk of the birth of unhealthy offspring;
• mating is carried out between healthy individuals;
• born rabbits, it is desirable to score and sell the carcass in the form of meat pieces;
• be sure to acquire a new individual, which will not be a related pair to the rest.

Mating pets of different breeds

One of the main points that interests all rabbit breeders is the possibility of crossing rabbits of different breeds belonging to different breeds. This method is necessary if the goal is to make the traits of the offspring better.

After crossing different breeds, rabbits are born healthy and large. They are able to gain mass even with a small amount of food.

In addition, interbreeding helps to remove any shortcomings that purebred pets have.

What breeds of rabbits can be crossed? Of course, these breeds should differ, but at the same time be combined with each other. In particular, a hybrid can be obtained by breeding a gray giant rabbit with a chinchilla.

Is it possible to mate rabbits often

After a day has passed since the birth of the offspring, the rabbit is ready for the next mating. However, the primary goal for her is now considered to be caring for and feeding the rabbits, so it is better to wait with the next mating.

There are cases when rabbit breeders mate a nursing rabbit with a new male so that she becomes pregnant again.

It should be remembered that in this case, the health of the female can be undermined, therefore, the rabbits will not be able to be of better quality and healthier.

How long should it take for the female to fully recover? It is better to save it for some time from the moment it was born. Her body should return to normal in 1-2 months. After that, she will be completely ready for a new pairing.

Breeding rabbits is rightfully considered a difficult task that requires a careful approach. If all the rules and recommendations are followed, it will bring considerable profit and become a business that can be developed day by day, increasing income.

If you approach the matter competently and seriously, carefully plan the rounds and get the most healthy rabbits, then the offspring will be of better quality and more complete.

Igor Nikolaev

Reading time: 5 minutes

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Any breeder of rabbits, for their successful breeding, must have necessary knowledge about such things as the optimal age for the first mating, the diet of animals before mating, as well as various tricks and tricks to get the best result.

The unpretentiousness of rabbits and their resistance to low temperatures makes it possible to obtain offspring from them even in winter, if they are given comfortable conditions for this.

An increase in livestock is the foundation on which all rabbit breeding stands. Mating rabbits requires increased attention from the breeder, and above all, this concerns the choice of pairs for breeding.

Male producers must meet the following requirements:

• individuals from the first or second (in extreme cases - from the third) litter of a rabbit uterus are suitable for reproduction;
• selection of males is carried out immediately after birth; in any offspring there are the weakest cubs and, usually, one, strong and large; it is he who is the best candidate for subsequent reproduction;
• attention should also be paid to the weight of the rabbit, the quality of its coat, its body type and activity level.

Culling is done based on how many matings were unsuccessful.

If every third mating of rabbits did not lead to the pregnancy of the female, then such a male is not suitable as a producer.

Among rabbits, selection for a tribe takes place according to the following parameters:

• cull rabbits that are not fertilized as a result of control mating;
• also, females are not suitable for the tribe, in which in several offspring in a row there are less than four cubs;
• do not take on the tribe of rabbits that eat their offspring;
• also important high level milk production, which is an indicator of the good performance of the female.

It is generally accepted that in a personal farmstead there should be at least two breeding males with high sexual activity. Phlegmatic and lethargic animals are subject to culling. Before mating, animals should be carefully examined for general health.

Optimal age and best time for mating rabbits

Beginner rabbit breeders should be aware that females of almost any breed are ready for the first mating at the age of five months, while their weight must be at least three kilograms (if these are not decorative small breeds). It should also be remembered that the smaller the breed, the earlier the first mating can be carried out. The same is true in the opposite sense: the larger - the later.

For example, females of black-brown, white or gray giant, which are related to large rabbits, for the first mating they are allowed later for about two to four weeks. However, overexposure of the animal is also not worth it, because it is gaining weight, which negatively affects its ability to fertilize.

The male rabbit is ready to go to mating at the age of 6 to 8 months.

How do you know when a rabbit is ready to mate?

Rabbits can happen at a certain time, which is called the hunting period for females. You can determine the onset of this period by the behavior of the rabbit and by some external signs.

