How much hay does a rabbit eat per month? Daily food intake for rabbits

Kira Stoletova

Nowadays, one of the most popular pets, the breeding of which has recently been quite actively carried out, is the rabbit. In order for a rabbit to grow up healthy, it is necessary to take good care of it, including monitoring its daily nutrition. Anyone who is faced with raising this pet for the first time often wonders how much feed a rabbit eats per day. Let's look at how to feed this animal correctly and what the daily amount of food it should consume should be.

Types of feed

Before clarifying the question of how much feed a rabbit needs for normal growth in one day, you should understand what types of such feed exist. Among them it is worth highlighting the food:

• rude;
• green;
• juicy.

If we consider the coarse type of feed, then it is worth including a number of elements, which include: flour, hay, tree branches, dried grass and other options. If you decide to give branches to your rabbit, then pay attention to the fact that the animal’s body has a negative attitude towards apricots. The best option may be linden and ash branches. As for the preparation of hay, it should be prepared only from the grass that he eats daily raw.

If we talk about green food, this includes cabbage and the most common greens. This feeding diet should be present in the summer; at other times of the year it is advisable to use a different feeding option. In addition, it is important to pay attention to the fact that not all types of herbs that exist can be consumed by a rabbit. The best option may be clover, lupine, legumes and cereals. Among vegetables, preference should be given to potatoes and beets. If your rabbit consumes green food excessively, you need to carefully monitor his body, as sometimes problems can arise in his digestive system.

An equally interesting option is juicy compound feed. This includes various fruits, berries and other fruits. In fact, this animal is a real gourmet, so sometimes it can eat carrots, pumpkin and even watermelon. An excellent option would be silage made from root vegetables and well-ground grass.

What is feed and how much does a rabbit need?

If it is not possible to give the animal natural food, you can give preference to the most ordinary compound feed. This food contains a balanced amount of vitamins and minerals. It also contains carbohydrates, proteins and fats in the required quantities. In addition, it also contains protein necessary for the rabbit’s body. This type is absorbed by the body for quite a long time, so it should be introduced gradually and over a huge period of time. The most nutritious and useful elements of feed are:

• corn;
• oats;
• barley;
• wheat.

For feeding, these products are very suitable for the animal and give it an incredible amount of energy and strength. Naturally, the best feeding option both in winter and summer is compound feed, although it is quite expensive. It is worth highlighting the following types:

• full-featured;
• special feed additives;
• feed in the form of concentrate.

The complete version of compound feed contains the necessary vitamins and other useful substances in normal proportions, which will be sufficient for the normal functioning of such an animal. Among feed additives, a variety of minerals and vitamins should be highlighted. When introducing such elements into feeding, you should know some of the characteristics of the animal’s body. If there is no normal amount of vitamin A, the rabbit may develop problems with vision and the reproductive system. Vitamin B will help for the functioning of the digestive system. But to maintain immunity at a good level, a decorative rabbit urgently needs vitamin C.

If we consider the so-called concentrate feed, it is a mixture of cereals and legumes. In fact, this is the feeding option that every animal should have. Often it contains almost identical elements, among which you can find bran, yeast, pieces of meat, grains and various vitamins and minerals.

How much of this food should a rabbit eat in one day?

When the question arises, what should be the daily amount of compound feed eaten by a rabbit, you must proceed from the breed and age of the pet. The daily value can be calculated in several ways.

• You can calculate the so-called feed unit. For example, 100 g of feed unit may contain 100 g of oats or other crops.
• Calculate the daily intake of proteins. For animals that have not yet reproduced, the daily norm should be about 150-160 feed units. For an adult male, these figures per day should be 180 feed units, but a female who has given birth and is nursing should consume about 300-700 feed units. The daily rate may even depend on the color of the rabbit. A light-colored rabbit eats much less than a dark-colored rabbit. During the mating period, they should be given much more food per day than during the normal period. When raising an animal for further slaughter, it is necessary to fatten it in advance, thereby increasing the amount of food not only per day, but also per month. In this case, it is possible to determine the norms that are necessary for the rabbit’s body.
• Adults weighing up to 5 kg need to eat about 5-6 kg of food per month.
• If the rabbit is no more than 4-5 months old, he will need approximately 3-4 kg per month.

Based on approximate annual and monthly calculations, you can create the nutrition that a rabbit should receive per day.

• for a nursing rabbit - approximately 100 g;
• for sufficiently mature males - 60-70 g;
• for still young rabbits - 40-50 g;
• when raising decorative rabbits - no more than 1 tbsp. l. per day.

It is worth paying attention to the fact that for still small rabbits, the norms for such consumption will be completely different. If a small rabbit is already 35-40 days old, then it can be given about 100-130 feed units per day. In 1 day, a small rabbit aged 60 days eats approximately 150 food units. If the question arises of how much a 4-month-old rabbit needs, such norms should be about 200 feed units. For young animals aged 120-130 days, these indicators should be at the level of 225 feed units.

The health and quality of the animal's fur depends on how much feed the rabbit eats per day. Feeding furry animals must be treated very carefully, since the owner’s profit directly depends on it. Feeding for rabbits is the main process of their life. Thanks to this process, they accumulate sufficient energy for life and procreation. The basis of food for rabbits is plant food, which is as similar as possible to food in the wild. Foods of animal origin are in the background, being supplements for pets so that they can receive additional vitamins and minerals.

In conditions for full development, it is necessary to provide nutrition that is no worse, and perhaps better than natural.

Main types of feed

First, let's look at what types of food there are. Rabbit food can be divided into several main groups. Firstly, it is green food. Rabbits feed on them mainly in the warm season, when everything blooms and turns green. In the summer there are no special problems with what to feed the rabbits. Green foods include grasses, vegetable tops and cabbage. You can feed animals green food until autumn.

Excessive consumption of legumes by a rabbit leads to bloating.

It is worth paying attention to the fact that not all herbs are edible for rabbits. Feeding rabbits can include grasses such as alfalfa, clover, rye or lupine. Cereals and legumes are very useful for rabbits. But the daily intake of legumes must be strictly monitored, since their excessive consumption leads to bloating. Rabbits can be fed the tops of various vegetables, such as potatoes or beets. The use of any new food for an animal requires monitoring of its health.

