Saturday, April 12, 2014
Friday, April 4, 2014
Bunnies
Being nocturnal, the female bunnies nurse their litters at night or in
the early morning hours. As long as the litter remains together, all get
fed. But as the youngsters become older and begin to leave the nest,
the doe will nurse only those she chooses-either those out of the nest
of those remaining in the nest. The young begin to leave the nest when
14 or 15 days old. The condition of the young is a good index of the
mother's milk capacity. If the young begin leaving the nest sooner than
this, they may not be getting sufficient milk from the mother or the
temperature within the nest may be too warm. By eight weeks of age, the
young are eating well on their own and removed from the doe's cage.
Removing the young at this time gives the doe a short rest between
litters. If she was rebred when the litter was six weeks of age, she
will be pregnant and ready for a rest between litters. When maintaining a
tight breeding schedule, such as in commercial operations where does
produce seven or eight litter per year, the doe is bred when the young
are 14 days old; the litter is removed from the doe's cage at six weeks
of age. The young rabbits are weighed, and the rapid growers are saved
for future breeders, while the slower, underweight individuals are
culled. The ideal is to produce litters in which all of the young are
close in weight gain. By the time rabbits are three months old, they
should be caged separately to prevent fighting and premature breeding.
It is never advisable to keep young that are slow developers for future
breeders, or from does that proved to dirty housekeepers, poor milkers,
or of poor temperament. These traits will only carry on through the line
in some degree.
~Joanna~
~Joanna~
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