Introduction to Rabbit Breeds and Care
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ScribdTranslationsIntroduction to Rabbit Breeds and Care
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ScribdTranslationsChapter 1
MEET THE RABBIT
The rabbit Oryctolagus
A rabbit is a mammal.
formerly classified in the order of
Rodents but finally classified in
that of the Lagomorphs (hares,
rabbits, ...). It is an animal with habits
twilight and nocturnes
burrow builders in full
nature. Before giving birth, the female
builds a nest with its fur and the
dry materials from its environment
(herbs or dried leaves,...). It is
also a calm, quiet animal,
docile and who likes to be treated with
a lot of sweetness.
The external characteristics of the rabbit
domestics present themselves as
as shown in figure 1 on the right.
1.1. Rabbit breeds
The different breeds of rabbit are distinguished by the nature and color of the fur and the
animal form.
According to the nature of the hair:
Ordinary breeds are characterized by the presence of woolly hair (about 2 cm) and hair.
jars are significantly fewer but thicker and longer (3-4 cm). The jars are also
sometimes referred to as 'guard hairs'.
The rex or so-called short-haired breeds are breeds where the undercoat and guard hairs are the same length (2cm).
giving a velvety appearance to the fur.
- The breeds with 'wool', the angoras that provide hair 5 to 6 cm long. Due to the thickness
Due to their fine fur in the growth phase (before molting), rabbits of this type do not tolerate strong conditions very well.
heat.
Furthermore, there is a very wide range of colors for this fur and color distribution such as
Figure 2 below indicates this (Two examples of breeds for each of the 8 types of color distribution)
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According to the format (at the rabbit the
females generally weigh between 2 and
10% more than males
Small breeds: the adult male weighs
less than 3 kg.
These are, for example:
the Little Russian Burgundy Pig White Giant of Bouscat
the English Silver
the Black and Fire
Their conformation is excellent, their
early maturity is good, their flesh is fine.
The medium breeds: the adult male weighs
from 3 to 5 kg.
These are for example: California White New Zealander
the Silver of Champagne
the Burgundy Beast
the White New Zealander
the White and the Blue of Vienna
the Californian...
These are commercial breeds by
excellence, good precocity, format
corresponding to the demand in Africa, French Aries Giant of Flanders
satisfactory conformation, fine flesh and
dense
Giant breeds Adult males weigh between 5 to 7 kg, or even more. Examples include:
the White Giant of Bouscat
the French Butterfly Giant
the French Aries
The Giant of Flanders
With slow relative growth, they have long meat with a coarse grain. They provide meat.
production methods (pâté, rillettes...). They are often quite unproductive.
For commercial meat production, it is rare to use pure breeds in Europe. The most
generally these are crosses between specialized lines selected and originating among others from
Californian and New Zealand White breeds.
Les internautes curieux de l'aspect d'autres races de lapins, peuvent se reporter à la photothèque du site
[Link] where they will find around 450 photos illustrating about a hundred breeds and varieties of rabbits.
1.2. The digestive system of the rabbit
1.2.1. Particularities of the rabbit's digestive tract
The rabbit is a monogastric (has only one stomach) as opposed to cattle or
goats that have multiple stomachs. Among monogastric mammals (dogs, pigs,...), the rabbit is
distinguished by the importance of its cecum. Rabbit teeth grow continuously unlike that
cattle or horses. He wears them down and sharpens them by rubbing them against each other with
frequent jaw movements.
The rabbit's digestive system is shown in figures 3a and 3b below.
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Figure 3a: Abdominal viscera in place in a male
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Figure 3b: Diagram and characteristics of the main elements of the rabbit's digestive system
1.2.2 The anatomical-physiological specificity of the rabbit's digestive tract
After their ingestion, food particles briefly stay in the stomach and progress
in the small intestine and are attacked by the secretions of the intestine and the pancreas. Bile coming from the
easy liver action of the enzymes contained in pancreatic and intestinal secretions. The elements
assimilable substances are then released and absorbed by the wall of the intestine. This first phase lasts approximately 4 to 5
hours (3-4 h in the stomach + about 1½ h in the small intestine).
Undigested particles and the remnants of secretions arrive in the cecum and are attacked by
the enzymes of the bacteria that live there and multiply. Usable elements derived from the activity of the
bacteria are also directly absorbed.
