Winter breeding of rabbits has a number of specific features, but this method has been used in intensive rabbit breeding for tens, if not hundreds, of years. Compliance with the rules allows you to receive up to 4-6 litters per year from one female without harm to her health and the quality of the offspring. Also, using the method, you can connect young rabbits to breeding immediately after they reach puberty, without waiting for the warm season.
Is it possible to cover rabbits in winter?
It is recommended that rabbit breeders with considerable experience in breeding animals use winter breeding, because this requires not only skills, but also appropriate equipment, a supply of feed and the ability to handle young animals.
Despite the difficulties ahead, producing offspring in the winter season has a number of advantages:
- It is possible to avoid the producer's downtime for six months, which negatively affects her well-being and ability to reproduce.
- Winter rabbits are strong and healthy (if provided with appropriate conditions and adequate calorie feeding).
- Females from the offspring obtained in cold weather can be included in the reproduction of the herd already in the summer. During the remaining period, they will be able to become mothers twice.
- If animals are raised for their skins, their quality will be higher than that of summer rabbits.
- Increasing the profit of a rabbit farm.
But intensive breeding involves creating comfortable conditions for rabbits and providing them with nutritious, high-calorie nutrition to withstand the cold.
What temperature can animals withstand?
It is impossible to answer this question unequivocally, because much depends on the conditions created for the rabbits, on the experience of the female and her desire to care for the offspring. There is a strong opinion that the optimal temperature in a room with cages is from 5 to 10 degrees. As it grows, it is necessary to monitor the improvement of ventilation and the supply of fresh air, but avoiding drafts that are harmful to rabbits.
Female rabbits provide their offspring with insulation in the form of their warm and light down, which serves as excellent protection in the cold. In nature, wild rabbits survive in cold temperatures of -20 degrees, but the offspring and themselves are in warm burrows, and not on the surface.
Therefore, the task of the rabbit breeder is to create optimal conditions for pets, including providing them with insulated cages (especially when breeding outdoors), keeping them clean and dry, and most importantly, supplying them with high-calorie food in sufficient quantities. Most often, animals die or abandon their offspring because they lack energy and nutrients to feed.
With abundant, balanced feeding, rabbits are able to successfully survive the harsh cold winter and raise strong and healthy offspring.
What effect do low temperatures have on young animals?
With a properly constructed reproduction system, winter young rabbits grow healthy, strong, and regularly gain weight. But here a lot depends on the training of the rabbit breeder and the behavior of the female. According to natural rhythms, female rabbits are reluctant to mate in the cold. Forced insemination cannot solve the problem, because the female, who is not ready for reproduction, will simply throw the offspring out of the nest or will not feed it. At the genetic level, it is inherent in her that such rabbits do not survive.
To prevent this from happening, animals need to be provided with optimal conditions that neutralize the negative effects of cold weather. Then the female will watch over the offspring, and the rabbits themselves will be cheerful and cheerful.
Features of raising rabbits outdoors in winter
In order for reproduction to take place without complications, even outdoors in winter, you must follow these recommendations:
- The choice of a zoned breed bred to live in specific conditions.
- Balanced nutritious nutrition.
- Clean water, which must be heated in cold weather.
- Warming of cells.
- Proper conduct of matings.
By following the rules and choosing young strong females for mating, it is possible to obtain stable offspring and raise the entire offspring without loss, even under extremely harsh temperatures down to 25 degrees below zero.
Home improvement
In order for winter rabbits to survive even in low temperatures, they need to be provided with appropriate living conditions. When kept outdoors, rabbits need warm cages. They are insulated on the outside with layers of foam sheets, ensuring that animals cannot have direct access to the plastic, otherwise they will chew it and may get sick and even die.
When grown in queen cells without heating, the cells need to be insulated not only on top, but also on the sides, using felt, polystyrene foam or thermal film. Below, under the lattice base, you need to place a couple of sheets of plywood. There should also be a sufficient amount of straw in the cages for insulation. When the female begins to create a nest, she needs to be offered suitable materials for this, especially if she does not have enough of her own fluff or severe cold weather is expected.
To keep animals from freezing and getting sick, it is necessary to regularly clean the cages, because humidity combined with low temperatures is a risk of illness and death of the offspring.
How to feed and drink
In order to ensure active reproduction and survival of offspring during winter breeding, females, and then older rabbits, need to be given high-calorie food. Hay and succulent food, especially carrots, must be present. Vitamins will help you cope with the difficulties of winter.
Rabbits also need to be given branches, preferably coniferous ones, because they solve two issues at once - obtaining vitamins and nutrients and grinding down constantly growing teeth. They give specially grown fresh greens, root vegetables (200-250 grams), which stimulate milk production in lactating females, mineral supplements (2 grams) and the same amount of salt.
In addition to providing complete feed, it is necessary to ensure the availability of clean water. During frosts, it is necessary to heat the water, this will help avoid illness and death of rabbits. If the livestock is large and rabbits are raised on an industrial scale, the cages should be equipped with a nipple supply of heated water. This will reduce fluid loss and reduce the risk of wetting the litter and the development of destructive dampness.
Possible problems
The main difficulties in winter breeding are as follows:
- Females may refuse to mate. To cope with this, you need to provide them with conditions that do not differ from other times of the year.
- If the cage and queen cell are cold and damp, the female rabbit may throw out her offspring and they will die.
- With a lack of food and water, the animals will get sick, which will lead to the death of not only the rabbits, but also the livestock.
If the breeder manages to overcome the difficulties, the rabbits produced in winter will be healthier, more resistant to diseases, have an appetite and gain weight. In cold weather, rabbits do not suffer from a dangerous disease - myxomatosis.
Raising rabbits in the cold season is a troublesome and expensive task, but it is profitable.
