One of the most profitable areas of animal husbandry is breeding rabbits. Indeed, high fecundity and fast reproduction of offspring, the demand for both meat and fur are serious arguments in favor of this choice. With the right and reasonable approach, you can have from 4 to 6 okrols per year. In this article we will look at how to plan insemination and okroly correctly in order to develop a business, keep animals healthy and prevent production breaks during the winter period.
Pros and cons of winter okrolov
The rabbit wears a 30-day pregnancy. The average offspring for 1 okrol is from 5 to 10 heads, therefore, with proper preparation in the winter season, the rate of development of the livestock can be maintained. When planning for the winter period, we will consider what we win in and where we need to make sure.
Did you know? Of all known breeds of rabbits, practically all over the world, no more than 20 are bred.Obvious advantages can be considered:
- young animals born in winter have better health;
- litter grows and develops faster;
- females born in winter are more prolific;
- winter brood has better fur quality;
- in cold, livestock is gaining weight better;
- in winter, there are no bloodsuckers that carry various infectious diseases to which rabbits are so susceptible;
- ammonia does not evaporate, which has a very negative effect on the health of long-eared jumpers. It is understood that when insufficient ventilation of the premises ammonia from animal feces, evaporating, enters their body in the form of dangerous toxins.
What you need to provide for the winter okrol to pass without problems:
- the mating must be organized in a warm room, since sexual activity drops sharply in the cold;
- to insulate the mother liquor: to seal up the gaps, to warm the walls, warm bedding on the cage floor;
- regular cleaning and ventilation of the cage;
- the constant presence of warm water and warm food;
- artificial increase in daylight.
Did you know? The rabbit has a forked uterus, so it can bear two litters at the same time, and it can be litters from different males and conceived at different times. This is one of the tools of nature to preserve the species - fertility, because in nature, rabbits live just over a year, sooner or later becoming someone's prey.
These are, in fact, the usual requirements, just in the winter, they work only in the aggregate.
What breeds of rabbits are best suited for breeding in winter
When choosing a breed for breeding, you first need to understand what your business line is. All breeds of rabbits are divided into:
- meat;
- fur;
- sandpaper;
- decorative.
Attention should be paid to the climatic conditions of your area. To make the purchase of a particular breed is best in the nursery. You can also get advice from experts on the resistance to frost of a particular breed.
Check out the breeds of fast-growing rabbits.For example, for a fairly popular breed of Flandre, cold temperatures will not do. For their maintenance, cells with heated cells are generally needed, therefore, the White and Gray Giants are most often used for the winter season.
But here it is necessary to stipulate that this concerns the meat direction. They are identical in size to Flandram, but are more resistant to low temperatures, unpretentious in food and content. And the breeds are remarkable for their fecundity - from 10 to 12 rabbits in one litter. But even for them, the very low temperatures that rabbits usually carry in burrows are not suitable, because, as practice shows, such minks are best digged by mid-sized rabbits.
Important! It is only in fairy tales that rabbits love to soak up the sun. In fact, they are very harmful for eared jumpers - general viral diseases and herd death begin. The place of keeping rabbits should be in the shade of the trees or at least under a canopy.
Warming of cells at the street
Creating favorable conditions, you can not stop breeding in the winter. Depending on the climate zone, different breeds of rabbits can be kept in:
- cage;
- aviary;
- pit.
Breeding rabbits in the pitAnimal welfare issues depend on the characteristics of a particular area, but the key parameters are:
- warm maintenance room;
- lack of damp and drafts;
- specially selected fortified food, wet food - mash.
Important! It is important to prepare in advance for the wintering of rabbits, as it is necessary to avoid sudden changes in temperature and conditions of animals, it is stressful for their organisms, which adversely affects all processes, including the reproductive process.
What materials are best used for insulation
It is very practical when the sides of the cells are made on the principle of a sandwich, between the shields are laid with a layer of any bulk material or foam, because it saves both from the cold and the heat.
If the cage is made of mesh, it is better to sheathe them outside with a board, plywood, izospan or foam. The door is also sewn with insulation.
The gaps between them are filled with foam. Its surplus on the inside should be removed so that the animals do not gnaw them and do not get poisoned. The floor of the cage is covered with plywood or other typical material and covered with straw, which is convenient and easy to change regularly.