The next group of feeds is roughage. These include hay or plant branches, which should be prepared in advance. Hay is made from the same grasses that rabbits eat in the spring and summer. Hay should be stored in dry areas. Branches harvested in summer will serve as good food for rabbits all winter. But not all branches will be useful for rabbits. Rabbits can eat branches of acacia, linden, ash, aspen and others as food. Some of these branches can also have a medicinal effect on the body. For example, oak branches can help with diarrhea in an animal. Branches of bird cherry, apricot, and elderberry are poisonous and therefore strictly contraindicated.

The third group of feeds is succulent feeds. People usually switch to this type of food with the onset of frost. Juicy foods include root vegetables, silage, watermelons, zucchini or pumpkins. These feeds can fully provide animals with vitamins.
Root vegetables are especially good for nursing rabbits; the amount of milk increases noticeably. Root vegetables that are good for rabbits include potatoes, carrots, cabbage, and beets. Silage is also a succulent feed. These pets love him very much. Silage is prepared from chopped grass, vegetables and tops.

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What is best for these animals?

Oats are a dietary food, so their consumption does not affect the animal’s intestines in any way.

Concentrated feeds are considered the most nutritious and rich in vitamins. These include feed for rabbits, cereals, grains, bran and animal feed. They are more nutritious due to their high protein content. The rabbit's diet should consist of 40% concentrated feed. Concentrated feeds are carefully prepared before being introduced into the animal’s diet. The most popular of all grains is oats. It is a dietary food, so its consumption does not affect the animal’s intestines in any way. In order to increase the weight of animals, breeders add corn to the diet, as it has a high energy value. Wheat and barley are usually finely crushed and mixed with other food, since if a pet eats a large amount of wheat, it will lead to intestinal upset.

Wheat bran and cake are also included in rabbit food, but they are less valuable in their nutritional properties. Animal-derived food is rarer in a rabbit's diet, but it is very rich in minerals necessary for the growth of rabbits.

Compound feed is considered the most balanced food for rabbits. It is worth noting that the use of compound feed is more expensive compared to all other feeds. But due to the fact that it contains a balanced complex of all essential vitamins and minerals, it is chosen by many breeders as food for their pets.

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Compound feeds and their classification

Such feeds are divided into three types:

Corn is necessary to increase the weight of rabbits.

• complete feed;
• feed additives:
• concentrate feed.

Complete feed is the most optimal of all three types. It meets all the requirements for the presence of nutrients necessary for the life of the animal. Feed additives are a vitamin complex, and concentrates are usually an additive to such feed groups as succulent and roughage.

Compound feed has a large number of advantages. For example, when fed with compound feed, rabbits gain weight faster, and it takes much less time to feed. Another advantage is that the feed is easy to store and transport from place to place if necessary. But the most important advantage is a balanced diet with all the microelements the animal needs.

Perhaps the only significant drawback is that it requires individual selection of the components included in the feed. Note that pregnant rabbits and small babies require different sets of microelements.

The main component in all types of feed for rabbits is crushed grains (wheat, oats). The second most important is cake, bran or yeast. They are high in protein, so they are needed in the diet of rabbits. If you do not give your rabbit hay, then another component of the feed should be vitamin-grass meal. A small part of the feed consists of meal from meat or fish. Chalk and salt are a necessary component for animal feed. These components are the main sources of vitamins and minerals necessary for the life and growth of animals.

Breeding rabbits is not only useful, but also a profitable business. But raising healthy and strong livestock is not an easy task. A lot in this matter depends on the food. That is why many breeders prefer to use compound feed for rabbits, which allows them to make the animals’ diet complete, enriched with vitamins and microelements, without which the health of the livestock will be in question. You can buy compound feed, or you can make it yourself at home.

Breeding rabbits is not only useful, but also a profitable business

No matter what type of animal is raised, the owner's highest priority will be to provide them with adequate daily nutrition. And his choice is not so simple. If the summer period is a little easier with this, because there is a wide variety of herbs and vegetables in abundance, then in winter and in the first spring months, due to a lack of vitamins and nutrients, rabbits may suffer from pestilence.

To avoid this, you need to give your animals ready-made dry food. Store products are divided into 3 types:

1. Feed additive. This is not a separate food product. It must be mixed with the main food, strictly observing certain proportions. Thanks to it, rabbits receive the necessary vitamins and microelements in the volume they need. The supplement allows you to independently control the fortification process, but there are a couple of disadvantages - high cost and the need to always buy them.
2. Concentrated feed. This is already food, but enriched with useful substances in concentrated form. That is why it is also not given as an independent food. Usually it is added to rough and juicy basic feed. Constantly purchasing this food reduces the profitability of raising rabbits.
3. Complete feed or regular feed. Feeding them is convenient and complete in itself. With it, animals receive all the necessary substances. Despite the fact that you also need to buy it constantly, unlike the two previous options, it is much more economical, and its price is much lower. Fluffy animals eat it completely, and absolutely all of it is absorbed, unlike, for example, whole grains. Thanks to their dense structure, rabbits wear down their teeth on them, which is very important for rodents.

Compound feed in the diet of rabbits is:

• rapid weight gain;
• prevention of many diseases;
• optimization of feed supply;
• saving time.

Composition requirements

It is strictly forbidden to use feed intended for birds to feed rabbits.

Most breeders give their rabbits not only food specialized for them, but also feed for cattle. Their composition is perfect for a complete diet.

It is strictly forbidden to use feed intended for birds to feed rabbits, since their coarse particles negatively affect the animal’s digestive system.

The composition of feed can be very diverse, but there are substances that must be in it:

• cellulose;
• a number of useful amino acids;
• vitamin and mineral complex.

It doesn’t matter whether it is a ready-made food or one that is made at home - all its ingredients must be thoroughly crushed. Their basis is grain, which is enriched with protein products:

• sunflower cake;
• soybean meal;
• bone meal;
• herbal flour - vitamin;
• hydrolyzed yeast;
• salt;
• premix;
• tricalcium phosphate.

