Breeding rabbits should be of interest to people who are planning to start a livestock business, but at the same time have limited resources: this does not require a lot of space, as, say, for keeping rams, cows or even chickens. Also an undeniable plus is the high fertility of individuals: pregnancy lasts an average of thirty days, the number of rabbits in a litter can reach fifteen. However, when starting any business, you need to imagine the amount of work, since breeding and keeping rabbits is very costly, at least in time. Further in the article you can find everything about rabbits, which will help you make the right decision.

Tips for beginners

The first point in the plan will be to decide on the breeding goals. There are two ways here: focus on either meat or skins. There are many lovers of this almost delicacy product or ardent followers of diet food. And the skins are valuable as raw materials for the production of expensive fur coats, coats and other things.

Important! For beginners, rabbit breeding is also associated with considerable financial costs, so it is more advisable to start with breeding meat breeds. This is due to the fact that it is easier to find a buyer for this type of product, and there will be less difficulties in production. And in the future, you can always expand your business and start dressing and selling skins.

In addition to the two sources of income described, you can add the sale of offspring, because many rabbits are born. But this is not so profitable, therefore, it requires additional assessment in terms of time and money.

Mistakes not to be allowed

How to breed rabbits correctly? One of the most dangerous points is saving. But not the one that determines the reasonable spending of money, but the one that makes you pay less, without thinking about the long-term prospects. Before seriously tackling rabbit breeding, it is necessary to study in detail the methods of experienced masters of this business. None of them will ever allow themselves to save on cells and the arrangement of the premises as a whole, if this leads to damage in quality.

Breeding rabbits in the pit

How to keep rabbits right? Only high-quality and ecological materials should be used; good ventilation must be organized in the room. Do not forget about the absence of "neighbors", such as small rodents or insects, because they can cause stress for sensitive rabbits. Needless to say, the premises must be kept clean and tidy. A good option would be to organize a separate place for sick individuals. Even these moments will require a detailed plan, which beginners often forget about.

Additional Information! It is necessary to give the animals room, since their large concentration is an additional stressful and infectious factor.

No need to save money when buying animals. Together with a low price, you can get a poor-quality or sick animal, which in the end will not give a worthwhile offspring. But this is where future earnings begin.

Feeding rabbits

Feeding is another important issue. It doesn't have to be monotonous and primitive. This moment will be discussed in more detail below. Last but not least, a beginner's mistake is neglecting vaccinations.Not knowing or wanting to do it can cost many great animals and money.

Popular breeds

Rabbit keeping

For the targeted rearing of rabbits, it is necessary to determine the breed. To do this, you need to go back to the beginning of the article, where the main options were highlighted: interest primarily in meat or skin. After all, this is what determines the purchases of specific breeding rabbits, that is, those that will be bred in the future.

Note! There are so-called monobreed breeds, which include exclusively meat or fur, and combined, which can be used in both cases. But it should be understood that it is precisely due to their versatility that such animals will not give the same profitability in rabbit breeding than breeding breeds of two separate directions.

The most popular beef breeds are:

  • New Zealanders and Californians;
  • Gray giant;
  • Soviet chinchilla;
  • Flandre;
  • European silver.

The first ones are distinguished by a mild and delicate taste, an insignificant fat layer. Their advantage is that quite early, by three or four months, they are ready to go to slaughter. The gray giant is quite popular in the post-Soviet space, that is, in his homeland. It is profitable enough for production, but the taste of its meat is somewhat inferior to the previous breeds, which is a relative disadvantage due to the subjectivity of this criterion. The Soviet chinchilla tolerates more severe climatic conditions, in particular cold. Has a good mass of young. European silver: a persistent, obedient animal. He has a beautiful color and pleasant taste, which is reflected in their increasing popularity. You can even grow up to seven kilograms. Flandra can be used to breed new breeds. Reaches the highest weight of all presented: up to eight kilograms.

Additional Information! This breed can also be used to obtain skins, which depends on the conditions of its keeping and feeding.

The most popular fur breeds are:

  • Black-brown rabbit;
  • Russian ermine;
  • Rex;
  • Chinchilla.

Chinchila

The first breed is unpretentious, has a beautiful color, resembling a fox. The fur is thick with a long wear life, which makes these animals quite common. The name of the second breed was also found due to the similarity with another animal - the ermine. The fur is white, except for the nose and legs. Rex is a short-haired animal that has a varied color range of fur with very pleasant softness. And finally, the chinchilla, which is one of the most popular breeds due to its characteristic color and high quality skins.