From above, the constructions are warmed with all available improvised means, ranging from hay, reed, to old blankets, a coat, and it would be nice to rewrite with something waterproof. The cage for the uterus of rabbits is somehow not warmed in a special way, because less than a day before the birth, a woman in labor draws down in her belly and lays out a nest for future litter.
Trays for food and water are also insulated with polyethylene material. But it is important, warming residential constructions for animals, to organize ventilation so that they do not suffocate there.
Important! Do not warm the cell walls with rolled coatings such as roofing felt or polyethylene, they not only do not regulate the temperature in any way, but also contribute to the appearance of drafts that are lethal to animals.
Placement of electric heater inside
As practice shows, heating the cage allows not only to raise young animals in winter, but to accelerate their maturation by approximately 2 months, and to reduce feed consumption. 
Farmers use different methods, for example:
- warm floor;
- infrared lamps and films;
- self-made or purchased electric heaters.
Learn how to make an open-air cage for rabbits, rabbitry, cages for rabbits according to the method of Zolotukhin, mother liquor.Placing an electric heater, you need to use concrete floors, which are pre-insulated, and protect the cable with a grid. The disadvantages of this design are:
- danger of short-circuiting, since there is a constant high humidity in the room;
- heat loss also due to humidity;
- the need for additional isolation of the net from gnawing animals;
- cost of concrete.
Heated mother: video
How to make a warmed portable mother liquor without heating with your own hands
Making a queen with your own hands is quite real. This is not a complicated structure, which is placed inside a common cage, if dimensions allow. Krolchikhe is not only warmer, but also safer. It is best to make it out of plywood - working with this material is inexpensive and convenient.
Important! The mother liquor is better to do medium size, starting from the size of your herd. Rabbits will feel more comfortable if this box reminds them of a mink. This is their natural instinct.For the manufacture of queen we will need:
- plywood in sheets;
- wooden slats
- insulation material (straw, sintepon, sawdust, fresh tirsa is not recommended, a pungent smell can confuse the newly appeared mother).
- a bundle of nails;
- hinges;
- self-tapping screws;
- hammer;
- saw;
- roulette;
- chalk or pencil.
- Making a warm queen, you should first make a drawing of the future nest. To begin with, cut out the plywood from plywood for future walls, floor and ceiling. The average acceptable size of the walls is 35x40 cm. To fasten them, we will need rails of the appropriate length. Four pieces 25 cm long and four pieces 35 cm long. The front wall is 50x30 cm. You will also need a board 30x25x2.5 cm and two more slats of 25 cm each. For the back wall there are 2 plywood blanks 50x30 cm in size and two slats 50 each and 25 cm. At the bottom we also use two pieces of 50x30 cm, fastened with slats of 50 and 25 cm. On the roof we use two pieces of plywood of 55x35 cm with strips of 55 and 30 cm.
- The blanks are ready. Now they need to put together. On the plywood we fill the slats with the help of nails, fasten the second sheet, and fill the space between them with insulation. We try to have no gaps at the joints. The entrance to the mother liquor is cut out with a jigsaw or saw, the size is not very large, the main thing is that the uterus can pass through it freely.
- Finished walls are fastened with screws. We start with the fact that we fasten the side walls with the bottom, then fasten the back panel. The top cover must be hinged so that it is removable. This is necessary so that it is convenient to clean the cage, and in the heat it is additional ventilation.
It’s not worth laying a straw on the floor, before the hemlock the female herself puts straw there and chooses fluff. In order to last the floor longer, you can cover it with galvanized. It saves plywood from the discharge of the rabbit and the uterus. Do not fall asleep on top of fresh tirsoy - a pungent smell will scare the rabbit away.
What feeders and drinkers are better to use in winter
One of the key requirements for keeping rabbits is constant access to clean water. Rabbits have a very weak digestive system, and water is vital for them, especially when most of the food is dry and there is a lot of hay. And in the winter it is important that it still does not freeze, and ideally warmed up. Drinking can be done with your own hands or buy.
Important! In winter, it is imperative to give branch feed. It helps pets to grind down their teeth, gives a full range of nutrients and an antibacterial component, improves the process of digesting food.Options for drinkers that you can offer in the store:
- Cup - as a matter of fact, an ordinary bowl from plastic, ceramics or other material. It is simply fixed in the cage, rarely clogs, easy to clean. Of the minuses of this option, it can be noted that the animals often overturn the cup, and this must be monitored, and the second thing to pay attention to is that the water in the bowl is clean until the animals first approach.