Usually females behave calmly and quietly, but with the onset of the hunt they begin to worry, drag the litter, scatter food, and sometimes begin to pinch the fluff on their chest. Food refusal is possible. The loop of the genital organs of the rabbit is usually pale pink, not enlarged. When the female begins to "want" the male, her loop swells and turns bright pink. Such signs appear in females, regardless of their breed.

Hunting in females that have already brought offspring can begin one or two days after birth and lasts for five days. The next two days (6-7th) it goes into decline, and then comes the time of rest. The frequency of hunting is individual. In some females, the cycle is 9 days (in summer), in others - 15-20 days (other periods of the year).

Rabbits breed all year round. In the summer, mating is best done in the morning and evening. The most unfavorable time for mating is October and November, since during these months the animals are usually lethargic.

The high fecundity of rabbits is due to the fact that females are ready for mating already on the second day after birth. However, you need to give them time to feed offspring.

Before the breeding season, rabbits need to be prepared for it.

For 15-20 days, you need to examine the animals, determine their weight and general health. Sick and weakened individuals are not allowed to mate. If a lack of weight is found, such rabbits are transferred to enhanced nutrition.

Also, preparation should concern the composition of animal feed. Two weeks before mating, a mixture of boiled potatoes with steamed oats is added to the diet of males. Rabbits are given concentrated food, without changing the amount of branch food and hay. It should be remembered that overfed animals reproduce worse. If a rabbit is found to be obese, then concentrated feeds and foods with a high concentration of starch are almost completely removed from its diet.

Before mating, it is necessary to examine the female's nipples (their number is eight or ten), and the external genitalia. Rabbits with deviations from the norm are culled. It is also impossible to happen those animals that have an active molt.

To obtain the best results when mating, several conditions must be observed:

Before mating, you need to remove the drinker and feeder from the cage.

Be sure to put the female in the cage with the male, and not vice versa. This is necessary in order for the rabbit to feel confident in the familiar environment.

At this time, the animals must be observed, as a fight is possible between them.

The mating of rabbits is considered to have taken place when, after the process, the male falls on his side (sometimes at the same time he makes soft rumbling sounds). This process should be repeated two or three times.

After mating, the female is transferred back to her cage. If the mating did not work out, then after 2-4 hours the rabbit is again planted to the rabbit. If nothing happens again, after a day the female is planted with another male.

After 5-6 days after the end of the mating of rabbits, a control mating is carried out. If the rabbit does not want to mate, she is pregnant. In this case, she will not let the male approach, she will scream, fight and bite.

In large rabbit farms, artificial insemination of rabbits is used. This method is considered the most efficient. First, the female is placed next to the male, and then, at the very beginning of the process, a test tube is placed and the sperm is collected. After that, the veterinarian fertilizes with a special syringe.

Any rabbit breeder needs to keep a journal in which they carefully record the dates of mating, their time, as well as the nicknames or numbers of mated animals.

Inbreeding is the mating of rabbits that are related. Such mating of rabbits negatively affects both the health and the size of the offspring.

However, some rabbit breeders deliberately go for crossing such animals, and for quite a long time. In order to obtain a new breed.

Random inbreeding is possible in cases where young animals are not bred on time.

Since such crossing is harmful, you need to periodically buy males from other families.

If there is no opportunity to infuse fresh blood, the most distant of the available relatives are mated.

Rabbits tolerate cold well and are able to breed in winter. However, during severe frosts in the rabbitry, it is better to increase the heating. Rabbits do not tolerate drafts well. In addition, the rabbitry and cages must be dry so that the animals do not catch cold.

In winter, mating is best done during the daytime. There are no differences between summer and winter mating, there are only nuances. Firstly, the reduction of daylight hours negatively affects the activity of animals, so experienced rabbit breeders often "prolong" the day with the help of artificial lighting. Secondly, during winter birth, there is rarely more than one rabbit in the offspring. This is not a pathology, but a feature of rabbit physiology.

In winter, newborn rabbits are best placed in a warmer place than where adult animals are kept.

Reproduction of rabbits is a fairly rapid process, because these fluffy animals are famous for their unprecedented fertility. Pretty soon puberty characteristic of rabbits of any breed, and constant reproduction is vital for these animals.