The animal feed ration must be provided with a sufficient amount of water, otherwise it may lead to the death of the livestock.

DIY recipes

There are 2 home recipes for preparing feed for rabbits

There are 2 homemade recipes for preparing feed for rabbits, and each of them has a special purpose: fattening for meat and enhanced nutritional value.

The proportions of the fattening option are as follows:

• Cereals 40%, where 10% wheat and corn and 20% barley.
• Flour, where 40% is grass and 2.2% is meat and bone.
• Sunflower cake - 10%.
• Soybean meal - 5.5%.
• Yeast - 2%.
• Salt - 0.2%.

Compound feed with enhanced nutritional value used for rabbits during pregnancy and lactation should have the following composition:

• Cereals 40%, where 20% oats and barley, as well as 12.5% ​​wheat.
• Flour, where grass - 30%, as well as bone and fish - 2%.
• Sunflower cake - 13%.
• Yeast - 1%.
• Salt - 0.5%.

All components are mixed in the specified proportions. They are passed through a granulator, dried and homemade granulated feed is obtained.

Daily value for a rabbit

Before switching animals to compound feed, you need to know how many grams should be given to a rabbit per day

Before switching animals to compound feed, you need to know how many grams should be given to a rabbit per day. The daily intake of combined feed for rabbits is influenced not only by their age, but also by gender and period of life:

• adult rabbit - 170 g;
• mating period - 220 g;
• pregnant females - 180 g;
• rabbit during lactation - 400-600 g;
• rabbits - 120 g.

If rabbits are bred for meat, then for young animals the norm will be 100-140 g of feed per day, and for skins you need to increase this figure by 40 g.

Pros and cons of granules and mash

Granules are certainly more convenient for feeding, but making them at home is quite problematic

Granules are certainly more convenient for feeding, but making them at home is quite problematic. But store-bought versions of the product are rightfully considered the most popular foods. Each manufacturer has its own recipe, in which only the amount of content of certain products varies. But the main list of them is the same and does not differ from the one listed above. It is also good because it helps rabbits grind their teeth on it, which is incredibly important. In a month, such food for the farm will cost a considerable amount of money, but if the livestock is large, then it’s time to buy a granulator and dryer and make food for pets yourself.

A mash for large livestock is a cheap, but very troublesome feed. Therefore, it is not recommended for use on large farms. But for a small livestock this will be both useful and profitable: the rabbits will happily eat tasty leftovers from the owner’s table.

Price issue

Breeders are confident that strong livestock are possible only if the rabbits have adequate nutrition, including grains, legumes, vitamins and minerals. The price of feed directly depends on its components and their quality. The cost on the market ranges from 15-20 rubles per 1 kg, i.e. the retail price of a bag will vary from 550 to 720 rubles. But wholesale prices are much more attractive - 5-10 rubles per 1 kg of product.

Prices for complete granulated food from different manufacturers:

1. LPH "Sheremetyevsky collective farm", compound feed for adults with 15% alfalfa flour content will cost 650 rubles per bag weighing 40 kg.
2. Kristall Group LLC mixed feed for adults with 15% alfalfa flour content will cost 694 rubles per bag weighing 40 kg.

Preparing feed for rabbits yourself will be a troublesome task, especially if you do not have special equipment. But its purchase is impractical if the livestock is small and is not bred for sale. Buying finished products is a little more expensive than simple feed, but will be much healthier for rabbits. Such nutrition will be complete, which means that rabbits will get sick less, which is incredibly important for these animals.

Ask any experienced rabbit breeder what their rabbits eat and most likely you will hear “They eat everything.” So it is, they eat and are afraid of the difficulties of feeding - what if something is wrong? - it’s not worth it for a novice rabbit breeder. Even if you took the risk of starting with a large farm and purchased a lot of females, do not panic.

I always respect any knowledge, but when in a book designed for an amateur rabbit breeder, I see long tables with a list of all kinds of food and their breakdown into proteins, they want to show off their education.” And the impressionable person feverishly begins to calculate how much protein and vitamins he did not give to his rabbits and what will happen now.

In fact, everything is somewhat simpler. Look at what you have and what you can buy or prepare, and proceed from this. Let's try to formulate a few “rules” of feeding:

1. There should be enough food. The system of constant access to food (used, in particular, by Mikhailov) is completely justified: in nature, a rabbit is exactly the same, constantly among edible herbs and branches and eats as needed, as much as its body, equipped with a single-chamber stomach, requires. And he doesn’t overeat and isn’t obese.

2. Food must be of high quality. Nothing moldy, rotten, frostbitten, wet, covered with frost, etc. It should not be given to rabbits. Fresh grass with dew is unacceptable, and in general the grass must be dried out.

3. Food should be as varied as possible. Imagine yourself in the place of a rabbit. even if you are constantly fed the same best thing day after day - well, what do you like there? - How many days do you think your favorite dish will start throwing up? A rabbit is more sensitive to food than a human. It is advisable to even make hay from different grasses; for rabbit hay, wild grasses are better suited than seeded ones.

4. Dry food (cereals, mixed feed, crackers, etc.) should be given along with water. The water should be clean, slightly warmed in winter (slightly below room temperature). The claim that rabbits get water from grass is a myth.

5. If you dose food and give it three or four times a day, do it strictly at the same time. A “sliding schedule” is not suitable here, although rabbits adapt well to the feeding schedule.

6. Equalization in feeding is unreasonable. One breed needs to be fed more intensively, while another tolerates a lack of food more easily. One female, say, has 7 rabbits, and another has 10 - the second needs to be fed (and watered!) more. During pregnancy, the female needs to eat more, and the closer the birth, the more food. A breeding male should eat better during the period of “active work” than during the rest period. Etc.

7. Animals kept in cages should receive not only plant food, but also animal food (whey, whole milk, bone meal, fish oil), and microelements, which in nature and in pit-housed conditions they receive by eating clay.

