Rabbit Production: Breeds, Housing & Management

• The document provides information on rabbit production, including breeds, starting an enterprise, preparations for arrival, housing significance, budgeting, feeding, handling, health, and processing.

Rabbit Breeds:

• New Zealand Red
• New Zealand White
• Chinchilla
• Californian White
• Flemish Giant

Starting a Rabbit Enterprise:

• Consider demand and supply, skilled labor, water/land availability, capital, climate, extension services, and feed/medical supplies.

Preparing for Rabbit Arrival:

• Clean and disinfect housing
• Procure vaccines, drugs, and feeds
• Ensure feeders and drinkers are clean
• Arrange labor for hiring and training

Significance of Rabbit Housing:

• Protects from predators and weather (rain, wind, heat, cold)
• Facilitates management and vaccination
• Allows separation by gender/age/breed
• Provides security from thieves
• Helps control breeding

Budget Considerations:

• Includes costs for rabbit house, does and bucks, equipment, nest boxes, drugs/vaccines, rabbit pellets, and labor
• Revenue can be generated from selling rabbits, manure, and skins.

Suitable Rabbit Feeds:

• Roughages: Includes leafy vegetables and palatable grasses.
• Root crops: Carrots, radishes, turnips, sugar beets, parsnips, and dried cassava chips are root crops.
• Concentrates: Rabbit pellets, bran of maize, sorghum, crushed oats, shelled groundnuts, and rock salt
• Never feed rabbits potato and tomato leaves as they are poisonous.
• Too much green feed can cause diarrhea.

Reasons for Regular Watering:

• Dissolves food nutrients
• Transports nutrients
• Forms body fluids
• Regulates body temperature
• Aids in waste excretion

Handling Methods:

• By the scruff (loose skin on shoulders)
• By the pelvis

Handling Guidelines:

• Approach rabbits slowly and quietly to avoid startling them
• Hold rabbits gently but firmly, supporting their back and hindquarters
• Never lift rabbits by their ears, as this can cause stress and injury
• Restrain rabbits using the minimum level of restraint necessary
• Lift rabbits by the scruff or pelvis to avoid injury
• Lift rabbits slowly to minimize noise

Sexing Rabbits:

• Determining if a rabbit is male (buck) or female (doe)
• Best done at 3-8 weeks of age
• Lay the rabbit on its back
• Gently pull back the tail to expose genitals
• Press around the genitals with a finger
• Males display a circular tissue with a protrusion
• Females have a slit or v-shaped opening

Signs of Heat:

• Jumping on other does without running away
• Redness and swelling of the vulva
• Restlessness and nervousness
• Clear mucus discharge
• Slight temperature increase
• Wagging tail when touched
• Climbing other does
• Rubbing chin on objects

Care for Pregnant Rabbits:

• Provide good quality concentrates and clean water
• Prepare and clean the nest box
• Separate from other rabbits
• Reduce feeding by half
• Deworm the doe
• Place the nesting box in the hutch
• Isolate to prevent excitement
• Ensure water availability for milk production

Post-Kindling Care:

• Foster extra kindlings or cull if necessary
• Remove dead offspring after birth
• Remove and cull weak or deformed offspring
• Avoid touching offspring for the first three days to prevent rejection
• Minimize noise to prevent doe from injuring offspring
• Keep litter in the nest for providing warmth
• Maintain a quiet environment
• Control pests and diseases

Parasites Affecting Rabbits:

• Parasites depend on a host organism
• Internal parasites: Roundworms, tapeworms, rabbit pinworms, and hairworms
• External parasites: Ticks, lice, fleas, ear mites, and skin/mange mites

Rabbit Roundworm Life Cycle:

• Adults mate inside the rabbit's stomach
• Eggs are laid and released through droppings
• Eggs hatch into larvae
• Larvae are ingested through feed, developing into adult roundworms
• Adult ear mites lay eggs under the skin of the ear
• Eggs hatch into larvae; larvae suck blood and molt into nymphs
• Nymphs suck blood and molt into adults
• Adult mites suck blood, mate, and lay eggs

Effects of Parasites:

• External Parasites: Cause anemia, discomfort, wounds (leading to infection), restlessness, reduced appetite, slow growth, and potentially death
• Internal Parasites: Cause anemia, poor appetite, slow growth, loss of body condition, and diarrhea

Control and Prevention of Parasites:

• Clean and disinfect rabbit housing, change bedding regularly, use acaricides/insecticides, stock rabbits correctly, and conduct regular skin inspections
• Keep feeders/drinkers clean, disinfect rabbit housing, provide clean water, and administer medication

Rabbit Diseases:

• Coccidiosis, ear canker/skin/ear mange, snuffles, mastitis, ringworm, sore hocks, bloat, weepy eyes, and vent (rabbit syphilis).

Coccidiosis

-Caused by protozoa called coccidia.

• It is spread through the droppings of infected rabbits and through contaminated water, food, and bedding.

• Symptoms include swollen stomach, scouring (diarrhea), loss of appetite/body mass, rough hair coat, staggering, extreme thirst and dehydration.

• Treatment involves administering sulphamezathie or sulphaquinoxaline in drinking water.

• Control and prevention includes coccidiostats in food/water, avoiding overcrowding, cleaning/disinfecting regularly and isolating sick rabbits.

Ringworm

-Caused by fungus -Symptoms include white dandruff, fur loss and scratching.

• Treatment involves Terramycin paste to affected parts.
• Control and prevention includes isolating sick animals and dusting nest boxes with fungicidal sulphur.

Rabbit Products:

• Meat, fur, skin, and manure

By-products:

• Leather clothes, bone meal, and bloodmeal

Processing Rabbits for Meat:

• Stun the rabbit
• Detach the head to allow bleeding
• Skin the rabbit
• Remove the offals
• Wash the carcass
• Cut meat into pieces for packaging

Overview of rabbit production, including breed selection, housing, and enterprise management. Covers preparations for arrival, the significance of housing, and key budget considerations. Also addresses feeding, handling, health, and processing.