The rabbit's okrol happens quite often, everyone knows how fertile these animals are. What kind of offspring in rabbits of a standard size - one animal can mate up to 5 times in 12 months, and in one birth a female can give birth to up to 12 fifty-gram rabbits. After 90-120 days, the rabbit gains weight up to 3 kg.

Features of pregnancy in rabbits

Mating of animals occurs both in summer and winter. The rabbit can be caged every 8-9 days. Females of certain species can be fertilized already at the age of 3-4 months if the animal weighs more than 2 kg. However, the female usually matures by 8 months.

If the rabbit is chosen only for breeding, then she is kept for 30 days more, the rabbit - for 60 days. During the period when the rabbit is ripe, she is added to the rabbit. They are left for 2–4 hours. It is better to round rabbits in the morning or evening. Regardless of summer or winter time, the excellent hours for this event are from 11 to 16. The female may not get pregnant the first time, then mating is carried out again after 7 days.

Features of pregnancy in rabbits

Important! You can understand that pregnancy has begun by the behavior of the rabbit. When the female becomes aggressive and will not admit her partner, it means she is fertilized.

The time frame for rabbits is blurry. Mating and fertilization can take place in any season. Pregnancy does not always occur immediately after mating. Females of the smallest and fastest maturing breeds can fertilize as early as 3-4 months, and more fleshy species, for example, Flanders, Riesen, not earlier than 5 months and with a mass of more than 3.5 kg.

Rabbits selected for breeding are not touched for 1-2 months longer. Experts advise to fertilize ordinary Risenov for breeding for the first time at all not earlier than they reach 8 months. A mature rabbit will give the strongest and highest quality offspring in terms of genetics. In order for the rabbit to spawn, the actions of the owner must be well planned.

Training

Breeds of decorative rabbits

The puppet period, depending on the type of female, can last 26-35 days. Females of large breeds carry rabbits for a longer period. The most important condition for successful childbirth, obtaining a full-fledged offspring is high-quality nutrition for the expectant mother, along with the crawl.

Females need to be fed with more succulent feed and high-calorie crops (grain, beans). If hay is served, it must be prepared according to the rules. The organism of the pregnant uterus rapidly gives up useful elements to the embryos, their deficiency should be replenished. The expectant mother should receive vitamins and minerals. It is especially important to replenish calcium.

Vitamins for the rabbit

You can give biological additives and crushed tablets of calcium gluconate together with wet mash, add to the drink. Pills and a piece of regular chalk can be simply placed in a rabbit cage: it will chew as much as needed. Rabbits need to create a quiet, comfortable environment. They should not be removed from the cage unnecessarily.

If you need to move the female, then proceed as follows:

  • lure with food, so as not to worry;
  • take by the withers;
  • support from below.

If the female is already raising a litter, she should be placed in a young cage about 5 days before the time comes to give birth. It is imperative to separate mother and children.You should not place the uterus in another cage, you need to wash the one in which it lived before. Pre-disinfect, lay fresh, not hard straw and return it back to "home".

How many days does the rabbit begin to build a nest - from crumpled straw and her down, the female builds a warm corner for the rabbits per day. It is important not to distract or disturb her. Can't be picked up or taken out into the street. It is especially bad if foreign odors act on the rabbit:

  • cosmetical tools;
  • tobacco;
  • alcohol, etc.

Important! During childbirth, all the senses of the uterus are sharpened to the limit. Childbirth will be more successful if, after the rabbits are transplanted into the cage, the mother (birth) is made and placed. It can be a plywood box 40x50 cm, 35-40 cm high. It is necessary to make an entrance 15x15 cm in size. It is necessary to install the birth-bed 15 cm from the floor surface of the cage.

The mother may be different. For example, hanging ones are comfortable, because they are easier to clean. There is no general opinion among breeders about the need for a birth. Some generally consider it unnecessary, or they build an ordinary partition. Others advise using the birth ward exclusively in winter so that the born rabbits do not die. Still others believe that a childbirth is needed regardless of the season.

The brood will protect the rabbits from frost in the winter. Natural conditions are simulated in it, because the mother must give birth to offspring and raise them in a rather narrow, dark hole. The rabbit builds a nest right in the mother liquor. The top cover is made removable to perform the required manipulations. When it's warm, they take it off.

A second drinker must be placed in the birth center before the birth, this is very important. Lambing rabbits at home for beginners will not be a problem if you follow the advice of the pros. The owner must prepare the nest with the rabbit.

Preparing the nest

Features of childbirth

The female's bioclock is built in such a way that she gives birth at night, less often in the morning. Normal labor lasts about a quarter of an hour. After the birth, the female begins caring for herself: she eats the afterbirth and licks herself. After a certain period, the experienced female:

  • lays the rabbits in the nest;
  • covers;
  • licks;
  • feeds.
Breeding rabbits in the pit

An inexperienced rabbit can get confused and scatter children. As a result, not all rabbits that appear will eat normally. In such a situation, the owner must take care of the rabbits. It is necessary to lay the babies in the nest, cover them with down.

By the way, inexperienced rabbits cannot always make a cozy nest themselves. Help is needed even before childbirth. If the maternity is taken out of the cage for inspection, it is better to remove the female for a while so that she does not see it.

Interesting! Baby rabbits can only be touched if their hands are washed with a neutral, odorless product. If the mother smells someone else's smell, she can refuse the rabbits.

Often, breeders complain that the female eats the rabbits. In fact, bunnies are caring mothers. And cases of cannibalism in 99% of situations are associated with the discomfort of an animal that has not been created with the required conditions. Maybe the rabbit did not receive adequate food and is exhausted, or the body does not have enough vitamins and minerals, there is no water in the sippy cup.