There is nothing too abstruse about feeding rabbits; you can guess all these “rules” yourself. A rabbit is not some kind of alien, but a mammal just like everyone else, just like you. Well, with some of its own characteristics, but it also loves to eat deliciously to its heart’s content, drink water, snack on something “sweet” - one carrot, the other wormwood - everyone has individual taste preferences.

Of course, raising rabbits must be profitable, income must significantly exceed costs, “the economy must be economical,” etc. However, we must look for cost reductions where they do not harm the overall business. When rabbits are underfed because there is nothing special to feed them and they need to save money, this is somehow understandable, although it does not inspire approval. And when they are afraid to overfeed, keeping them in a cramped cage and stuffy barn without ventilation, this only indicates that the person has incorrectly calculated the number of rabbits permissible for his conditions or does not quite understand what he is doing, what is happening in this rabbitry and what else do they need? necessary.

But, as a rule, you just need exercise. A rabbit that has the opportunity to exercise will not eat too much and will not become obese. Organism. A rabbit is able to regulate the amount of food itself, if the animal is not under stress and is not sick, if it has at least the minimum necessary conditions. A walk and fresh air should be considered one of the components of nutrition, then everything will be fine with digestion, absorption of feed, health and growth.

Instead of long lists of a wide variety of herbs, vegetables, and other edible items (half of which you still don’t have and never will, since they don’t grow in your area), and such recipes and dosages, meaningless without taking into account the breed, the direction of rabbit breeding and the method of keeping, Let's look at what's really worth paying attention to.

What and how much

First of all, when starting rabbits, we must calculate how much feed we will have to prepare. Of course, the calculation will be very approximate; we will simply determine the required minimum of what rabbits can live on in any region and in any direction of rabbit breeding (except for decorative ones). Conventionally, let’s take cellular housing as the most costly in terms of feed. The following calculation can be used as a basis. An adult rabbit with a live weight of 4.5 kg will eat approximately 50 kg of concentrates, 50 kg of hay, 60 kg of succulent and 200 kg of green feed in a year. Male with a mixed type of feeding - 50 kg of concentrates, 20 kg of hay, 50 kg of silage and root crops, 65 kg of green feed. Young rabbits (from 45 to 120 days) with a mixed type of feeding - 15 kg of concentrates, 5 kg of hay, 15 kg of green feed. If where you live there is a lot of grass (forbs) and in the first half of summer it is possible to prepare a lot of hay, don’t be lazy, it can replace other feeds, although feeding rabbits with hay alone is also unwise. There is an opportunity to grow more vegetables or potatoes - go ahead, thinking, of course, about storage, so that there will be enough vegetables until spring. It doesn’t really matter what grows better, cabbage, carrots or rutabaga - they’re all good. Rabbits also eat potatoes with pleasure, both raw and boiled, but it is better to give them boiled, especially if they have been frozen. It’s easier with frozen carrots - just thaw them. But any vegetables must be cleared of soil, washed and chopped. At the same time, it is better to give succulent food after dry food. And if the basis of the diet at some point consists mainly of vegetables, be sure to feed hay along with them.

It is good to stock up on grain and bran - half a bag each - a bag per head is enough if you have hay and vegetables. Babies under 2 months should not be given bran, although, living with their mother, they will still try little by little and get used to it, so that after weaning they will already be familiar with bran. It’s just that dry bran (like other loose, dusty foods) can irritate the rabbit’s respiratory tract, so if you give them separately, it is better to moisten them and give them a little at a time so that the bran does not sour or mold in the feeders. They are good for sending other food - juicy chopped vegetables or silage.

Silage is prepared for the winter in barrels (wooden, if available, or plastic). In practice, this is sauerkraut, approximately the same as sauerkraut, which, by the way, can also be given little by little, sprinkled with bran.

It is better to give crushed grain - a grain crusher can now be bought at any hardware store. Better yet, soak and sprout. Pour a layer of grain 2-3 centimeters thick into an old trough, fill it flush with the grain with lukewarm water and place it in a warm, bright place. After two or three days, the grain will sprout and become excellent food for rabbits. It is good to soak legumes three to four hours before feeding.

If there are edible leftovers (not bones) from your own dinner, rabbits will happily eat them. The leftovers are usually used to make a mash, moistening it with milk, skim milk or fermented milk whey. However, make sure that the products are not spoiled. A bowl of Olivier left over from the New Year cannot be fed to rabbits in February. Better feed them a Christmas tree. The crackers are very good. Don't throw away the leftover bread, dry it, and the rabbits will chew it up as a treat.

In spring and autumn, rabbits switch from one type of feed to another, from fresh grass to canned food and concentrates and vice versa. This transition should not be abrupt; introduce the new (well-forgotten old) type of food gradually, over 5-7 days, and your animals will not have an upset stomach. Fresh grass is great, but if you eat too much of this food, diarrhea is quite possible. If leaves have already appeared on the oak tree, break the branches along with them or tear off at least the leaves - it helps rabbits against diarrhea.

Water, as we already know, must be fresh all the time. Periodically, once or twice a month - no more often, to prevent intestinal infections, you need to give light, slightly pink, potassium permanganate or add a drop of iodine solution to the water. In the chapter on arranging cages, it was already discussed what types of drinking bowls there are and how you can heat the water in cold weather.

It is especially needed in winter, when there is no fresh grass and a significant part of the rabbit’s diet is grain or mixed feed.

By the way, about compound feeds. Not all of them are suitable for a rabbit. Bird's milk is not suitable because shell rock or pebbles, which are necessary for birds, are added to it; this is harmful to a rabbit. Pork feed is also not the best option, although some rabbit breeders provide a little - usually on farms where pigs are also kept.

The question of what to give more and what less is decided not so much by the rabbit breeder as by the rabbit. Observe each animal, remember which food each rabbit likes best. They, of course, are not the same, but the rabbit’s body, like other mammals, knows better than any specialist what substances it needs most and what they contain, hence the taste preferences. The more varied your supply of food is, the fewer problems you will have with diseases, medications, veterinarians and other pharmacies.

