Campus
Business 001
Rabbit Production
Rabbits
are small mammals in the family Leporidae
of the order Lagomorpha, found in
several parts of the world. The male rabbit are called buck; female are called doe,
a young rabbit is a kitten or
kit.
A group of rabbits is known as a colony, or nest. A group of young rabbits with the same parentage is
referred to as a litter, and
a group of domestic rabbits is sometimes called a herd.
Economic
Importance of rabbit
There are numerous benefits
one can achieve from rearing rabbits. Rabbit is exploited in many areas. It can
be reared for meat, wool or fur, leather, educational purposes, research and
medicinal purposes. Its meat is rich in protein, low in fat and cholesterol as
compared to other livestock meat. For years, rabbit meat has been recommended
by medical nutritionist to patient with coronary heart conditions.
Requirements
for rearing rabbits
There are some basic
requirements for raising rabbit. These include;
- Housing,
- Labour,
- Consumables and
- Non-consumable materials.
Different forms of housing
and roofing styles may be adopted depending on capital availability and
climate. However, in considering housing, provision must be made for cross
ventilation in the pen and ease of waste disposal.
Let the orientation of the
house be against the prevailing wind direction with two opposite ends closed up
to the roof while the longest opposite sides not completely blocked but the
rest covered with net to make provision for cross ventilation.
Or you can make a shed where
you will place your cage(s) but rain must be put into consideration. Rabbits
are better reared in hutches (cages). The cages can be made of concrete, wire
mesh and wood or a combination of both wood and wire mesh.
Cage for rearing rabbit
Wooden cage is not always
advisable except it is hard wood or it is made of bamboo or in combination with wire mesh. This is because of the
rabbit’s teeth which can eat up the wood. The design of your cage(s) should make
provision for nesting box and ease of management.
Examples are shown below.
Example of cage system using wire mesh
Example of cage system using wire mesh and
wooden stand
Cages for breeding rabbit
usually have, at least, a 60 to 70 cm × 80 to 100cm space and 50 to 60cm high.
These same dimensions can also be used for fattening up to five fryers (young
rabbit). Wire-mesh floors should be thick enough not to injure the pads of the
rabbits’ feet (diameter 2.4 mm, minimum 2mm); the mesh should be wide enough to
let the droppings fall through (diameter 1 to 1.3 cm, according to feed) but
narrow enough to prevent the feet getting caught in the mesh.
Other materials / equipment needed include the following:
• Feed trough (Gavanized steel or aluminium)
• Water trough (made of clay or aluminium)
• Water tank
• Nesting box
• Bucket and bowl
• Broom and brushes
• Shovel
• Rake
• Cutlass/mower
• Soap/detergent
• Cotton wool
• Methylated Spirit/dettol
• Feed
• Water
• Medicaments
• Record book and office equipment
NOTE:
Although most of the things listed above are important, it can be improvised to
safe cost.
Start
up cost: you can start with as low as N10,000.00
Management of Rabbits
The success of any business
depends largely on the management. To achieve desirable result in your rabbit farm, you require good
knowledge of the management.
Feeding Management
Rabbit can feed on a wide
range of vegetables and other products some of which include cabbage, carrot,
lettuce, mango, banana peel, yam peel, centrosema, and table or kitchen remains.
Nevertheless spoiled food which can cause health hazards must not be given.
Nutritional needs of rabbit depend on different stages of production. For
instance lactating doe, that is, nursing mother (whether pregnant or not),
needs the richest concentrated meal.
Crude protein required is
about 18% with metabolisable energy (ME) of 2500kcal/kg. Growing rabbits are
the next category which required
16% crude protein and 2400kcalJkg ME.
It may not always be
possible or practicable to provide nutritionally balanced or complete diet for
rabbit reared on small scale or under subsistence conditions. However,
one can supplement their feed with varieties
of products such as those stated earlier on.
Other farm produce including
maize, wheat, maize offal wheat offal, molasses, brewer’s dry grain and
lots more. Rabbit can
withstand hunger and relatively, thirst. But any decrease in supply of water
required, adversely affect their performance.
Breeding Management
Rabbit has no specific heat period (period of accepting male). Most often
rabbits are regarded to be permanently on heat. The buck (male rabbit) will
readily accept the doe (female rabbit) any but the doe may be receptive sometime.
Thus, does are considered to
be on heat when they accept the buck for mating. When you take the doe to the
buck, it is expected that mating should take place within one minute. If after
five minutes, nothing you may return the doe to her cage and try it later after
some hours (it may not
necessarily be the next day) or one can try the next buck if she will accept
before making conclusion on her refusal.
A simple pregnancy test using
palpation can be done. Palpation involves feeling the abdominal region of the
doe with your first finger and thumb) the doe after 10 to 14 days of
acceptance.
A feeling of small grape-like
substance confirms pregnancy. Re-mating is not advisable, it could be very
costly. Three to five days to kindling (delivery or giving birth),
ensure that nest box is inside the cage. The gestation period (the length of
time between the day of mating and the day of kindling) of rabbit is about 31
days.
Health Management
This is very important for
the success of this type of business. Major diseases of rabbits include; enteritis,
respiratory diseases, lousiness, lice and mange among others. Good management
practice can continually keep your animal in good condition. Maintenance of
hygiene and sanitation, proper and adequate feeding and comfortable environment
are important.
Rabbits are sensitive to heat
stress. However, in case of any disease, you can contact professionals or
veterinary officers for assistance. The management tips can be summarized as
follow;
-
Procure a healthy stock for your farm
- Ensure adequate feeding of balance diet for your stock. Rabbit utilizes wide
range of vegetables e.g, gabbage, carrot, salad etc, you can be supplementing
their feed with these to reduce the cost of their feeding.
- Avoid contamination of feed and water.
- Regular cleaning of feeders and drinkers.
- Always take the doe to the buck for mating and not otherwise.
- Keep adequate record (especially date of breeding, date of kindling, litter
size and any other operation(s) ) promptly.
- Put the nest box 3 to 5
days to the expected date of kindling which is 31 days from the day of
breeding.
- Maintain good hygiene and sanitation by keeping the surroundings clean.
- In case the need arises to pick the just-kindled offspring, don’t pick it with
bare hands, use cotton wool/towel as padding
Nutritional requirements recommended for
rabbits
Components of feed category
|
Crude protein
|
Metabolizable Energy
|
Fat
|
Fibre
|
Lysine
|
Methionine
|
Calcium
|
Phosphorus
|
Young rabbit
(4 to 12 weeks)
|
16
|
2500
|
3-5
|
12
|
0.7
|
0.5
|
0.5
|
0.3
|
Lactating doe
|
18
|
2650
|
4-5
|
10
|
0.9
|
0.6
|
1.2
|
0.5
|
Peri-weaning
|
15
|
2400
|
3
|
14
|
0.65
|
0.55
|
1.0
|
0.5
|
Mixed
(maternity + fattening)
|
17
|
2550
|
3-4
|
12
|
0.6
|
0.6
|
1.1
|
0.6
|
Labels: Campus Business