After 12 to 18 hours, the contents of the cecum are emptied into the colon, the terminal part of the intestine.
Depending on the time of day, the colon will produce 2 types of stools:
In the course of the morning, soft stools or caecotrophs, in the shape of clusters of 5 to 10 small ones
balls, covered in mucus, that are snatched by the rabbit directly as they exit the anus.
hard droppings at other times. They are round, rich in fiber, eliminated in the litter.
Soft stools, rich in amino acids and vitamins, are found in the stomach and they are
"treated" like the rest of the foods. As a result, a given particle that is very poorly digestible can cause several
times (from 1 to 3 or 4 times) the journey mouth - anus before being eliminated in a hard stool.
This physiological behavior leads to the production of 2 types of droppings
and the ingestion of a single one is called caecotrophy.
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Proper functioning of cecotrophy is absolutely essential to the health of the rabbit. Everything
Dysfunction can lead to sometimes fatal diarrhea. Among the factors directly playing a role...
favorable role on cecotrophy, we can mention:
• the calm and a good overall atmosphere of the breeding with a great consistency in terms of
the lighting, human interventions, meal times,
• a moderate density in the pens (fattening)
• the quality of the watering (a permanently quality water, water that the breeder would accept to
drink himself)
• the composition of the food particularly the balance 'proteins-fibers-starch' which is everything
particularly determinant in the proper functioning of the cecum.
1.3 The diet
The number of meals is estimated to be between 20 to 30 times a day, especially at night. The quantity
average food consumed per day (dry food distributed at will) is:
• 150 to 350 g per rabbit depending on its physiological stage,
• 100 to 120 g per fattening rabbit.
The rabbit is a large consumer of drinking water, especially nursing does and young rabbits.
growth. The consumption of a nursing female is nearly 1 liter per day. That of a female with
its small is 1.5 to 2 liters per day.
1.4 The reproduction and the breeding of young
The different characteristics are:
• Female with ovulation induced by mating (the rabbit is a non-cycling female)
• Average gestation duration 31 days (30 to 32 days)
• Age of the female at the first mating: about 5 months
• Male age at first mating: around 6 months
• Number of offspring at birth per litter: 1 to 12 (5 to 7 on average in tropical zones)
• Number of females per male: 8 to 9 females for 1 male
• Litter of hairless (or naked) and blind rabbits, with very limited mobility.
• Exclusive breastfeeding of the young by the mother for the first 18-20 days or so, then
mixed feeding milk + solid food starting from the end of the 3rd week of life
• Number of litters per year and per female: 5 to 7
• Return to mating 10 to 12 days after giving birth or after weaning the previous litter.
• Weaning of the young: classic 35 days after birth, but possible without issue from 28 days.
• Installation of weaned young animals in fattening cages
• Reproduction stimulated by light (14 to 16 hours of light per day)
• Average production duration of a female: 1 to 2 years.
1.5 The environment
• Production of waste consisting of hard stools and urine, to be periodically evacuated but
usable as fertilizer: on average 10 kg per rabbit produced per year (see digestion chapter
for the composition).
• Breeding to be done sheltered from pests (dog, cat, snake, rat, etc…)
• Installation of the rabbit out of the heat and sunlight, seeking a well-ventilated atmosphere, in
avoiding strong drafts
1.6 Some figures
The sale occurs at the age of 3 to 4 months, namely:
• 35 days from birth to weaning, then 60 to 90 days of fattening.
• Weight at sale: 2.0 to 2.5 kg live on average.
• Number of rabbits sold per female per year: 25 to 35
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1.7 Terminologie
Lacuniculture (or cuniculiculture, both terms are correct) is the set of sciences, techniques and
practices for raising domestic rabbits.
A rabbit farmer (or rabbit breeder) is the person who conducts the breeding.
The unit of measurement in rabbit farming is the breeding female or the mother cage. For any operation of
census of livestock it is necessary to assess the importance of herds in breeding cages or females
breeders. The mother cage is a cage equipped with a nesting box in which a rabbit gives birth and raises
their young until weaning. At least one fattening cage is needed per mother cage and generally more than 15
to 18 fattening pens for 10 breeding pens.
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