Affects animals negatively:

  • stress;
  • unnecessary movements;
  • noise;
  • third party artificial flavors.

Childbirth in the winter can be problematic. The cage should be insulated in advance, but in cold weather (when rabbits are kept outdoors) this is not enough. The nest should be stuffed with fluff.

Important! At the time of okrol and on the following days, there should be a drinking bowl with unfrozen water in the birth center at all times. The female will lose a lot of liquid, it is vital for her to drink.

In cold weather, you need to control the process of childbirth in primiparous females. You can solve these problems by equipping heating. They use 12-24V lamps, medical warmers. It is possible to install a film heater of infrared radiation for underfloor heating.

Under comfortable conditions in summer, the female can start hunting immediately after giving birth.If a rabbit is present, they sense each other, and the rabbit may stop caring for the rabbits. The nest should be placed no closer than two meters from mature males. The normal behavior of a rabbit after birth is caring for the rabbits.

What to do if a rabbit cannot give birth

How to care for rabbits at home and what to feed

How to behave correctly if a rabbit cannot give birth? Signs of deterioration are usually expressed by shortness of breath and refusal to drink and eat. At the same time, the abdomen is tense, it is large. Help Wanted.

It is necessary to inject 1 mm 0.5% oxytocin or pituitrin solution into the female under the skin, in the area of ​​the shoulder blades. These medications stimulate uterine contractions and ocrol will begin. If the medication does not help, you should call your veterinarian.

Rabbit during lactation

Period after okrol

After giving birth, mothers lick their newborns. The rabbits are fed immediately, since milk appears during childbirth. Then the rabbit puts the offspring in the nest and covers them with down so that they do not freeze. After giving birth, the female drinks a lot, since during this time she has lost a lot of liquid. If there is not enough water, then the female will eat the cubs. Why do experienced farmers recommend increasing the feeding of the female at this moment? Because during lactation, nutrition is required twice as much.

Care after birth for a rabbit and offspring

When the bunny was curled up, what to do next? Cubs are born hairless, deaf and blind. On the 3rd day of life, hairs begin to appear on the body. They begin to see rabbits only on the 10-11th day. During the time when the cubs lie in the mother liquor, the rabbit looks after them. In the postpartum period, it is necessary to take care of the female, she needs high-quality nutrition with vitamin and mineral supplements.

We must not forget about water. For animals, a temperature regime of at least 18 ° C should be maintained in the room where they live. It is important to monitor the general condition of the rabbit and cubs, whether the female has a full appetite, whether she is active, etc.

Rabbits have a well-developed maternal instinct, and they can take care of the offspring themselves up to two weeks of age. Further, the female begins to leave the nest. At this time, it is very important to gradually accustom the rabbits to common feed mixtures:

  • corn;
  • hay;
  • green food, etc.

Baby food must be of high quality. If grass is being fed, it is important to pre-treat it with pesticides. The hay must be served only properly dried, without rot and mold. A drinker must be placed in the cage for the rabbits and make sure that it is full. Standard litter is not suitable for cubs; experienced breeders advise placing a rag or towel in the cage.

Baby rabbit

Will the rabbit accept other people's rabbits

The litter should be added to another rabbit with multiple litters or if the woman in labor has died. This is not a bad omen. It is not difficult to plant, as usually any rabbit accepts other people's cubs as her own, but a number of conditions must be observed.

The owner's hands should be clean, or better disinfected. Rabbits, which are given to another female, should be close in age to her relatives. It's good if the age difference is about 2-3 days. The animal, to which the cubs are placed, is temporarily taken out of the cage. And lonely rabbits are cleaned of the mother's fluff, rubbed with fluff from the nest of the new mother, who adopted them, and laid in the middle of the nest, and their relatives are placed around. Then the female is returned back to the nest and her behavior is monitored.

If everything is done correctly, the animal will accept the rabbits and feed them as their own, regardless of the fact that they are of a different color and breed. If the conditions are ignored, the rabbit may refuse or eat the rabbits.

The rabbit got fluff, but did not roll

It happens that a rabbit made a nest, picked up the fluff, but there are no babies. This is not becoming a cleansing of the rabbit from the rabbit, but may indicate that a false pregnancy has occurred. The rabbit is capable of giving birth four times a year.If a full pregnancy does not occur, a false one may take its place.

Rabbit false pregnancy

During the mating period, the female rabbit ovulates. A follicle bursts in the ovaries, a corpus luteum is formed. When the hormonal level is several times higher, the body thinks that the rabbit has become pregnant. Due to this error, the mammary gland begins to work. By about the 14th day of pregnancy, hormones subside, and the body starts to return to normal criteria. Then the hormonal peak occurs again. The amount of progesterone decreases and the level of estrogen increases. The rabbit is molting.

In the same period, the maternal instinct wakes up and forces the female to tear up the fluff, build a nest from it and the materials at hand. All this lasts no more than a day. When the peak of fertility has passed, the reproductive system and hormonal levels begin to return to natural levels.

The reasons for false pregnancy are different. This may be a feature of the reproductive system. Unlike other animals, ovulation in female rabbits is caused not by systematic changes in hormones in the body, but by the fact of fusion with the rabbit. Also, external factors may be the reason, for example, with an increase in the daytime, a false pregnancy occurs more often. Sterile mating, hormonal imbalance and proximity to other females also lead to this problem.

When caring for and breeding, the main thing is to follow the rules and look closely at changes in behavior, watch food and drink, then the rabbits will delight with good behavior and rapid weight gain.