For an experienced farmer, mating domestic rabbits is a normal production process. The owner takes into account not only the individual characteristics, but also the breed qualities of the animals. You need to have a special instinct to accurately determine which couple will become parents of healthy, beautiful babies. The success of a delicate event depends on the age, weight and even the character of the pets.
Features of choosing partners
Livestock breeders practice 2 types of selection of animals for mating:
- Homogeneous. A farmer selects a pair of rabbits with the same breed characteristics and productivity.
- Heterogeneous. In this case, on the contrary, a couple is formed by animals endowed with opposite qualities. For example, a large, short-haired female may be paired with a small, long-haired male. The principle of heterogeneous mating is used for breeding rabbits for meat purposes.
When selecting pets for mating, the age of the furry beauties is taken into account. High-quality offspring are most often obtained from 1.5-year-old males. It is this age category of producers that is suitable for young rabbits.
How to distinguish a rabbit from a female rabbit
Finding out the gender of a pet is not difficult. To do this, you need to put the animal on its back and, pressing it against the table, examine the rabbit’s genitals. In females, the genital organs are formed in the form of a pink loop, while in males the reproductive organs have a curved, cylindrical shape.
How to choose rabbits
Only healthy individuals that have fully reached maturity are selected for mating. The female is already capable of fertilization and bearing young at 3 months of age. However, the offspring from a young rabbit will most likely not be viable. True maturity comes to females at the age of 5 months. Males are ready for procreation only after reaching 6.5-7 months.
The best age for mating is the first 2 years after birth. During this period, rabbits bear the most viable offspring with pronounced breed qualities. Mating is permissible for individuals who have:
- weighing at least 3 kg;
- good immunity;
- fertility;
- absence of genetic abnormalities and deformities;
- maternal instinct.
Mating is carried out only after observing the behavior and habits of furry pets.
What is culling
Breeding sires are selected from the first 2 litters of young, strong animals. Promising animals are those with beautiful, shiny skin. Rabbits must be harmoniously built and healthy. After reaching maturity, the pets are re-examined and culled.
Individuals are not allowed to reproduce:
- Females killing their young.
- Female rabbits suffering from low fertility (less than 5 babies per litter).
- Females whose matings are often unsuccessful.
- Lazy, phlegmatic males.
- Rabbits having problems with fertilizing females.
How do you know when it's time to mate rabbits?
A healthy male is ready for mating at any time. He is able to bestow attention on up to 4-5 females a day. In some cases, the cold in the room may become an obstacle to mating. The female is ready to breed during a period called heat. At this moment, the female becomes nervous, the animal is tormented by frequent urination. The female rabbit's genitals swell and acquire a bright pink hue. By these signs it is easy to find out when the female is walking and ready for a date with her gentleman.
The favorable time for mating occurs every 5 days and lasts up to 3 days. Mature eggs do not leave the animal’s body, remaining in a state of “combat readiness” for up to 10 days. This unusual property distinguishes the female rabbit from most females of other animals.
At what age can rabbits be bred?
For the first time, the female is allowed to mate at the age of 5-6 months. By this time, young rabbits have reached the end of puberty, and the animals gain strength and endurance. After reaching the age of 3, female rabbits become old-time animals.Over and over again they bring weaker offspring, so such females are replaced with young individuals.
Mating methods
Despite their “loving nature,” pets obey the laws of nature, so in the dark, cold season their activity decreases. In winter, rabbits mate during the daytime. During these hours, the air temperature in the room rises slightly, and the pets feel more alert. In spring and summer, mating takes place in the morning or evening.
In order for the rabbit to be able to cover the female chosen by the owner, the individual is placed next to the gentleman. After short games, the animals mate. Sexual intercourse does not last long - only 2-3 seconds. The completion of mating is signaled by a characteristic position (the rabbit lies on its side) and purring sounds made by the male.
The coated female is taken from her cage and returned to her own quarters. After 5-6 days the procedure is repeated. The result of the event will be known in a few days. The pregnant female becomes irritable and no longer allows her boyfriend to approach her.
Livestock breeders practice 2 methods of breeding eared beauties - manual and free. Experienced farmers and animal breeding specialists prefer to breed pets by hand. Rabbits are kept in cages, preventing unplanned matings. Having chosen a suitable pair, the animals are allowed to mate. This way you can bring your pets together at your own discretion. The method allows you to preserve the breed characteristics of animals and reduce the number of genetic abnormalities in the offspring.
Manual mating is often practiced by owners of pets raised at home, but for beginning farmers the procedure is not so simple. Rabbit breeding requires knowledge about the intricacies of breeding purebred animals. It is difficult for a beginner to immediately notice the errors that inevitably arise during the work. Only an experienced owner can easily identify walking rabbits and identify pregnant females by touch.
Having chosen the manual method of mating pets, the owner:
- selects the best breeding animals;
- determines whether the female is in heat;
- provides rabbits with the opportunity to mate and records the result of the mating;
- if necessary, repeat the procedure;
- after 14-16 days, it detects pregnant and single females;
- rejects pets that are not capable of full reproduction.
Adherents of natural reproduction prefer free mating of animals. The method is used for breeding rabbits in a pit. In Spartan conditions, the male has a hard time. The rabbit is constantly among females and, of its own free will, fertilizes any of them.
There should be 10 females per gentleman. A simple method of raising animals is available even to novice farmers. In the pit, animals can reproduce uncontrollably and require little human intervention. However, it must be taken into account that constant close relationships lead to degeneration of the offspring. Therefore, the male needs to be changed from time to time.
How to determine pregnancy
You can verify the interesting position of the female already 15 days after the last mating. To do this, you need to carefully feel the rabbit’s belly. In a pregnant individual, peas—embryos—are clearly palpable.
Care of offspring
If a young, inexperienced rabbit has not bothered with arranging the nest, the owner will have to take the process into his own hands and build a queen house himself. The manufactured “maternity hospital” is installed in a cage, the lower part of the nest is lined with down and straw.
After giving birth, it is necessary to place the female in another cage and carefully examine the litter. Dead cubs should be removed immediately. Otherwise, the rabbit may refuse to feed her offspring. The inspection of the nest is carried out with gloves; the female rabbit should not smell human odor in the uterine house. Newborn pets are examined daily and, if necessary, consult a veterinarian.
After reaching 20 days of age, babies are treated to sprouted grains, grated carrots and granulated grass.
45 days after birth, the rabbits are separated from their mother and placed in separate apartments. At the age of 2 months, rabbits are transferred to regular food for adult animals.
Possible problems
For a new farmer, it may seem that once the babies are born, all the worries are left behind. Unfortunately, this is not the case at all.
- Sometimes a joyful event is overshadowed by the death of newborn rabbits. The cause of unhappiness may be hunger. The validity of this assumption can be judged by the appearance of the babies. Starving rabbits have indented tummies and wrinkled skin. In order to avoid a sad event, you need to monitor the quality of the diet and the health of the rabbit.
- In some cases, the female throws the cubs away from her. As a rule, the reason for aggression lies in the onset of the hunting season. Another mating with a long-eared gentleman can calm the young mother down.
- The children's early attempts to get out of their native nest indicate the ill-being of the offspring. In this way, baby rabbits look for food. In this case, you need to examine the female's mammary glands. The rabbit's nipples are probably sore or there is no milk at all. The only way out of a difficult situation is artificial feeding of pets.