Farmers began to use these qualities for personal gain, because if you approach rabbit breeding correctly, there will be no shortage of young animals on the farm, and, accordingly, dietary meat and beautiful skins. In this article, we will describe in detail all the key points, as well as the nuances and secrets of such a type of farming as rabbit breeding.

At the age of three months, the rabbits begin to show interest in the opposite sex, but full maturation is only suitable for five to six months. When choosing rabbits for mating, great attention is paid to their physique, health, level of development and activity. Rabbits selected for further breeding should not have:

• small, narrow chest;
• hump;
• droopy ears;
• disproportionate addition.

Fur on animals should shimmer and give off a slight sheen - this indicates good health of the rabbit, while dull ragged hair indicates problems inside the body. For breeding, it is best to use individuals obtained from the first to the third round of rabbits.

An equally important indicator is the weight of both parents - rabbits should not be too skinny, however, excess weight should also be absent. If the rabbits are too thin, there is a chance of getting a dead offspring. Individuals who are overweight are often very lazy - this is manifested not only in the manifestation of physical activity, but also in their unwillingness to communicate with the opposite sex.

Those individuals that have been selected for mating must undergo a small inspection. They must be weighed, all vaccinations must be done in advance and make sure that the rabbits do not have diseases. If the selected individuals are too skinny, the calorie content of foods is increased in the daily diet. If, on the contrary, they are too fat, they are put on a diet, reducing the number of calories eaten per day.

Compound feed for rabbits should be balanced, saturated with vitamins and useful substances important for the development of animals. You can choose the right food for a particular individual only taking into account its age, developmental characteristics, and breed. We'll tell you how to do it.

Future parents should definitely add boiled potatoes and oats to the food. Feed is also introduced to females, which will fill her body with all the useful substances.

Important point! In rabbits, before mating, you need to carefully check the nipples and external organs. The first must necessarily be paired - ideally 8 or 10 pieces.

It also happens that rabbits cannot be reduced for the following reasons:

1. Close relatives. It is very dangerous to mate animals that have family ties, as there is a possibility of weak, sick offspring. Such mating is possible only under the supervision of experienced professionals during the breeding of a new breed.
2. Molt. Rabbits should not happen if one of them has begun the process of active molting - at this time, the immunity of the animal is greatly undermined.

How to choose a male sire?

Rabbits can be hatched after they reach at least four months of age. The male must weigh at least 2.5 - 4 kilograms (an exception is made only for decorative or dwarf individuals). It is impossible to determine a single maximum weight, since each breed of rabbits has its own.

The genetics of future offspring always depends to a greater extent on males, which is why they are carefully selected and must meet all the requirements.

When choosing a thoroughbred rabbit-producer, the following preparation is carried out:

• testing for sperm activity;
• control of the number of available offspring and their breed;
• analysis of previous litters of rabbits, their weight growth and development.

The best options would be rabbits at the age of one year, having a good sexual constitution. These individuals can be planted with eight females (occur four times a day). If you choose younger rabbits, then you need to mate them with no more than six rabbits. In this case, the cage should be only once every seven days.

When choosing a young rabbit for mating, it is advisable to choose a more experienced rabbit. However, even such individuals do not always allow young animals to approach them - this is due to the fact that the secret glands have not yet fully developed in rabbits, and therefore the females do not feel the necessary smell. In this case, the owner must independently help the rabbit, holding the female.

It is believed that a rabbit will not make a good sire if about 30% of the females placed with him fail to conceive. In such cases, rabbits are allowed for meat and are no longer planted with females. They also do with those males who lack one testicle, since, most likely, mating will be ineffective.

Price for scales for weighing animals

Scales for animals

How to choose a female for mating?

With females, the situation is somewhat different. Their puberty occurs after the onset of the first hunt or estrus - such periods can occur as early as three months, or much later. However, at the age of three months, you have to wait with the first mating, as there is a possibility that the rabbit simply cannot bear her offspring.

At this age, the young rabbit still continues to form the skeleton and develop the body, including the endocrine system. The rabbits born from such a female will be weak and most of them will die, and after an unsuccessful pregnancy, the female will no longer be able to give birth.

In addition to too young rabbits, females with the following problems are also not suitable for breeding:

• the female in the last pregnancy was able to become pregnant only after the third mating, or even later;
• in the previous two offspring, there were less than five young in total;
• the rabbit bit her babies.

