Rabbit Farming

Angora rabbit farming

Angora rabbits are mainly raised for their wool, which is known for its quality. Angora rabbits are of many types. The differences are mainly in the amount of wool produced and the percentage of guard hair in the wool. Among the various types, German Angora is the best and annually yield 1000 to 1200gm of wool under ideal management practices. Rabbits can be adopted to any set of circumstances right from a kitchen garden to a large intensive commercial enterprise. The wool produced by rabbits are preferred for manufacturing of high value woollens which have got very good export potential.

The advantages of rabbit farming are
i) Rabbits are highly prolific in nature
ii) Consume a large amount of forages from diverse origins and so can be reared on small amounts of costly concentrates.
iii) They can be reared in the kitchen garden/backyard of farmer's house
iv) Initial investment cost is low
v) Quick returns i.e. six months after the establishment of farm
vi) Income generation at quarterly interval makes the repayment easy.
Vii) Apart from providing wool rabbits also provides income from manure etc.
viii) Residual feed, together with rabbit manure is highly suitable for vermicompost which in turn provides excellent manure for fertilising the fields.

Scope for rabbit farming and it's national importance:
Rabbit farming is another livestock activity with great scope as it is relatively easy, rewarding and takes little space compared to other livestock activities. Rabbit farming can also provide a very valuable additional source of income in the rural areas. Another important consideration is food production cycle, which shows that rabbit need not be in competition with man for it's food. For producing high quality woollens, blending with other fine quality fibres is essential. The other livestock species which is source of wool is sheep. The wool produced by Indian sheep breeds are of not fine quality. Therefore, currently we are importing the fine wool. The wool from Angora Rabbits is of very high quality and it's blending with carpet wool of sheep and silk improves the quality of woollens to a great extent.

Good strains of rabbits suitable to our climatic conditions were developed with the constant efforts of North Temperate Regional Station (NTRS) of the Central Sheep and Wool Research Institute (CSWRI), Garsa, Kullu and management practices were standardised . Further, it has created adequate infrastructure for training of the interested farmers for taking up the rabbit farming on scientific lines. However, Angora rabbit can be reared only in hill areas. Therefore, Angora rabbit rearing is a boon to the farmers of hill areas, where the scope for other livestock activities is very limited.

Package of common management practices recommended for rabbit farming:
Well established scientific management practices should be adopted to maximise the economic benefits from rabbit farming. The major norms and recommended practices are given below:

Selection of breed:

1. Select right type of the breed for maximization of economic benefits. Various wool type of rabiit breeds and their characteristic features are given in Annexure - II.
2. Breeding males and females should be of different sire lines, below one year of age, devoid of visual deformities like patchy wool, buck teeth, sore hock, visual reproductive defects and should be true to the breed.
3. Purchase of breeding stock should be avoided from rabbitries with high incidence of diseases like pneumonia, sore hock, coccidiosis, enteritis or with poor reproductive efficiency i.e. <50%.

Feeding:
19. Production performance depends upon the quality of feed offered. For high production levels balanced pellet feed in combination with hay should be given.
20. Fresh green plants like bean, Alfalfa, berseem, grass, tender banana, cane and bamboo leaves, cutup pieces of the stalks of plants such as maize or banana, roots such as cassava, yams, carrots, beefs and turnips inedible portions of cabbage and cauliflower etc. can replace partially or wholly pellet feeds in case of low input and low output production system. Different types of feeds that can be fed to rabbits are given in Annexure - IV a.
21. If whole pellet is fed, feed is given at a time for many days.
22. If concentrate and hay are given, then concentrate should be offered preferably in the morning and hay in the afternoon. Recommended concentrate feed formulae for Angora rabbits are given in Annexure - IV b.
23. A practical combination of different types of feeds and regular timetable for feeding is advisable so that rabbits do not feel any stress due to changes in their daily routine.

Watering:
24. Water should be available round the clock particularly to a lactating doe.
25. Always give fresh and clean drinking water.
26. Always keep water pots clean and remove sediments daily. Water pots should be cleaned thoroughly every week.
27. Use of properly designed Automatic watering equipment can also be made.

Breeding Management:
28. The average age at first mating is about 5-7 months and it varies with the physical maturity of individual rabbit and also breed.
29. Mating should be done either early in the morning or in the evening.
30. The doe is to be taken to the buck cage and never vice-versa
31. The breeding should be planned in such a way that about 3 to 4 litters per doe are obtained per year during multiplicative stage.
32. The nest box is kept in the cage around 25th day of pregnancy with loosened jute wool or wood shavings.
33. Male rabbits can be used for mating until they are about three years.
34. Inorder to prevent inbreeding depression rabbits from the same family should not be bred. Therefore, replace male rabbit about once every year.
35. After three years, the full grown female rabbits should be replaced either by new purchases or females of own farm.

Care of young ones:
36. The nest box should be removed after 5 weeks of kindling.
37. Kits should be examined and dead ones should be removed daily.
38. If the bedding becomes wet it should be replaced by a fresh and clean one.
39. Weaning should be done at 5th or 6th week after kindling.
40. No sudden change in feed is advisable.

Disease prevention/control:
41. Clean sanitary conditions of rabbit cages, sheds and equipment, balanced feed and fresh clean water are essential to prevent chances of infection.
42. The rabbits should be prevented from coming in contact with the feaces.
43. Over crowding should be avoided.
44. Proper ventilation should be provided.
45. Flies which may act as carriers of the infection should be kept under control in the rabbitry.
46. The common diseases of rabbits and recommended preventive/control measures are given below.
47. Rabbit cages should be disinfected with blow lamp after every shearing and kindling cages before the doe is shifted and after weaning.
48. Burn dead sick rabbits at once to keep the diseases from spreading.
49. The bedding of the nest box should be burnt after use.
50. The dead animals should be burried soon after post mortem (if required).

Shearing of wool/marketing:
51. Shearing of wool should preferably be done when the wool is 5 to 6 cm long. Certain quality standards adopted by rabbit wool exporting countries is given in Annexure - VI.
52. Young ones should be sheared a week after weaning and subsequently at every 10-11 weeks interval.
53. Shearing should not be done on extreme cold days of December and January
54. While shearing care should be taken to cut the wool as close to the skin in a single cut.
55. After shearing animal should be given protection against adverse climate for 15 days.
56. The wool should be sorted out into various grades for better marketing.
57. Ensure the constant and study demand for wool and pelts.
58. Avoid shearing of pregnant females 15 days before due date of kindling.
59. Wool should be delivered in a clean manner to fetch premium price.
60. Plan shearing of breeding stock 7-10 days before start of breeding in your flock to avoid poor reproductive efficiency.

Characteristic features of different wool breeds under Indian Conditions

Housing specifications (hutch sizes) for Angora rabbits

Different types of feeds suitable for feeding rabbits

Recommended concentrate feed formulae for Angora rabbits. (Percentage)

Feed requirements of rabbits (gms/day)

Common diseases of rabbits and their prevention and control