SEP 1"" ST. PAUL c, BREEDING HOUSING CARE ~ GUSTAV SWANSON = - SHALER ALDOUS=

Transcription

1 SEP 1"" ST. PAUL c, BREEDING HOUSING CARE ~ GUSTAV SWANSON = - SHALER ALDOUS=

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3 DURING the present period of meat scarcity, many ikey to be raised. We do not know of a singe case a famiy can raise enough rabbits in back-yard of naturay occurring tuaremia in domestic rabbits. hutches to produce an important suppement to its meat suppy. This pamphet deas ony with such back-yard rabbitries. The beginner is cautioned that arge-scae cc,mmercia production is subject to the same hazards as raising any other ivestock and is by no means the road to quick fortune. In the city or viage b:ack yard, however, where space is imited, raising a few rabbits for the famiy arder is simpe and practica. Either inside or just outside the average garage there is sufficient space for three That rabbit meat is economica to produce can be inferred from the situation in Europe. In Itay, each famiy is required to keep at east one breeding doe. In Germany, it is estimated that there are 15 to 20 miion breeding does. There are ony one miion in the United States. The vaue of rabbits is principay for their meat, which now (1943) ses for 35 to 50 cents a pound, with the demand exceeding the suppy. The skins shoud aso be saved because they are of vaue for fur and fet, with white or four hutches, which wi rabbit skins usuay demanding house a the rabbits an average famiy can eat. about doube that for coored ones. The manure Hutches can be buit is a fertiizer of good cheapy of second-hand materias; quaity which can be used carrot tops, awn to advantage on the victory cippings, and dandeion garden. greens can be used to suppement the reguar rations; care need not take more The breed to seect is of ess importance than the quaity and heath of the than a itte spare time stock, but New Zeaand daiy; and the contribution Whites are most widey to the civiian food suppy used in Minnesota. For may be comparabe to meat production you shoud that of a successfu victory garden. The meat of domestic rabbits is nutritious, pearywhite, fine-grained, and paatabe at a seasons, far have fast-growing animas. Good New Zeaands shoud weigh 3% to 4 pounds (ive weight) at 8 or 9 weeks, which is about the eariest age for saughtering. superior to that of wid City ordinances in the rabbits. There is no reason to fear that domestic rabbits raised in captivity under sanitary conditions wi have tuaremia (rabbit fever) or any other infection arger Minnesota cities do not prohibit raising rabbits in the city back yard provided the hutches are kept sanitary, so they do not constitute a heath hazard; dangerous to man. Tuaremia provided the rabbits are is transmitted in never aowed to run wid; wid rabbits by ticks and deer fies, both of which are rare or absent in paces and most important of a, provided the rabbitry does not constitute a nuisance to where domestic rabbits are Carca11s cut up ready for cooking neighboring residents. SEE INSIDE FOR INSTRUCTIONS ON BREEDING-HOUSING-CARE