Characteristics of sexual hunting in females

Estrus, or, as it is also called, the period of sexual hunting, a rabbit can have several times a year. So, for example, in the summer months it happens at least once a week and lasts from two to six days. In the winter, cold months, a little more than a week, about 8-9 days, can pass between two hunts.

However, females can also mate on other days when they are not in heat. This is because ovulation occurs with almost every sexual intercourse, it is manifested by a natural reflex. This helps to delay or bring closer the mating process and, accordingly, the birth of rabbits.

But, ideally, you need to make sure that the mating coincides with the hunting period - then there will be more chances for a successful mating. How to understand that the hunting period has come? Quite simply, you just need to watch the rabbit. On such days they have:

• swelling of the external genital organs, change in color;
• low appetite of the animal;
• more active behavior, abrupt, perhaps somewhat aggressive.

Sunlight also greatly influences the attraction of rabbits to the opposite sex, but it is believed that the best time for mating is winter. At such a time, young rabbits have to fight for survival in a cold environment, which means that they will grow up stronger and more resistant to any situations. Also, these babies grow quite quickly. But the final decision for mating remains with the owner, because animals have the ability to reproduce year-round.

Mating rabbits

You can organize mating in cages (they happen a couple), or in special pits (one male for several females). The second case is suitable for getting as many rabbits as possible, which in the future will go for meat. Decorative rabbits are mated only by the cellular method.

To make a couple in a cage, the male rabbit is not touched for this, leaving him in his usual home. A rabbit is put next to him so that no bilateral disagreements and fights happen. As mentioned above, young rabbits need to be planted with experienced, giving birth females. The same thing happens with females: they need to be planted only with those males who have already had a mating.

The mating process itself is very fast and uncomplicated - the rabbit begins to run after the rabbit, after which it catches up with her and mates. It takes no more than thirty seconds. However, in any case, you need to monitor the rabbits: if the female is unhappy with the male you have chosen, she can provoke a quarrel and a fight.

Breeding rabbits in a pit: step by step instructions

To do, you will need to make a little effort. To do this, follow a small instruction that will help you do everything right and not make a mistake.

Step one: dig a small pit, which will be a little more than one meter in size.

Step two: put a metal grate on the bottom of the pit. Enclose the walls with bricks (reinforced concrete rings can be laid out in a round pit).

Step three: pour sand into the pit, and then dig a hole in it. Run the rabbits selected for mating there. Place feeders and drinkers for animals around the perimeter of the walls.

Animals will independently dig in the future all the necessary minks, which resemble holes in wild nature. The rabbit covers the rabbits without the help or supervision of the owner.

Important point! The pit method is not bad for breeding if the number of offspring is very important. However, there is a significant disadvantage: the animals are unattended, and therefore there is a risk of crossing related individuals, due to which some rabbits may be born weak and sick, or even die.

Reproduction of rabbits in a cage

This environment helps the owner to observe the entire mating and then pregnancy. However, in order for rabbits to be able to create a small family, to prepare for offspring, an extensive cage is needed, and not just a compartment for keeping a rabbit.

First, you need to let the male into such a cage, and only when he gets used to it, it will be possible to let the rabbit in there. If mating has taken place and the rabbit becomes pregnant, the rabbit is subsequently moved back, and the rabbit is given a cage.

During the proposed mating, all drinkers and feeders must be removed from the cage so that they do not interfere with the male. It also happens that the female still did not like her "groom" and mating did not happen. In this case, you need to remove this rabbit from the rabbit, and instead plant a calmer one.

Prices for cages for rabbits

Rabbit cage

Pregnancy: has it come or not?

Sometimes, as a result of mating, the female still does not become pregnant - this happens quite rarely, however, this state of affairs also takes place. In order to make sure that the pregnancy has taken place, the mating is repeated after 5-6 days. If the rabbit refuses the rabbit, then most likely she is already pregnant and is expecting an addition.

Sometimes in farming, a procedure such as artificial insemination is used. It is much more effective and gives almost 100% results. This is done in the following way:

1. The rabbit is placed next to the chosen male.
2. The owner closely monitors the process and, when the rabbit catches up with the female, he substitutes a small test tube and collects the rabbit's seed in it.
3. The male is put back, and the rabbit is independently injected with sperm using a special syringe.