- Auto Drink (for bottle) - A special cup and plastic bottle. It is installed in such a way that when the cup is emptied to a certain level, a vacuum appears, and fresh, clean water is poured from the bottle. Of the benefits - the constant presence of clean water, in a transparent bottle you can see when you need to add water, a small cup capacity prevents animals from throwing garbage into it, and the price is low. Virtually no drawbacks, if only the bottle is installed correctly and does not fall and does not frighten the fluffy inhabitants to death.
- Nipple - This design is a bit more complicated. Water is served when the rabbit touches a special ball. The tube for water is made of stainless steel, which contributes to the fact that much less bacteria gets into the water, and pets are less likely to get sick. With this drinker you can also feed with vitamins and dry food. Of the minuses of this option - it is suitable for a relatively small herd, in winter the water quickly freezes and the lids crumble. Alternatively, thirsty rabbits can eat ice and snow like their wild cousins, but they will be very susceptible to diseases. It is possible in cold weather to bring a heating cable into such a drinker.
Learn how to make feeders, bunker feeders and drinkers for rabbits.
You need to drink at least once every 3-4 hours. Or there are electric drills, they hold water around the clock, but their significant disadvantage is the cost of electricity.
The importance of proper feeding in winter
A varied and balanced diet is important for eared jumpers at any time of the year, and especially in winter, and mandatory permanent access to clean water. Since their digestive system is weak, they need to constantly chew something, such as hay or twigs.
Important! Beetroot for rabbits is very dangerous, tops are useful, and the root vegetable is poisonous.From the diet of rabbits you need to completely eliminate sweets, cookies and any exotic fruits and vegetables. Even ordinary white cabbage should be dosed, and it should be introduced into the diet gradually. It causes flatulence and bloating.
And for decorative rabbits, cabbage is a priori dangerous. If your pet has an intestinal upset or bloating, he should be given sprigs of oak, aspen or dried yarrow.When harvesting hay, it is better not to take grass in which you are not sure, but lilies of the valley, raven eyes, larkspur, buttercup, hellebore, spurge, poisonous milestones for them are pure poison.
Learn how to deal with rabbits, how long the rabbit suckling lasts, how to care for newborn rabbits.After carrots, another most useful vegetable for fluffy beauties is boiled potatoes, but raw peelings are also suitable. It is not so much attractive vitamin composition as saturation of starch. It is very necessary for their digestive system.
Consider the diet of rabbits in the winter. 
Rough food:
- fruit tree branches - antibacterial and vitamin supplements;
- Hay from wormwood, burdock, plantain, thistle, clover and wheatgrass.
Find out whether it is possible to give rabbits: cherry branches, milk, dill, zucchini, beets, fish oil, burdock, wormwood, nettle, bran, cereals, bread, pumpkin, corn.Succulent feed:
- boiled cabbage and potatoes + potato peel;
- carrot;
- kale;
- sugar beet;
- pumpkin.
- bran;
- cake;
- compound feeds;
- cereal fodder;
- the meal.
Vitamin and mineral supplements:
- proper vitamins and minerals, which are added to warm mixed food;
- bone flour;
- fish fat;
- dried or dried berries of wild rose, mountain ash;
- needles;
- nettle hay and germinated grain.
Did you know? Surprisingly, it can be such that domestic rabbits can become temporarily sterile in the warm season, and then the reproductive function returns with decreasing temperature.What to feed rabbits in winter: video
Frequent mistakes when organizing winter okrolov
It is important for beginner breeders to know the basic rules of livestock rearing in winter, in order to avoid common mistakes:
- you can not leave the rabbit for a long time in a cage with a male. But quickly pick it up when the cover has not yet happened - also a mistake. Fertilization is best done during the daytime for 3-4 days;
- they often mistakenly take on still very young, inferior males. They do not cope with the task, and the fruitful time is simply lost;
- After a roundabout, you need to carefully inspect the nest and check that there is enough water in it, otherwise the female can eat her litter;
- you should not deplete the uterus with very frequent okrolami, especially if the food does not contain all the necessary components;
- A very big mistake is to feed the rabbits, and especially the females in the launch of compound feed prepared for cattle.
Winter okrol: video
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