By feeding frequency. Many rabbit breeders (not only Mikhailovites, who did not come up with this themselves) try to make cages with large feeders - separate for different types of food - so that the stock lasts for as long as possible. And this is correct, you just need to make sure that the food in them does not mold or spoil, and the design of the feeder should be such that the rabbits scatter as little food as possible, and the baby rabbits cannot climb into them. Mikhailovtsy claim that the rabbit eats 80 times a day, other experts believe that only 30 times, and they are most often fed three or four, or even twice a day. This is about the same as feeding a person to the belly, but once a week. A rabbit is not a dog; it is not typical for him to eat too much. Therefore, try to ensure that access to food is constant not only for nursing rabbits and small rabbits (for these, constant feeding is mandatory), but also for other rabbits.

Buffet instead of a pharmacy

Rabbits get an upset stomach from time to time. In this case, break the willow and oak branches. If you notice someone with diarrhea, put oak branches in the cage, usually this treatment is sufficient. You can give them without any frustration, but do not overdo it, this is not the main food. Some people harvest branches in the summer and store them as brooms, but branches are not hay. If you live in a big city, where getting branches in winter is a problem, this may be the way out (you can soak it, steam it), but for residents of villages and small towns it’s easier to break branches just before feeding. Just don’t give them straight out of the cold, icy. Experts recommend giving a little bit of pine needles in winter - they eat them too. Constipation occurs - most likely, they overfed him with dry food, give him more water and succulent food.

You may notice that rabbits eat their own excrement; this is not a food perversion or a disease - this is typical for rabbits, do not interfere. The alarm should be sounded when the rabbit stops eating, loses mobility, looks at one point, the fur becomes ragged, loses its shine and silkiness.

It is clear that a rabbit breeder is not a veterinarian; you will not be able to make an accurate diagnosis and carry out treatment yourself, especially at first. But you need to know the most basic signs of troubles that occur more often than others in rabbits, and before calling a veterinarian (who may not be in your area or who may not understand the diseases of rabbits any better than you), you can try to solve these problems yourself.

On “rabbit” sites on the Internet there is a lot of all kinds of advice and instructions on rabbit diseases. This table seemed to me the most successful (p. 105)

These tips, in my opinion, are good because they do not offer drugs, any chemicals or antibiotics. 70-80 percent of rabbit diseases come from diet, which is what they treat. Of course, there are infectious diseases that cannot be cured with any branches, but we will consider them separately.

Not by bread alone...

A special group of feeds should be considered feeds of animal origin. This group of feeds includes: cow's skim milk, buttermilk, whey, meat, meat and bone, blood and fish meal. Since rabbits are mainly herbivores, food of animal origin is introduced into their diets in small quantities (5-10 g per animal per day).

Raw materials of animal origin contain complete protein. Whole milk is used for feeding young animals, especially during early weaning, and lactating rabbits. Skim milk is added to mash or given to rabbits in fresh and fermented form. Whey and buttermilk are given in natural form or mash. Milk, skim milk, whey and buttermilk, both fresh and dry, are valuable dietary feeds.

Meat, meat and bone meal, fish meal and blood meal are highly nutritious foods that are also needed by rabbits. Fat in these feeds ranges from 1.9-2.5% in fish and blood meal to 10-14% in meat and
meat and bone meal. These feeds are rich in calcium (from 3.2 to 16 g per 100 g of feed) and phosphorus (from 1.5 to 8 g per 100 g). They are added to feed mixtures, and they are also included in the finished feed: 1-2% by weight.

Feeding on vacation...

Males and females in private households are usually dormant in late autumn and winter. Rabbit breeders who raise rabbits indoors use them for reproduction all year round; such rabbits do not have a resting period, or they are determined by the rabbit breeder individually for each animal.

The purpose of feeding during the rest period (that is, between matings) is to maintain average fatness in animals, without obesity and emaciation. Concentrated feed is given in an amount of 60 g, which may contain, for example, 30 g of oats or barley, 20 g of corn and 10 g of wheat bran. They are given plenty of hay and haylage (let’s say 50/50 alfalfa hay and meadow hay), straw, and twig food. Juicy food can be given in maximum quantities.

If a breeding animal begins to lose weight and the cause is not illness, increase the amount of concentrated feed and good quality hay, haylage or other good quality feed. Conversely, if they gain a lot of fat, feed more branch feed, straw and other roughage.

During the rest period, males and females are given mineral food per head: 1 g of salt, 2-4 g of finely ground eggshells and 4-6 g of bone meal. These feedings are necessary if succulent food is used - beets, pumpkin, cabbage, silage, etc.

A good mixture will be made from 30% grain feed (10% oats or barley, 10% corn and 10% bran) and 70% hay (40% alfalfa-clover or legumes and 30% meadow).

If meadow hay is very rich in legumes, its percentage can be reduced by adding alfalfa hay.

All these percentages, of course, are conditions and are given simply as an example. Look at what you have available, monitor the condition of the animals and create your own recipes, remembering that the main task is not to overfeed them and prevent them from starving. This type of feeding is called maintenance feeding.

...and during the mating period

Mating is a crucial period in rabbit breeding. Males and females are prepared for mating by eliminating errors in feeding, if any were made - by the time of mating, the rabbits should be in a state of factory fatness. Ultimately, the yield of products depends on the preparedness of the rabbits of the main herd for mating. Weak rabbits receive more concentrated feed, and fattened ones are put on a diet for weight loss. Both obesity and emaciation are undesirable: in such cases, rabbits produce weak, non-viable offspring, and the quantity and quality of sperm in males sharply decreases.

Sperm production of males depends on the content of protein, vitamins A, E and B, as well as minerals in the diet. To enrich the diet with protein, cakes and bran are added to the feed, and as complete protein of animal origin - meat and bone meal, fish meal, etc. The feed mixture should not contain a lot of feed that contributes to obesity (barley, potatoes, corn).

Preparation for mating of poorly nourished rabbits begins 3 weeks before the start of the breeding period. In this case, they use a diet similar in nutritional value to the diet of full-term rabbits (see below). The food should be plentiful and varied, containing almost all vitamins. The same diet is maintained during the mating period.

In other words, for the period of mating and preparation for it, additional rations are given, which depend on the condition of the animal and production use.