10 days after mating, you can determine whether the rabbit is pregnant or not - this will require two people. To check the position of the female, you need to put her on a flat surface with her head in your direction. Holding the withers and ears, you need to gently feel the lower abdomen. If it is solid, then pregnancy has come. Most importantly, remember that everything must be done very carefully, as pregnant rabbits are very aggressive and can injure you or your assistant.

On the fifteenth day after mating, you will be able to find out more precisely about pregnancy, since at this age the embryos of rabbits are already being felt. However, if you are the owner of expensive decorative rabbits, then you need to check the presence of offspring only by ultrasound.

Video - How to determine the pregnancy of a rabbit

Rabbit pregnancy and childbirth

Each rabbit, if she has no health problems, is able to give birth up to six times a year. For each litter, a female can have up to ten young rabbits. Curiously, some individuals have a double uterus, which allows pregnancy from two rabbits.

Pregnancy of rabbits passes quickly - it lasts only one month. The specific figure for each breed is different, but often does not exceed 30 days. In previously giving birth rabbits, this period can be reduced by 1-2 days.

Caring for a pregnant rabbit

A female in position needs a spacious room (a cage with a queen cell - a closed compartment for a nest) and a properly composed diet. The daily diet should contain a large amount of proteins, feed and protein supplements. It will be quite difficult for a female to carry out a pregnancy on a plant-based diet. Also in the diet include cells, potatoes.

Table 1. The amount of food required for pregnant and lactating individuals.

Before the birth of rabbits, it is necessary to prepare a safe place for them - the bottom of the cage must be covered with soft hay so that it is comfortable to sleep and crawl on it. If you have rabbits ornamental breeds, then you will need to purchase a special bedding for them.

Make sure that too much light does not fall into the area where the cage is, as it causes anxiety for the mother. The cage must be warm (at least 25 degrees). There should also be no drafts or loud noises. It is important to follow these rules throughout your pregnancy.

After the birth of the rabbits, you should not disturb the rabbit or babies. Only after a day you will be able to remove the cage, filling it with clean and fresh hay, get rid of dead rabbits and see the number of newborns. If necessary, you can start to case the female again, but it is advisable to give her time to put her body in order.

"Nest" for the care of rabbits

Maternal instinct in rabbits

Every female rabbit who has given birth must be checked for the presence of such instincts - they must manifest themselves in her good attitude towards offspring. The female should not be aggressive against the rabbits, refuse to feed them. If you notice that the rabbit does not have such an instinct, the babies can be transplanted to another mother or fed on their own.

It is often found that the rabbit eats her babies. This happens for several reasons:

• unbalanced diet during pregnancy;
• lack of milk in a rabbit;
• mastitis.

To prevent trouble, it is important to change the hay in the cage so that it is always fresh and feed your animals properly.

It also happens that the rabbits fall out of the cells, however, this does not always indicate a bad attitude of the mother towards him. This can also happen if the baby sucked milk from the mother and caught on the cage when she left it. If the baby is alive, carefully take the bunny with a medical glove and put it back in the cage.

Growth and development of rabbits

Rabbits are born weak, unable to take care of themselves. They do not see, hear or even have fur on their bodies, so they must be well taken care of, especially in the first days of life. The main source of strength and strong immunity is a warm room and the milk of a mother rabbit. However, if she does not have milk, you will have to take care of the nutrition of the newborns yourself.

With proper feeding, babies gain weight very quickly - already after fourteen days they weigh a couple of times more than on the first day of life, and after a month - already 10 times more. In this they are helped by mother's milk, which contains the largest amount of protein, compared with the milk of other mammals.

Then you can sort the offspring: one of the rabbits will go for fattening, someone can be left for the tribe. For further reproduction, it is recommended to take those individuals in which the signs of pedigree are most pronounced.

Summing up

Rapid development and the possibility of frequent mating are important features that attract farmers to breed rabbits not only on large farms, but also in private homes. Even if it turns out that one or two females fail, there will definitely be one on the farm that can compensate for all the damage, because of which the farmer will never be at a loss.

Video - Rabbit mating