4 Breeding. Housing. and Care Reproduction in the rabbit is rapid. Ony 90 to 100 days after a doe is mated the young are ready for the tabe. Young does are mature enough to breed at 7 to 8 months and can produce a second itter by the time they are a year od. The gestation period is 31 days and the young shoud be weaned when 8 weeks od. To insure greatest output, four itters a year shoud be produced. This wi necessitate breeding a doe 7 or 8 weeks after she has previousy borne young. Heavier breeding schedues are not recommended. When mating, the doe shoud aways be paced in the buck's hutch; otherwise the doe often fights the buck. Five days and again 18 days after the mating Two types of nest boxes the doe shoud be paced with the buck for a test breeding. If she takes the buck it is quite certain that the earier mating was fruitess. If she fights the buck or grows it is an indication that she conceived the first time. Test matings are very important to insure maximum production. The nest box shoud be partiay fied with cean stra. : and paced in the hutch about 5 days before the doe is expected to kinde or have her young. Appe boxes or nai kegs are suitabe for this purpose. When k inding is expected during sub-zero weather, the nest box shoud be tight, and amost competey fied with nesting materia to provide adequate insuation. The doe shoud not be handed or disturbed for a few days before and after kinding. Two days after the doe kindes, the young shoud be examined and a dead animas and runts discarded. It is not desirabe to eave more than 7 or 8 young with the doe. Any unnecessary handing of the young shoud be avoided unti they are about 3 weeks od, when they begin to come out of the nest box and eat grain and hay with the doe. To hande rabbits, grasp oose skin above shouders and suppor t arge animas with hand under rear quarters. Do not pick up rabbits by the ears. The sex of rabbits can be determined easiy by pressing open the sexua aperture with the thumb and forefinger. In does, a ongitudina sit is observed; in bucks, the opening is round and the mae organ can be made to protrude. The feed requirements of rabbits are simpe. Good quaity afafa or cover hay, sat, and water shoud be avaiabe at a times. Whoe oats, barey, or wheat, and a protein suppement (soybean oi cake or peets or inseed oi mea cake or peets) suppy the other requirements. Green feeds are desirabe at a seasons and wi not disturb digestion if fed graduay and in sma quantities. Exceent greens for rabbits incude dandeion eaves, carrot or beet tops, cover, afafa, 4 8 " sweet cover, ettuce, cabbage, or chard. Never give rabbits a arge feeding of greens or root c:rops uness they are accustomed to eating these item:s. Bucks and does without itters shoud be fed about 4 ounces a day of a mixture containing 4 parts grain and 1 part protein suppement. Larger rabbits may need more, smaer ones ess, than this. The rue-ofthumb is to feed them once a day a they wi consume in 20 minutes. Does with itters shoud be given a the grain and protein they wi eat. If a mixture is used it shoud contain 2 parts protein suppement to 4 parts grain, but if a sef-feeder with two sections is used the grain and protein need not be mixed and severa days' suppy can be provided at once. Hutches for the medium-sized breeds, such as New Zeaands, Beverens, and Chinchias, shoud have 10 square feet of foor space. These are customariy buit 30 inches deep by 48 inches ong. For the arge breeds, such as Femish Giants, 12 square feet of foor space is recommended. The height shoud be 20 to 24 inches for the medium breeds and 24 to 30 inches for the arger ones. A two.. tier hutch with each hay manger serving two units A soping foor or one of wire, on which droppings wi not accumuate, is desirabe for sanitary reasons and aso to reduce the work of caring for the animas. A foor of %-inch hardware coth, or wood sats spaced 5fs inch apart, wi aow the droppings to fa through. If these methods are used, a piece of soid board somewhere in the foor for the rabbits to rest on is desirabe. T If a soid foor is used, it shoud sope about 2 ' Cb inches in 2 feet so the droppings and urine wi drain toward the back and an 8-inch strip at the rear J Foor pan shoud be poutry wire or hardware coth (%-inch of hutch or -inch) through which the droppings may fa. showing The rabbits tend to use this strip as a toiet, so such ~ wire a foor is argey sef-ceaning. ceanout The whoe hutch can be constructed economicay from scrap umber and covered with -inch poutry wire. Two hutches in one unit make it possibe for both to utiize the same hay manger. Pu the skin over shaper so both front egs are on one side. Fasten with cothespins. remove excess fat, and dry in a coo pace. Undue stretching reduces vaue of the skin. Skin on shaper; wire shaper Sanitation Avoids Disease Diseases of rabbits are numerous, but if the proper sanitary conditions are observed itte difficuty need be expected. Feed and water must not be contaminated by the rabbit droppings. Hay shoud be fed in a manger, not on the foor. Water and feed vesses shoud be of a type not easiy contaminated. Coccidiosis, one of the most common diseases, may be avoided by ceaning the hutches and feed and water vesses reguary, but particuary by constructing the hutch foor so that the animas do not have access to their droppings. Cods may be avoided by providing good ventiation at a times, but preventing direct drafts. Diarrhea is caused by coccidiosis, and aso by feeding too great a quantity of greens at one time. Rabbits thrive on greens, but sma amounts shoud be fed at first, the quantity increased graduay. The Diagnosis Laboratory, Division of Veterinary Medicine, University Farm, St. Pau 8, may be consuted if rabbit diseases are encountered. Any sick anima shoud be isoated immediatey. Newy purchased rabbits shoud be kept separate for two weeks before being aowed in the main rabbitry. STEPS IN DRESSING A RABBIT ~i \' t~ / '/ \'.. ~./,, I t \ ~ '1, \JJ 1. Stun rabbit with sharp bow on head. 2. Suspend on hooks by hind egs and remove head Immediatey to permit beeding. Cut off front feet. 3. Cut skin on dotted ines, and remove as Iustrated. 4. Sit carcass on median ine through pevis and abdomina wa. Remove a viscera except kidneys, iver. and heart. S. Wash thoroughy to remove bood and hair. Coo thoroughy before using, preferaby for 24 hours. The University of M innesot a an d t he U. S. Fish and Widif e Se1 v i ce are coopemting in a study of 1 abbi t raising in M i nnesota.

5 Keep Cost Records Cost records shoud be kept, especiay when chidren are handing the rabbits as it provides them a definite cash vaue on their endeavors. Feed costs and the market price for rabbit meat vary ocay and seasonay, but if breeding stock and feeds are not too high, rabbits produce meat and fur at a definite profit. Records of.the U. S. Fish and Widife Service show that if grain (oats, wheat, or barey) costs $2.20, the protein suppement $2.45, and afafa hay $1.55 per hundredweight, 100 pounds mixed in the proper ratio for rabbit consumption wi cost $2. About four pounds of the baanced ration wi produce a pound of ive rabbit, so that a itter of five and the doe can be fed to fryer size of 4 pounds at a feed cost of $1.60. At 20 cents per pound ive weight or 40 cents dressed, the itter shoud bring more than $2.00 over cost of feed. There are severa ways of making rabbits yied greater returns than cited. Feed costs may be cut down by cutting and curing your own afafa or cover, raising your own carrots or other root crops, cutting dandeions and other weeds for greens, and feeding such kitchen wastes as dry bread and carrot or beet tops. In winter, the atter might be obtained from the oca grocery. The return on meat rabbits may be increased by seing the skins, which bring 10 to 75 cents depending upon the size, coor, and condition. Cooperative seing heps. The price for breeding stock is, of course, much beyond the meat and fur vaue aone, but the demand for breeding stock, now so great, is subject to wide variation. OTHER RABBIT PUBLICATIONS Conservation Buetin 25-"Rabbit Raising" and Conservation Buetin 31-"Diseases of Domestic Rabbits," Fish and Widife Service, U. S. Department of the Interior, are avaiabe for 10 cents each from the Superintendent of Documents, Washington, D. C., or free through your Congressman. Widife Leafet 240- "Recipes for Cooking Domestic Rabbit Meat/' can be obtained by writing the Fish and Widife Service, U. s. Department of the Interior, Chicago, Iinois. The American Rabbit and Cavy Breeders' Association, 812 E. Costeo Street, Coorado Springs, Coorado, has a guide book imd can recommend other hepfu iterature. Extension Pamphet 126 October 1943 UNIVERSITY FARM, ST. PAUL 8, MINNESOTA Cooperative Extension Work in Agricuture and Home Economics, University of Minnesota, Agricutura Extension Division "nr. TTnited States Department of Agricuture CogfeA~~; UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA W~~~~.ce OM D