What are the precautions for rabbit breeding in winter?

In the behavioral language of rabbits, licking hands means thank you. If your rabbit licks your hand, it means he wants to say thank you! How to raise rabbits in winter is a concern for rabbit owners.

How to raise rabbits in winter

First, rabbits are heat-averse animals. Rabbits lack sweat glands, have thicker skin, and have difficulty breathing. Therefore, rabbits rely on breathing to regulate body temperature. Therefore, rabbits are afraid of heat but not cold. Therefore, in summer, pay attention to putting rabbits in a cooler place indoors.

Second, rabbits are not afraid of cold because their skin is thick and they have more hair. Rabbits have a smaller lung capacity. When the temperature is high and they are nervous, they will breathe more quickly, and death will be more common at this time.

Don't scratch the rabbit hard. The rabbit's body is relatively fragile. Don't scratch it. Rabbits will have a strong desire to fight for territory. They will mark their own territory and fight with other rabbits for territory.

Don't feed rabbits hard food. Rabbits cannot spit things out of their stomachs and intestines, so hard food is easy to block the intestines.

When raising rabbits in winter, pay attention to moisture prevention. Rabbits prefer dry environments. It doesn't matter if it's a little cold, but it can't be humid. Rabbits are sensitive animals. It's better to keep quiet at home.

Precautions for raising rabbits in winter

The temperature is low in winter. Although adult rabbits can survive, a lot of heat will be lost from the surface of the rabbit's body, and energy consumption will increase accordingly. Therefore, the amount of energy feed should be increased, and the amount of crude protein should be reduced accordingly. Adding 3% oil to the feed can improve the health level of rabbits.

Green fodder is rich in vitamins and trace elements, but it is lacking in winter. To prevent rabbits from vitamin deficiency, vitamin additives and trace element additives should be added to the mixed pellet feed. At the same time, some juicy feeds such as carrots or green fodders such as ryegrass should be supplemented every day. Adding about 40% hay powder to rabbit feed can improve the utilization rate of feed.

Rabbit is an animal that hides during the day and comes out at night. In winter, the day is short and the night is long. The amount of feed at night should also be more than that during the day. Generally, the amount of feed during the day accounts for 40% of the daily diet, and the amount of feed at night accounts for 60% of the daily diet. Whether it is a full-price compound feed or supplementary green and roughage, the daily feeding amount should be more than that in autumn to supplement the extra heat lost and improve the rabbit's ability to resist the cold.

Rabbits eat relatively more dry feed in winter and are prone to thirst. It is necessary to ensure the supply of drinking water, and the temperature of drinking water should be kept at 20℃～30℃.

Keep warm. Before the cold wave arrives, in addition to leaving necessary vents, the rabbit house should also block the gaps where cold air may invade, close the doors and windows or hang straw curtains. When there is little wind or it is sunny, the doors and windows can be opened at noon to facilitate air circulation in the rabbit house. At night, appropriate warming measures can be taken to keep the rabbits warm in cages indoors, so as to keep the temperature in the cages suitable, dry and comfortable. The room temperature should always be kept above 5℃-10℃.

Pay attention to feed. Sichuan has low temperature, high humidity, cold climate and lack of green feed in winter. Therefore, high-protein, high-energy, easily digestible concentrated feed, green feed, carrots, etc. should be fed, and the feeding amount should be about 1/3 more than in other seasons.

Pay attention to exercise. Housed rabbits should exercise at any time. If conditions permit, choose sunny weather with little wind every week, put the rabbits in a sunny, leeward and fresh air field with a net or fence, and let them move several times, 2 hours each time.

Pay attention to hygiene. The incidence of bacterial diseases in rabbits is low in winter, but parasitic diseases and viral diseases are often prone to outbreaks. In addition, rabbits are also prone to colds and constipation. Therefore, the rabbit house and the feeding trough should be cleaned frequently to keep the cages, feeding utensils and the house clean and hygienic. Prevent the rabbit house from being damp, clean the cage every 3-5 days, and often mix some garlic or chili powder in the feed. It is strictly forbidden to feed rabbits with frost feed.

Misunderstandings about rabbit breeding

1. Not giving water

Many people associate rabbits drinking water with diarrhea. There is no relationship between the two. Rabbits can not only drink water, but also must be supplied with sufficient drinking water. Six-month-old rabbits can drink 500-1000 ml of drinking water every day, and one-month-old rabbits can drink 100-200 ml of water every day. Some people think that vegetables can replace drinking water, which is wrong. Water cannot be replaced by any substance, and for rabbits, excessive intake of vegetables will inevitably lead to diarrhea.

2. Frequent bathing

Under normal circumstances, rabbits do not need to take a bath in their lifetime, because rabbits have a strong ability to clean themselves. In the animal world, rabbits are notorious for being clean. Rabbits lick their fur to bathe themselves when they have nothing to do. If the rabbit is dirty, you should first determine whether it is sick, because rabbits will not get dirty under normal circumstances, including the hair on their buttocks, which is also very clean. If the hair on the rabbit's buttocks is dirty, it means that the rabbit has diarrhea; if the rabbit's chin is dirty, it means that the rabbit has stomatitis; if the area around the nose is dirty, it means that the rabbit has rhinitis. So if the rabbit is dirty, you should first determine the cause, rather than blindly bathing it, which often covers up the condition and worsens the condition due to bathing. Generally speaking, rabbits will clean themselves up. 　　The smell of rabbits is the smell of their excrement, which can be improved by the right method.