Feeding pregnant females and rabbits

During pregnancy, the female, especially in the second half, slightly reduces the amount of roughage. At this time, the supply of mineral and vitamin feed is increased. Rabbit milk contains up to 20% fat, 15% protein, about 2% sugar, and up to 2.5% minerals. The formation of such a highly nutritious product requires a lot of good, easily digestible, varied feed. Therefore, suckling females are given only the highest quality food during the entire suckling period. Their quality is especially noticed when the baby rabbits begin to leave the nest and try to eat from the feeders.

To ensure that the female has a lot of milk, the number of root vegetables is increased. Concentrated feeds should be varied. In the second half of the suckling period, concentrates and other feeds are added to the basic norm, depending on the number of rabbits. After weaning the young animals, these additives can be excluded from the female’s diet - look at the condition of the animal.

Often, rabbits are separated from the female at the age of 45 days. In my opinion, it is not worth doing this so early, but if you decide to work using this technology, then for the first days, feed the baby rabbits the same food that they received while under the uterus. Then gradually switch them to other foods. Rabbits aged 1-2 months are not recommended to be given vegetable waste, potato peelings, coarse hay, straw, or coarse green food. These feeds can cause digestive upset in young animals because the digestive organs of rabbits are not yet adapted to digest large quantities of feed, especially roughage.

Placed rabbits can be fed with green grass, good bean hay, oats, mixed feed (special!), boiled potatoes with the addition of a small amount of bran, red carrots, and fodder beets. Wet food is usually given to rabbits 1-2 times a day so that it is eaten within 1-1.5 hours, otherwise it may turn sour and freeze in winter.

It is better to give dry food for several days so that the rabbit always has something to chew.

The rabbit is a nocturnal animal; in the wild it feeds at night and early in the morning. Therefore, rabbits should have enough food in their feeder at night. It is most convenient to give a large amount of green grass, hay, and twig food at night.

Breed and food

I am sure that after reading the description of the breeds, many readers will want to get the “best”: a Flandre, a white or gray giant, or some new breed of this type, which, perhaps, is just about to amaze us with its record size. In fact, when a rabbit breeder grows a super rabbit weighing 10-12 kg, newspapers and magazines write about him (or rather, about both of them), publish photographs - it’s nice to bask in the rays of glory. And at exhibitions they will give medals and bring rabbits for mating. I myself have written more than once about such record holders.

All this is wonderful, but keeping only record holders in the commercial economy, oddly enough, is not very profitable. Breeding business is one thing, but meat and skins are another. Here it is necessary to consider not only the slaughter yield and the value of the skin, but also what had to be spent on it. I am not a supporter of saving on feed specifically; there are more effective ways to save money, but feed also needs to be counted.

Medium-sized breeds of rabbits appear to consume feed better than large-breed rabbits. Rabbits of these breeds are fertilized on the 126th day, and large ones - on the 180th, that is, the latter use feed longer without producing products. It’s about the same with breeding males. To maintain their weight, rabbits weighing up to 5 kg per 1 kg of growth consume less feed, since the feed given to rabbits is in excess of the quantity. Necessary to maintain their live weight, it is turned into meat. If breeds of rabbits weighing, for example, 7 kg and rabbits weighing 4 kg are bred, then almost twice as much feed will be needed to maintain the weight of one rabbit of the first breed. It's like the prestigious, but heavy 600th Mercedes and the lightweight Volkswagen Golf: for the same distance, these cars spend different amounts of gasoline - due to the fact that the “gelding” has to carry more than its own weight.

Therefore, if you give the same amount of food to these two rabbits, as much as is necessary to maintain their weight, then a rabbit weighing 7 kg will actually not produce any product, it will only retain its weight, while a rabbit weighing 4 kg will maintain its weight with half of the food. half will be processed into products. So choose, extra money or possible fame. If you have money, then it is better to breed rabbits mainly of breeds with a live weight of 4.7 to 52 kg. Although this does not mean at all that it is impossible to combine these breeds - we are only talking about the costs in general, for the entire livestock.

In addition, you can also save something on the color of the skin. There are scientific studies showing that albino rabbits with white hair (New Zealand White, Giant White, etc.) are calmer and therefore use less food to maintain their weight. Rabbits of breeds with white hair gain fat faster when consuming the same amount of feed, which is why they are used more often when bred for meat.

Rabbits from large litters have a lower live weight at birth and even at laying. However, at 60 days of age, with proper feeding, they catch up in weight with their peers from low-fertile litters. As a result of their intensive growth, they consume less feed per 1 kg of growth. Rabbits pass this ability on to their offspring. It follows that rabbits should be kept from multiple litters. With age, feed consumption per 1 kg of growth (if there is room to grow) increases. Therefore, rabbits raised for slaughter should be fed ad libitum and should be slaughtered at a young age.

Feeding decorative rabbits

Here we will have to take the advice of specialists from the Institute of Ecology and Evolution. A. N. Severtsov RAS E. V. Kotenkova and O. G. Orleneva:

“Compared to ordinary rabbits, dwarf rabbits are more demanding of food. Their diet includes solid, green and twig food. As solid feed, they eat grains of oats, wheat, rolled oats, bran and special feed.

Green food includes all kinds of grains, legumes, dandelions and other herbaceous plants. It is important to remember that no poisonous plants are included in the food. In urban conditions, it is advisable to wash herbaceous plants well, you can... weak manganese solution and then dry.

From branch food, dwarf rabbits eat silt, rowan, apple tree well, and in winter they eat spruce branches. Among vegetables, their diet should include carrots, cabbage (in limited quantities, since excess can cause tympany) and beets (can only be given to adult animals, since it often leads to stomach upset in rabbits). Hay is a must.

