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Benefits Of Rabbits

Raising rabbits are much cheaper, more efficient, and more productive than raising chickens.

Rabbit meat tastes good too, some people say that it taste much like poultry. Rabbit meat is mild and savory, never gamy. It is extremely lean, making it perfect for cholesterol-reducing diets. Cooking with liquids keeps rabbit dishes moist and tender. If you’re not minding your fat intake, you may want to choose recipes that use oil to maintain juiciness.

Rabbit meat contains 20% protein, which is higher than the protein content of pork (17%) and chicken (19%) although slightly lower than beefs (22%). In texture, odor, color and taste, rabbit meat is similar to chickens and hardly contains fat. It is easier to raise rabbits than chicken or pig.

1. A doe (female rabbit) can produce up to 1000% her body weight in food per year.
2. Rabbits can be raised in confinement, whereas chickens need much more space.
3. Chicken reproduction is “light sensitive”, whereas rabbit reproduction is opportunity sensitive.
4. It is much easier to raise food for rabbits than it is food for chickens.
5. Since rabbits are raised in confinement, it drastically reduces the threat to your herd from predators.
6. You can skin and butcher 5 rabbits to every chicken given the same amount of time.
7. Rabbit fur can be a separate barter item.

Care

Besides providing you with meat, rabbits produce dung, which makes a good fertilizer. Rabbit skins and fur have many uses. A rabbit can be a source of instant cash in an emergency.

1. For a start, one can raise two (2) females age 2 months (just weaned) and a male.
2. Select a good breed like New Zealand White and California White.
3. Select a young rabbit from a prolific mother that bears well and nurses her kids well.
4. Select an aggressive male, healthy, and without defect for breeding.
5. Each rabbit must have its pen or cage where it can stay quietly, not directly under the heat of the sun, about 8×10 sq.ft. or 2.5 ft x 4 ft x 2 ft high.
6. Separate the male from the female — the rabbit likes its own private place — undisturbed by others.

Feeding

Rabbits also eat a number of other foods. My rabbits eats lettuce, carrots, apples and bananas. They also like pears, strawberries, sunflower seeds and a number of other vegetarian food. Fruits and vegetables should be given to yours once a day. Try to vary what you give your rabbits and remember to only let the rabbits eat as much as they want and then take the food out of the cage. If left in the cage it can spoil and the rabbits may get sick. Vegetables are better for your rabbit because they do not have as many calories and are a good source of roughage for your rabbit.

Try to keep your rabbit’s forage dry, especially in hot weather. If your rabbit eats wet forage it may get sick with diarrhea and even die. If forage is wet when you cut it, let it dry for a few hours before you give it to your rabbit.

Your rabbit needs clean water at least twice a day. You should also clean your rabbit’s water container or bowl often. Rabbits are subject to dehydration, so make sure they always have plenty of water.

The rabbit is a vegetarian — feed once in the morning and once toward late afternoon. To supplement their diet, add:

• grains 15-25%, soybean meal 5%, copra meal 4%, ipil-ipil leaves 0.1%, powdered shell or shellfish 125%, salt 0.25%
• green leafy vegetables: pechay, mustard, lettuce, camote leaves, cabbage, young bamboo, winged beans, malunggay, and similar vegetables.
• root crops — camote, gabi, yam, potatoes, carrot, turnip, raddish
• grass — cut from the lawn, stems and leaves of soybean plant, eggplant, mongo, cadios, beans, etc.
• banana peels, melon and watermelon peels (but not papaya or sayote)
• burnt rice from the kettle, bread (no molds) toasted bread, etc.
• always provide clean drinking water, frequently changed, especially if the rabbit is nursing kids.

Breeding

Rabbits are known as prolific breeders, a reputation well earned. When it is time to breed the female rabbit, put her into the cage with the male in the early morning or evening. After they have mated, put her back in her own cage. Her litter will be born about a month later.

At mating time, the female rabbit becomes restless, loses appetite to eat, and the genital is inflamed. Put the female rabbit in the pen of the male. If the male rabbit is placed in the females pen, the male might be killed because the female does not want to be disturbed in her place. The
best time for mating rabbits is early in the morning (5:00 am – 8:00 am) or about 4:00 pm -7:00 pm not less than twice. Do not leave the female rabbit overnight in the male rabbits pen.

About a week before your rabbit’s babies are born, give her a nest box where she can give birth. The nest is also a warm, dry place for the young rabbits. There are 6 to 10 babies in a litter. Their eyes will not open until about two weeks after they are born. Do not touch any of the baby rabbits until they are 7 days old. If you do, you will change the way they smell, and the mother will not feed them. If you need to check the baby rabbits, rub your hands over the mother first. Then the babies will smell like their mother instead of smelling like your hands.

When they are two months old, baby rabbits should be weaned from their mothers. You can breed the female again once her litter has been weaned. Feed them for another two months. Then, when they weigh about 4.5 lbs, they are big enough to eat or sell.

