Rabbit Farming

This method is suitable for rearing small number of rabbits. To prevent rabbits to dig burrows the floor the floor should be made up of concrete. The Litter materials such as paddy husk, paddy straw or wood shavings can be filled up to 4-6 inches from the floor. Deep litter system is not suitable for rearing more than 30 rabbits. Male rabbits should be housed separately. This type of housing is not suitable for intensive system of rearing. Rabbits reared in deep litter system are more susceptible to diseases. Management of bunnies also very difficult in deep litter system.

Floor space requirement

• Adult male rabbit – 4 square feet (S.ft)
• Dam – 5 S.ft
• Bunnies – 1.5 S.ft 

Adult rabbit cage
Adult rabbit cage should have 1.5 feet length, 1.5 feet breadth and 1.5 feet height. This cage is suitable for one adult rabbit or two growing rabbits
Growing rabbit cage

• Length- 3 feet
• Breadth- 1.5 feet
• Height- 1.5 feet

The above sized cage is suitable for 4-5 rabbits up to 3 months age.
Cages for kindling
The cage size for growing rabbits is sufficient for the rabbits going to be kindled. But the bottom and sides of the cage should be made up of weld mesh of 1.5 X 1.5 inches. This used to prevent the young bunnies to come out of the cage.
Nest box
To provide safer and calm environment during kindling the nest box is essential. This nest boxes can be made up of galvanized iron or wood. Nest box size should be in such a way to keep inside the kindling cage.
Nest box size

• Length – 22 inches
• Breadth- 12 inches
• Height- 12 inches

             Nest Box

Nest boxes are designed to open in the upper portion. The bottom of the nest box should be made up of weld mesh of 1.5’’X 15’’size.  A circle size hole of 15 centimeter diameter should be made in the longitudinal portion of nest box, 10 c.m from the bottom. This hole helps for the movement of dam from the nest box to the cage. Designing of the hole 10 c.m from the bottom of the nest box prevents the young rabbits coming out of the nest box.
Cages for rearing rabbits in backyard      
Cages for rearing rabbits in backyard should be constructed 3’-4’ from the floor surface. The bottom of the cage should be water proof.
Feed and water troughs      
Feed and water troughs for rabbits usually made up of galvanized iron. The feed trough should be designed in the shape of “J” and they are usually fit outside the cages. To reduce the investment cost the feed and water can also be provided in cups.

 
            “J “ shaped Feed Trough
                

                  Watering Method

• Female rabbits- 5-6 months 
• Male rabbits- 5-6 months (Even though the male rabbits mature at the age of 5-6 months they should be used for breeding at the age of one year to get the quality younger rabbits)

• Rabbits can be selected at the age of  5-8 months after attaining adult body weight
• Male and female rabbits should be selected for breeding from the high litter size
• Healthy rabbits only selected for breeding. Healthy rabbits are active and the feed and water intake is usually normal. Apart from this they keep their body clean. The hair of the healthy rabbits is usually clean, soft and shiny
• While selecting male rabbits for breeding with the above characters they should have two well descended testes in their scrotum
• During selection of male rabbits they allowed to mate with a female rabbit to know the breeding capability  

There is no specific oestrous cycle period in rabbits. Whenever the female rabbits allow the male rabbit for mating then the female rabbit is in oestrous. Some times if a female rabbit is in heat, its vulva is congested. When a male rabbit is kept near to a female rabbit in heat or oestrous, the female rabbit shows depression of its back and raising of its behind portion of the body. At the same time if the female rabbit is not in heat it will go the corner of the cage and attack the male.

Information about the breeding details

The female rabbits showing the signs of heat or oestrous taken to the male rabbit’s cage. If the female rabbit is in correct time of oestrous that used to lift her tail and allow the male rabbit to mate with her. After successful mating the male rabbit fall on one side and make a specific sound. One male rabbit should not be utilised for not more than 3 or 4 days in a week. Similarly a male rabbit should not be utilised for breeding not more than 2-3 times per day. The breeding male rabbits should be given adequate rest and good nutrition.  In a rabbitry there should be one male rabbit for 10 female rabbits. One or two male rabbits can also be additionally reared in the farm and they can be used if the rabbits used for breeding become sick.       
Gestation period in case of broiler rabbits is 28-31 days. Pregnancy diagnosis of  can be done by palpating the abdomen of the female rabbit 12-14 days after breeding. Palpation should be done in the abdominal area in between the hind legs. If there is a round mass is palpated in between the fingers then the rabbit is pregnant. Those rabbits that are not pregnant after 12-14 days of mating, they again allowed for mating with the male rabbit. If a female rabbit is not becoming pregnant after three subsequent mating, that rabbit is eliminated or culled from the farm.       
Twenty five days after mating there is usually increase in the body weight of pregnant rabbits from 500-700 grams. This increased weight can be identified by lifting the rabbits. If the pregnant rabbits allowed to the male rabbit for mating they won’t mate .