In the summer, if there is a sufficient amount of green feed, we do not add mineral supplements and vitamins to the feed. However, in winter they are simply necessary, since adult animals (especially pregnant and lactating females) and rabbits can die as a result of the lack of sufficient minerals and vitamins in the feed. Rabbits have a particularly acute need for calcium compounds. It is very convenient to add mineral fertilizer to bran or rolled oats. In the vivarium and at home, we use the following proportions: to a liter jar of oatmeal or bran we add 5 finely ground tablets of calcium glycerophosphate, 0.5 teaspoons of table salt, 2 teaspoons of milk powder, 1 teaspoon of mineral fertilizer " Ushastik", 1 finely ground vitamin C tablet with glucose and 0.5 tsp. spoons - complex vitamin for rodents "Farmavit". According to our experience, feeding with compound feed or adding only specialized mineral supplements to the feed turns out to be insufficient. Rabbits up to 2 years of age can be given cow's milk, and during the "baby" molt at the age of 2-3 months, calcium gluconate for injection can be added to the water at the rate of 1 ampoule per 0.5 liter of water. Some breeders give lactating rabbits milk to drink, which, however, in some cases may be one of the causes of mastitis.”

CLEANITY IS THE KEY TO HEALTH!

May experienced rabbit breeders forgive me for my banality, but everyone should know this. Believe it or not, now even in rural areas, among the indigenous rural residents, there are people who have never owned any kind of farm. How they earn their living is a separate question, but it happens. What should you ask a city dweller who decides to have rabbits?

So, gentlemen, rabbit breeders, a rabbit is not only valuable fur and 2-3 kg of tasty meat, it is also a lot of useful physical exercises that strengthen your health and fill your soul with pride in your own ability to keep the farm in good order and clean. And for this you need very little - visit the rabbitry more often and clean it regularly.

I will not recommend any schedules to you, since everyone has their own farm and the need for cleaning arises at different intervals - depending on the number of rabbits, the method of keeping, the design of the rabbitry, etc. We will become more familiar with what experienced rabbit breeders usually do, and what to do in general to keep it clean.

To do this, you will need simple equipment, which you need to acquire even before purchasing rabbits, namely: a scraper, a stiff brush, a broom, a broom, a shovel, a bucket, a whitewash brush, boxes for rabbit waste, a low cart like a skateboard, which is used for dashing rides boys in the city, only the board is wider and longer. One of the boxes must fit securely on the trolley. If you keep rabbits in a pit or basement, a cart, of course, is not needed - there will be no place to roll it out, but you can think about a lifting device like a well gate, so as not to carry boxes and buckets with your hands along basements and stairs.

The floor grate is cleaned with a metal scraper. Manure, contaminated food debris and bedding are raked into a low box placed under the cage or an oblong basin placed on a cart. Then the grate is lifted or completely removed from the cage, and the manure that has accumulated under it is raked away. So that the rabbits in the cage do not interfere with cleaning, they are driven to another compartment of the cage, and the hole is closed with a plywood latch. In this way, all the cages are cleaned in turn, and then the floor of the rabbitry is swept. The cleaning principle is top to bottom. If the cages are two-tiered, first clean the entire upper tier, then the lower one, and then the floor.

To speed up the removal of manure from the cage under the floor grid, as we already know from the chapter on cage design, you can (and should) install trays made of tin, boards or plywood, onto which the manure falls between the slats of the grid. If the pallet is wooden, then its bottom is lined with plastic film to protect the boards from swelling and delamination of the plywood.

First, the cage grid is cleaned, then the tray is pulled out and the manure accumulated in it is shaken out into a box or through a special hatch in the wall of the rabbitry directly into a compost pit located outside. If the premises are being built specifically for rabbits, it is a good idea to provide such a manure removal system.

After cleaning, do not throw the substance collected in the box into a landfill, but make compost out of it, mixing it with some kind of plant matter (fallen leaves, straw, etc.) and fertilize your garden with it. And even better - send it to your own mini-production of vermicompost, the structure of which is described at the end of the book.

Twice a year, if not more often, especially in damp times (spring and autumn), the cells must be disinfected. On a private farm, the simplest and most effective way is to treat the rabbitry, cages, and equipment with fire. To do this, use a regular blowtorch or gas torch. Well-cleaned wooden parts of the cage are treated with fire until slightly browned. In this case, extreme caution must be taken, otherwise you can burn not only your rabbitry and house, but also the buildings of your neighbors.

IMPORTANT: NEVER SMOKE IN THE RABBIT HOUSE!

Of the chemicals, the most widely used is bleach, used in the form of a 10% solution, which is used to treat the walls of the rabbitry, cages and equipment using a washcloth or another wide brush.

Cages, equipment, feeders and drinkers can also be treated with ash lye, which kills pathogens well, but is completely harmless to rabbits. It is prepared in the following way. Add pure wood ash (1/3 of the volume of water) to boiling water and boil for 230 minutes. The solution should then be filtered through 2-3 layers of gauze, the strained lye should be brought to a boil again and the cells and equipment should be immediately treated while hot. There are many other disinfectants that can be purchased at your veterinary pharmacy.

It is useful to cover the walls of the rabbitry and the outer parts of the cages with a solution of slaked lime. As we have already said, whitewashing with lime will also add more light to the rabbitry. Treat wooden feeders using a blowtorch, and it is better to wash and boil the metal, glass and ceramic parts of automatic feeders and automatic drinkers.

Cages are especially thoroughly cleaned and disinfected before placing newly acquired rabbits in them and at each transplant, before mass litters and in case of infectious diseases of rabbits.

Under no circumstances should sanitary treatment of the rabbitry, cages and equipment be neglected. Otherwise it could turn into a big disaster. You should always remember that preventing rabbit diseases is easier than treating them. It is better to spend a few hours on treatment than to spend months on treatment.

Many infectious and pathogenic microbes that cause illness and death in rabbits remain viable for several months. A disease introduced into a rabbitry can recur and occur even after a complete change of livestock.

When purchasing new rabbits, especially at the market, do not rush to place them with your rabbits. They must be quarantined separately for a month. And only after making sure of their complete well-being can they be placed in a rabbitry.

Keep cages and rabbitry away from dampness. Dirty and wet floors and cage bars contribute to the occurrence of such dangerous diseases as infectious stomatitis (“wet face”), pasteurellosis, staphylococcosis, coccidiosis and others.