Rabbits can give you and your family meat and earn you extra income. And since they are small and easy to feed, they adapt well to city conditions.

Delivery

1. The rabbits pregnancy is from 28 days (if young) up to 32 days if it is matured.
2. When delivery time is near, the mother rabbit becomes jittery or upset — it scratches the floor of its pen, scatters or disarranges it, pulls it own fur, and lays it on her nest.
3. At the time of delivery, the mother rabbit does not want to be disturbed. It becomes nervous, and so all disturbances must be avoided, like the presence of children, cats, dogs or others.
4. Do not touch the small ones within the 24 hours after birth because when the mother rabbit senses that her kids have been touched, she will abandon them or eat them.
5. If the small rabbits manifest restlessness, dissolve one-half (½) teaspoon Sulmet in a liter of water and let them drink this for 3 days. Terramycin powder will also do.
6. After 10 days, the small ones will leave their nest and begin to eat vegetables; when these are three (3) weeks old, they will eat other foods.
7. At this time, the mother rabbit can be mated again, and the small ones be fattened and eventually slaughtered — about five (5) months old. When raising rabbits, all important events must be noted, such as date of mating, delivery, nursing, first feeding of vegetables, and such others that will facilitate care.

Rabbit Cages

Healthy and productive rabbits need clean, dry homes. You can keep them in cages raised above the ground on posts or on a fence. The bottom of the cage should be three to four feet above the ground–a convenient height for you to work with your rabbits. Some people save space by building shelves on a wall for the cages. Keep each adult rabbit in its own cage. Each cage should be three feet square, and about two feet high, large enough for a rabbit and its young to move around a little bit. Put the cage in a place that is protected from rain, wind, and hot sun.

Keep the cages clean. Dirt, droppings, and urine from rabbits can contain germs that will make them sick… and a dirty cage will attract flies. You will find it easier to keep a rabbit cage clean if the floor of the cage has holes just large enough for dirt, droppings, and urine to fall through. If the spaces are too large, it is uncomfortable for the rabbit’s feet, and baby rabbits’ feet may be injured by slipping through the holes.

You can make the floor from wire mesh. Thick wire, with holes that are a 1/2 in. square, is best. Do not use old, rusty, or broken wire mesh. And do not use chicken mesh, because it is too thin and will hurt the rabbit’s feet.

The walls should let in plenty of fresh air to keep the rabbits from getting too hot. The walls can have larger spaces in them than the floor.

The door on your cage should be big enough so that you can reach in easily to feed the rabbits and clean every part of the cage. You might want to build a cage with a roof that comes off instead of a regular door.

Rabbits Are Territorial

Rabbits are extremely territorial. In the wild, rabbits’ territorial behavior includes depositing marking pellets at the boundaries of their territory, chinning, urinating, and aggressive behavior such as digging, circling, and fighting. Wild males tend to defend larger territories while females concentrate on their nests. Thus, when introducing new rabbits, territory must be considered. What you are trying to do is eliminate the possibility for there to develop any territorial behavior in the rabbits. Use a water bottle (with the nozzle set on “stream”) to break up any fights if they occur. It’s best to spray the instigator before a fight actually occurs (watch for aggressive body language) rather than work on breaking up an existing fight.

Interpreting Body Language And Behavior

Rabbits have a language all their own. here are some tips on interpreting your bunnies hops, kicks and grunts.

• Sniffing: May be annoyed or just talking to you.
• Grunts: Usually angry, watch out or you could get bit!
• Shrill Scream: Hurt or dying
• Circling Your Feet: Usually indicates sexual behavior.
• Spraying: Males that are not neutered will mark female rabbits in this manner as well as their territory. Females will also spray.
• Chinning: Their chin contains scent glands, so they rub their chin on items to indicate that they belong to them. Same as a cat rubbing it’s forehead on people and objects.
• False Pregnancy: Usually unspayed females may build a nest and pull hair from their chest and stomach to line the nest. They may even stop eating as rabbits do the day before they give birth.
• Bunny Hop Dance: A sign of happiness.
• Begging: Rabbits are worse than dogs about begging, especially for sweets. Beware of giving the rabbits treats. Overweight rabbits are not as healthy as trim rabbits.
• Territory Droppings: Droppings that are not in a pile, but are scattered, are signs that this territory belongs to the rabbit. This will often occur upon entering a new environment. If another rabbit lives in the same house this may always be a nuisance.
• Playing: Rabbits like to push or toss objects around.
• Don’t Rearrange The Cage: Rabbits are creatures of habit and when they get things just right, they like them to remain that way. Rabbits often are displeased when you rearrange their cage as you clean.
• Stomping: He’s frightened, mad or trying to tell you that there’s danger (in his opinion).
• Teeth Grinding: Indicates contentment, like a cats purr. Loud grinding can indicate pain.

sources: elgu2.ncc.gov.ph, thefarm.org

More information available here: fao.org

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