Additional Information! The elite of a chinchilla is determined by the characteristic stratification of the fur into three components: white, black and intermediate - gray.

Another interesting variety is the French ram. These animals have a genetic trait that makes their ears hang. They are used both for decorative purposes and for obtaining meat. The skins are less valuable.

How to breed rabbits

Globally, all techniques are divided into two categories: industrial and home. In addition, you can engage in mating pure breeds, in which the best qualities of one species are enhanced, or by crossing different ones in order to improve individual properties. When choosing pairs, it should be borne in mind that the best result will be obtained when combining the best representatives of the breed.

Rabbit enclosure

Commercial breeding is always more efficient. Long-established production gives financial freedom to organize the right premises, purchase the right animals. Moreover, it is easier to find a sales market.

Additional Information! Mikhailov's method deserves special attention. The scientist designed a special farm, which is designed for maximum independence of individuals. The houses are located strictly on the street, the maintenance in them takes place all year round.Design features allow you to spend a minimum of time on caring for animals.

Home breeding involves the supply of products to a relatively narrow circle of people: your family, acquaintances and their friends. Much more effort will be made here to sell meat, and even more so skins. However, it all depends on the scale of production. For example, if these are rabbits exclusively in the country, then the volumes will be small. It is better to organize the keeping of animals in the summertime in the fresh air, for example, in a pit or garage. However, now the first method is rarely used, only when extreme savings are necessary, since it is associated with a high infectious risk and with less suitable conditions of detention.

Rabbits in the barn

A separate question is how to care for rabbits at home or in a shed. The main thing is cleanliness, space, good ventilation, quality materials. The presence of windows, soft lighting, and maintaining the temperature at a constant comfortable level have a beneficial effect.

Features of mating

The selection of unsuitable individuals, the so-called marriage, is mandatory. In the case of males, these are those who regularly cannot fertilize the female. As for females, those who do not become pregnant, give birth to a small number of rabbits or eat them, are excluded, as well as those who are incapable of adequate feeding. Professionals follow this instruction: the smaller the typical size of the breed, the sooner its representatives are ready to give birth to new offspring. As for the time, females can bring baby rabbits all year round, but least of all in the autumn months.

Approaching mating directly, you need to carry out the following actions:

  1. Remove food and water from animal cages;
  2. Place the female in the cage with the male, and not vice versa. Otherwise, he will start to get nervous in unfamiliar terrain, which can lead to failure;
  3. Make sure that the animals do not fight and hurt each other;
  4. Wait for the moment when the male falls off on its side, making a characteristic sound.

Rabbit mating

If the animals are not disturbed and all the above actions are performed, then you can achieve a quick result.

Definition of pregnancy

It is not so difficult to find out if a rabbit has become pregnant. Two weeks after conception, the fruits can be felt on the stomach. But this must be done carefully, without pressing hard, so as not to damage the offspring. It will be useful to control the female's weight: its gradual gain is an indirect sign of pregnancy.

Additional Information! In order to keep track of the weight of the livestock, you can use computer programs, which will store information about all animals.

The most accurate, but not so necessary method, will be an ultrasound scan. However, for a novice rabbit breeder, this will be unnecessary.

Feeding

In order to know how to effectively raise rabbits, you need to know how and what to feed them properly. The diet should be varied: the presence of both dry food (herbs, leaves, cereals) and juicy foods, which include fresh vegetables and fruits, is necessary. Hay must be present in unlimited quantities. In order for an animal to grow up healthy, vitamins and minerals must be added. However, one should not forget about their doses, since an excess can lead to negative consequences. Do not add beans, peas and other legumes, flour products, including pasta to the feed. Sausages and sweets will also be superfluous.

Important! Experienced farmers add a few drops of iodine to their diets, such as water, to help fight infections.

Profitability

Is it profitable to breed rabbits in the end? It all depends on what exactly the future entrepreneur expects. It is believed that the profitability of this business is quite high, which attracts individuals to this industry. However, in any business, in order to make a profit at the exit, you must initially invest a lot of funds. Just do not understand this and beginner rabbit breeders sin. Poor-quality living conditions are created, weak animals are purchased.All this ultimately gives a poor quality product and, accordingly, low demand.

By following the advice of this material, you can avoid many mistakes and get really interesting and profitable earnings. The main thing to remember is that success is proportional to the effort invested.