Rabbits ANSC 603 Lecture Review

Characteristics of Rabbits

• Rabbits are Lagomorphs

• Modified monogastrics (hind gut digesters)

• 4 upper incisors

• Solely herbivors

• Types of rabbits

  • Picas, Hares, and Rabbit

Breeds of Rabbits

• Dutch

• New zealand

• French angora

• Mini lop

• Mini rex

• Lilac

• Flemish giant

Meat Rabbits

• Less common in USA

• Highly sustainable meat

• 50% live weight dresses as meat

• More common on small farms and homesteads

• 8-12 wks to finish, 26-28 wks in pasture

Rabbits for Wool

• Small market in US

• Grooming is labor-intensive (1-1.5 hrs per weeks/rabbit)

• Fiber harvested by plucking or sheering

• Angora rabbits produce 1 lb of wool a year

Rabbits in New England Winter

• Do well in winters

  • Provide hay and nest box insulation

  • Switch out water bottles 2x/day due to freezing

New England Summer for Rabbits

• More challenging than winter

• Heat is an issue

  • Susceptible to heat stroke

  • Provide shade and good ventilation

  • Easy access to water

  • Provide frozen water bottles for cooling

Housing for Rabbits

• Does need own space due to them being territorial

• Males will battle when does present

• Make sure inside housing has good ventilation

• Stacked housing should be cleaned regularly

Rabbit Manure

• Exellent compost

• High in carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorous

Rabbit Nutrition

• Hind gut digesters

• Rely on microbial fermentation to break down cellulose and hemicellulose (cecum)

• Coprophagy - will eat some feces to recycle nutrients

  • Cage mats help to retain some pellets

Rabbit Rations

• Commercial rations balanced for complete diets

• Supplement with hay and fresh grass for enrichment/good chewing

• Root vegetables also good

• Leafy greens may cause diarrhea

• Supplement salt

• Transition to pasture gradually

Rabbit Reproduction

• Induced ovulators

• No defined heat cycle

• Does can breed from 6 mo to 3 years of age

• Gestation is around 31 days (kindling = birthing)

Breeding Rabbits

• Bring does to bucks

• If mating does not occur in 10 min remove doe

• Remove doe after mating

• May not breed in cold weather

Caring for kits

• Introduction of nest box around 25 days into gestation

• Does make their own nest from hair

• Don’t handle kits unless necessary

• Kits are altricial

Common Rabbit Diseases/Injuries

• Ear canker (mites)

• Back injuries

• Malocclusion

• Wool block

Pasturellosis In Rabbits

• Resp infection

  • Snuffles

  • Conjuctivitis

  • Genital infection

  • Abscesses

• No available vaccine or effective

• Test and cull positive carriers

• Buy from pasturella free herds