Clean their cages and toilets frequently, 1 to 2 times a day.

Give the rabbit a ventilated and dry living environment.

You can use some auxiliary materials: sawdust, urine pads, etc. to pave the toilet to absorb moisture and odor.

A reasonable diet can keep the rabbit's stomach healthy and reasonable, and will also greatly reduce the odor of its excrement.

3. Vegetables and fruits as staple food

"The little white rabbit is white, with two ears standing up, loves to eat radishes and green vegetables, and jumps around so cutely." Many rabbit breeders, according to the nursery rhyme, only feed rabbits vegetables. As a result, they died of diarrhea within a few days because the water content in vegetables is too high, and this water content is different from the direct drinking water of rabbits. Therefore, vegetables and fruits must not be used as staple food for rabbits. The correct method is: adult rabbits are provided with sufficient forage + rabbit food + drinking water, and vegetables are 1 to 2 meals a day. Young rabbits are provided with sufficient forage + a small amount of rabbit food + sufficient drinking water.

4. Do not feed them with grass

Rabbits are herbivores, and eating grass is their nature. Not feeding them grass is very harmful. There are two necessary reasons for rabbits to eat grass: the first is that rabbits can supplement the various nutrients they need in their bodies by eating grass. The second is that rabbits have the habit of eating hair, especially under conditions of unbalanced nutrition, the phenomenon of eating hair is more serious. Eating grass can help rabbits completely excrete the hair in their bodies. Not feeding rabbits grass will undoubtedly lay the hidden dangers for rabbits to suffer from hairball disease. Rabbits start to be fed grass after weaning. It is not okay to only feed them rabbit food. The intestines of rabbits are completely herbivorous animals, and there are many probiotics and microorganisms growing in their intestines. If too much rabbit food is eaten, it will inevitably lead to the fermentation of rabbit food (corn, soybean cake, etc. are the main ingredients of rabbit food) in the intestines, producing gas, which will cause the rabbit to have gas. It causes severe indigestion, which in turn leads to diarrhea. In severe cases, it can cause the rabbit's stomach to expand and die. Many rabbit farms do not feed rabbits grass because of cost considerations. Only rabbit farms with a certain economic foundation will feed rabbit food containing grass powder. This feeding method is completely inappropriate for pet rabbits. The rabbits in the rabbit farm are marketed at the earliest in 3 months, and the slow ones are marketed in 4 to 5 months. In such a short period of time, even if the rabbit has hairball disease, it will not be fatal, and it will not affect the price of the rabbit, because the rabbit is sold by weight. Another more important role of grass for rabbits is to regulate the stomach and excrete excess hair in the body. Not eating grass for a long time is fatal to rabbits. Grass powder cannot replace grass in terms of function.

5. Eating meat or animal food

Rabbit is a typical omnivorous animal, with the habit of swallowing cubs and placenta. Its gastrointestinal characteristics cannot adapt to the digestion of high-fat and high-water foods, including many foods with high oil content, such as chocolate, instant noodles, bread, etc., as well as egg foods, foods containing animal oil, etc. Rabbits eating meat and foods with high oil content will cause serious gastrointestinal diseases. Any feeding method that violates the living habits of animals is the direct cause of their death.

6. One meal hungry and one meal full

As rabbits do not know when they are hungry or full, they will eat desperately, especially when they encounter something with good palatability, or they will eat desperately when they are hungry for too long and are fed again. This is very dangerous, because the gastrointestinal function of rabbits is not fully developed. When eating a lot of food, it is easy to cause food accumulation, that is, gastric dilatation. This disease is very easy for rabbits to get, and the treatment effect is very poor after the onset of the disease, which can easily lead to death! So the best way is prevention. For rabbit food and alfalfa, it is recommended to supply them by meal, 30 grams per meal, 4 meals a day, and it is best to eat until 80% full. When encountering food that rabbits particularly like to eat, do not supply it unlimitedly. Touch the rabbit's belly with your hand. If it is already very round, stop supplying it immediately.

7. Probiotic selection

Because domestic pets eat processed food for a long time, the intake of various food additives will continue to destroy the balance of pets' gastrointestinal flora, and it is easy to cause constipation, diarrhea, indigestion, gastroenteritis and other gastrointestinal diseases, so it is very necessary to supplement pet probiotics to maintain gastrointestinal health! Probiotics are living microorganisms. When they are ingested in sufficient quantities, they will give the body health and various benefits, protect the gastrointestinal health of pets, and facilitate the full absorption of nutrients.

8. Feeding equipment

Using the right and appropriate equipment to feed rabbits can avoid many problems with rabbits. Some people feed rabbits in cages given when buying rabbits. The cages are very narrow and the rabbits are uncomfortable inside. In addition, facing a new environment, it is easy for the rabbits to die of stress. The oral structure of rabbits determines that rabbits can only drink water from a ball water bottle. Drinking water from a sink will cause the rabbit to get moist dermatitis, and the chin will become inflamed and ulcerated, leading to sepsis and death. Since rabbits have the habit of grinding their teeth, you need to prepare a grinding wood for the rabbit to grind its teeth.

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