After the pregnancy diagnosis was done, the pregnant rabbits should be fed with increased quantity of concentrate feed from 100g to 150g excess than the normal feeding. The pregnant rabbit should be transferred to the kindling cage on 25 days after mating. Five days before the expected date of mating nest box should be kept in the kindling cage. Dried coconut fibre or paddy straw is used as bedding material in the nest box. The pregnant rabbit  pluck the hair in their abdomen and form a nest for the young ones one or two days before kindling. During this period the rabbit should not be disturbed and persons from outside should not allowed near the kindling cage.       
Usually kindling takes place at early morning. Kindling usually completed for a period of 15 to 30 minutes. The dam her self clean her young ones in the early morning.  Nest boxes should be examined in the early morning. The dead young ones should be removed from the nest box. During examination of the nest box  the dam become restless. So the dam should be removed before examination of the nest box.   

During birth newborn rabbits eyes are closed and they don’t have hair on their body. All new born rabbits are usually lying in the bedding material formed by the dam in the nest box. Usually the dam gives milk to the young ones one time a day in the early morning. If we compulsorily make the rabbit to feed her young ones there won’t be no milk secretion at all. The skin of those new born rabbits received the adequate quantity of milk from their mother is usually shiny. But the skin of those newborn rabbits who has not received the adequate quantity of milk from their mother is dry and wrinkled in appearance and their body temperature is low and they look lazy.

Generally a female rabbit has 8-12 teats in her udder. When the litter size is more than the number of teats the newborn rabbits won’t receive adequate quantity of milk and results in death of the young ones. In an addition the other conditions such as death of dam, lack of maternal care, falling of young ones from the cage results in difficulty in the identification of the dams, the step mother is used for nursing the young ones.

• The age difference between the litters to be changed and the litter of step mother should not be more than 48 hours
• We should not change more than 3 young ones/stepmother

Young rabbits allowed staying for first three weeks of age in the nest box. Later nest box removed from the kindling cage. Weaning of young rabbits or bunnies can be done at the age of 4-6 weeks. While weaning, first dam should be removed from the kindling cage and the bunnies allowed staying for 1-2 weeks in the same cage. Later the sex of the rabbits should be identified and the different sexes are raised in different cages. We should not suddenly change the diet or feed of the weaned rabbits.

Up to first 15 days of age the young rabbits are under the dam. During this period the breast milk of the doe or dam is the only food for the young ones. Death of the young rabbits in this period is mainly due to doe or dam. After 15 days of age the young rabbits able to take water and feed supplied to them. In this time they are more susceptible to diseases. Therefore it is advisable to provide cooled boiled drinking water to the dam and the young ones. Hydrogen peroxide at the rate of 1ml per liter of water is added 20 minutes before providing to the rabbits.

Poor ventilation, poor hygiene, nutritional deficiency are the risk factors responsible for occurrence of this disease in rabbits. This disease spreads from dam to young rabbits.
Clinical signs: Because of continuous sneezing and coughing the rabbits rub their nose with the forelimbs. Sound produced during breathing resembles like the rattle sound. Apart from this there is also fever, diarrhea. The microorganism responsible for this disease also produces pustules under the skin and wry neck in rabbits.
Treatment : Treatment is not effective against pasteurellosis. Even though the rabbits affected with pasteurellosis recover after treatment but the affected rabbits transmit the infectious bacteria to other healthy rabbits. Therefore culling the affected rabbits from the farm is the only control measure of pasteurellosis in the rabbitry.

There are various microorganisms responsible for producing enteritis in rabbits. Sudden change in the feed, excess amount of carbohydrate in the feed, immuno depression, unhygienic feed and water are the factors predispose the rabbits for enteritis caused by various microorganisms. The clinical signs of enteritis in rabbits are diarrhea, enlargement of abdomen, dull hair coat and dehydration. Due to the loss of water due to diarrhoea which leads to dehydration, rabbits become dull.

Rabbits affected with the pasteurellosis are affected with wry neck disease. This disease affects the middle ear and the brain of rabbits. Because of the affection of membrane of the middle ear and pus is discharged from the ear, the rabbit turn its head to one side. Effective treatment of pasteurellosis controls the wry neck disease in rabbits.

Nursing dams are affected with mastitis. Affected udder is hot, reddish and painful to touch. Giving appropriate antibiotics to rabbits will control the disease.

Skin infection is produced in rabbits by Dermatopysis fungus. There is loss of hair around the ear and nose of rabbits. Because of irritation rabbits continously rub the affected areas results in formation of wounds in these areas. Later on secondary bacterial infection in these sites results in pus formation.
Treatment : Griseofulvin or benzyl benzoate cream can be applied on the affected areas. Griseofulvin mixed at the rate of 0.75g/k.g of feed and given for a period of 2 weeks control this disease.