Rabbits are neat animals. Over time, they steadily develop the habit of emptying the stomach and bladder in a strictly defined place in the cell. They especially keep the dark compartment where I rest clean. Typically, rabbits choose a place for the toilet in one of the corners near the back wall of the cage. In this case, the highest place is chosen. Knowing all this, you can easily accustom your rabbits to the place you choose for them. To do this, lift the grate in the desired corner, preferably near the door, slightly, placing a small wooden block under it, and put a little rabbit feces on the grate itself, which will encourage them to recover in this particular place. This will keep the cage clean and make it easier to clean.

With a properly formulated diet, animals receive sufficient quantities of all necessary nutrients, as well as minerals and vitamins. The multiplicity of females and the rapid growth of young animals is directly related to the feed, which will contain the above components.

When overeating or lack of food occurs, a significant decrease in the breeding productivity of the rabbit occurs, and the quality of fur and meat products deteriorates. Feeding should occur at a rate that takes into account the following parameters:

• physiological state;
• mass;
• productive qualities;
• time period (season of year).

Diet concept

Today, a large number of different breeds are known, which have significant differences in size. Of course, you cannot give the same amount of food to a dwarf rodent and a giant.

In the summer, animals should receive green mass, which significantly reduces the cost of expensive concentrated feed. Rabbits will happily eat not only cereal crops, but also the tops of garden plants. Root crops, silage (in winter), and vegetables are also eaten. All the foods listed above are rich in carbohydrates as well as vitamins.

Particular attention is paid to potatoes when feeding: vegetables with green parts should not be given to animals (they are poisonous to rabbits). You can give either raw or boiled potatoes. Many farmers use this valuable product as an additive to the mash, additionally using feed, meal and cake.

Silage is an excellent winter food for rodents, providing vitamins that animals need more during the colder months. This food is prepared from various components, for example:

• corn;
• sunflowers;
• cabbage leaves;
• beet tops;
• carrot;
• pea stems;
• green parts of oats;
• forbs.

Also in winter, hay, straw, and twig food are used instead of grass. Before feeding straw, you need to pay attention to its quality. Only certain types of it can be given to animals:

• oatmeal;
• pea;
• lentil;
• I'm milling.

Everything else is unsuitable for feeding rabbits, but is suitable as bedding.

Compound feed is an obligatory part of the diet. It is convenient because it contains all the beneficial components, nutrients and vitamins necessary for animals in an ideal ratio. However, the price of such food is not the most affordable. Compound feeds are produced for various groups of animals depending on their age, physiological characteristics and productive qualities. If the farm owner does not want to make unnecessary expenses, then such food for rabbits can be made on his own farm, having the following components:

• bran;
• cereals;
• meal;
• cakes;
• bone meal.

All of them are crushed and mixed in certain proportions.

Variety of feed

From the above, it becomes obvious that the diet of rabbits consists of very diverse components, and therefore it is worth getting to know them a little better.

All food can be divided into the following categories:

• green mass;
• rude;
• juicy;
• concentrates;

Green mass includes grass that appears naturally in fields and meadows with the onset of the warm season or is specially sown by humans. Among meadow crops, rabbits prefer alfalfa, clover, and wheatgrass. The second type of grass should be handled very carefully, because its excess leads to the fact that rabbits lose reproductive function.

The tops of various agricultural crops can also be used in feeding. Beet tops are introduced into the diet with extreme caution, because it leads to indigestion. You need to feed it in small quantities and watch the animals’ reaction (if necessary, you just need to remove it from the diet). The tops also contribute to rapid weight gain, which is not always necessary for the owner of a rabbit farm.

Succulent food in the diet includes various vegetable crops, root crops, melons, and silage. All such crops have good digestibility and low fiber content with a large amount of carbohydrates. This combination has a beneficial effect on appetite, the digestive system, and the amount of dairy products in lactating females. But this type of food is inferior in protein, fats and mineral components.

Roughage is divided into several types of food: hay, straw, branches, grass meal, hay meal. In most cases, all these components are used in the winter season as sources of vitamins and minerals. The exception is tree branches: they are given fresh both in the summer months and in winter, but in dried form.

Norms for animals at different physiological stages

Animals need to be fed depending on the age and condition of the rabbits, as well as seasonality. Approximate standards can be found in the following table. The amount of feed is indicated in grams.

Winter diet

With the onset of winter, animals need much more energy than in the summer so that they can warm themselves. At low outside temperatures, energy loss becomes very noticeable.

As for protein (protein), there is no need to increase it: in rabbits it is digested in the same amount, regardless of the season.

With the onset of cold weather, hay becomes the main food. Bean hay contains higher amounts of protein than cereal hay. Every owner should pay attention to the quality of food. Animals should not be given moldy hay, as it causes various diseases to develop that can result in death.

In second place is straw, which can replace some of the hay, but this food is not the most nutritious for rabbits. The requirement for straw quality is exactly the same as for the previous component. If there is a fungus in the feed, animals experience digestive upset.

Brooms from branches are prepared in the summer and dried using certain technologies. In winter, such branches are indispensable food for rabbit owners: they contain vitamins and useful components in large quantities. When preparing this food, you need to carefully feed the branches of cherry, sweet cherry and apricot trees, which contain hydrocyanic acid.

Harvesting coniferous branches is best done from October to March. At this time, the spruce branches have not yet had time to accumulate essential oils and tannins, which in large quantities can have a negative effect on the animal’s body.

Subtleties of meat fattening

To obtain high-quality meat products, animals need to be fed taking into account a special diet. All food should be balanced, saturated and at the same time contain organic and mineral fertilizers, incl. proteins fats carbohydrates. This composition has a beneficial effect on the precocity of animals.

Meat rabbits in a state of average fatness should receive complete protein (both animal and plant). These components are contained in sufficient quantities in the following types of feed:

• green mass;
• cakes;
• bone flour.

Animal protein should account for at least 20% of the total feed. This contributes to obtaining meat products with excellent taste and minimal vein content.

The remaining 80% comes from carbohydrates, which are contained in:

• in cereals and legumes;
• root vegetables

The most carbohydrates are found in carrots, turnips, and alfalfa. These foods must be included in the diet of a meat rabbit. Complete feed is also a good nutrition for fattening eared animals.