Most of the villagers are wondering what kind of animals are the most profitable to breed in their backyard? Try to breed rabbits! They are the earliest and most prolific. At the age of five to six months, animals reach a weight of 3 or more kilograms. And it is not difficult to feed them.
The main food for rabbits is vegetable, with the addition of a small amount of grain. In winter, animals can be fed with hay, but preferably small and well leafy. The chaff of legumes is especially useful. Good results are also obtained by feeding boiled potatoes mixed with compound feed. Also, do not forget about branch feed. Aspen and willow branches are a great help.
In winter, root crops are also used for feeding: beets, carrots, pumpkins, potatoes and zucchini, as well as late cabbage. But beets and cabbage should be given in small amounts so as not to cause intestinal upset. In this case, the proportion of fresh grass and succulent feed should be reduced, and as a remedy pour chopped oak leaves, wormwood and chamomile into the feeders. At any time of the year, rabbits should have clean, fresh water in their drinkers, especially in the cages of lactating females. Rabbits are nocturnal animals, in nature they feed at night and early in the morning. This must be taken into account and give them more green grass or hay, branches at night.
The gestation period in these animals lasts 28-32 days. Therefore, immediately before the cage, the cage should be well cleaned and lined with dry straw. The female will begin to build a nest, and for this it is necessary to fence off some corner of the cage in advance. Most often, okrol takes place at night, less often in the morning and afternoon. After that, the female immediately begins to feed the newborn rabbits. Usually, by 16-20 days, the rabbits are already beginning to leave the nest. And at this time for them you need to put a feeder in the cage. The best grains for babies are oats and crushed barley. As a top dressing, they give slightly dried fresh grass, well leafy hay and carrots. Rabbits are fed at least 4-5 times a day.
At first (up to about 2 months), rabbits grow rapidly, consume a lot of food and are very prone to various gastrointestinal diseases. Therefore, you should always remember about the cleanliness of the feeders and drinkers, and introduce new feeds into the diet gradually. Rabbits grow intensively up to 4 months, and at this age you can already begin to slaughter them for meat. But the skin in this case comes out small and not always of good quality. Therefore, experienced amateur rabbit breeders from this age are just starting to feed. And then in two or three months they get both a good skin and a decent carcass.
