We all heard the expression "multiply like rabbits." It is due, of course, to the extraordinary fecundity and breeding rate of these cute furry creatures. Any eared owner needs to know all the details that shed light on the pregnancy of rabbits: how long it lasts, how it is determined and how it ends. Without this knowledge, it is hardly possible to breed animals on their own.
general information
Let's start with the very very basics. Zoologists believe that the small breeds of these pets are already mature at the age of three months, while the large ones will have to wait up to six months - everything here mostly depends on the size of the animal. To the question of how long the pregnancy in rabbits lasts , it is also unequivocally difficult to answer: from 25 to 35 days. Although here everything is individual again. But in most cases, childbirth itself occurs on the thirtieth day.
Usually it is believed that to start preparing for a scent - the so-called process of the appearance of offspring in these animals - should be when the babies have begun to move their stomachs in the rabbit's stomach. This occurs approximately twenty-fifth day after conception. We can’t say that how long pregnancy usually takes in rabbits - exactly how many days it will last in your case. Indeed, sometimes it happens that rabbits are not born all together, but with interruptions of several days. Sometimes the difference between older and younger babies can be ten days. So there’s no need to talk about exact dates. They only note that usually pregnancy with a large number of rabbits is shorter than with five or six babies.
Peace
Each rabbit goes through several stages in preparation for breeding. It all starts with a state of rest. For males, this is the time between males, for females, between the laying of young and preparation for the next mating, regardless of whether the rabbits become pregnant. How long this period lasts is hard to say. In the animal kingdom, in principle, there are no specific dates. The only thing worth noting: during this period, both females and males do not need delicate feeds, they eat exactly as much as they need for life. Therefore, you should not feed your favorites just like that. An exception may be not very well-fed individuals - they are unlikely to be able to withstand a new load until they gain weight.
Preparation
The next stage is the preparation for mating, both moral and physical. Fluffy creatures should gain weight at this time. Therefore, a few weeks before this important event, the amount of feed increases. Males should receive additional vitamins from legumes and possibly bone meal, while females need root crops. It is not so important how long a pregnancy in rabbits lasts. Preparing for it is no less important.
Case
And then comes the great day - the very mating. At this life stage, the amount of vitamins in the feed should exceed the usual by forty percent. It is believed that a male rabbit is able to “work” on four females per day, no more. In addition, every two days he needs to be given a rest. The rabbit is able to become pregnant even a few days after the previous birth, so no matter how long the pregnancy in rabbits lasts, is shorter or longer than usual, the rabbit should not be immediately killed. This exhausts an already tired organism. She is ready to mate every eight days. So it is better to follow closely those females who have recently become mothers.
Peculiarities of mating
The very mating should take place on the territory of the male - he will feel insecure in the rabbit's cage. Re-mating, control, is usually carried out after five or six days. If a female does her best to fight off a gentleman, then she is already pregnant. Otherwise, after the same five days, it will be necessary to carry out another control in the same way and from this date count how many days the pregnancy in rabbits lasts. You can also calculate when to expect okrol.
Pregnancy
Pregnancy itself in rabbits, how long it takes, how it proceeds, how it affects behavior is a mandatory question, as already mentioned, for study. First, be prepared for the fact that an interesting position will affect the behavior of the female. She can either become unusually aggressive, or, conversely, try to avoid any contact with the outside world, hiding in the corners of the cell. Secondly, during this period she needs more water and food - she has to eat for two. Feed should be easily digestible and in no case voluminous - this will adversely affect the offspring.
Carrots should come to replace the silo - this will be more beneficial for both mother and kids. You can also add calcium to the diet - in the form of the same chalk. In principle, you can not change the usual food so dramatically if the rabbit and herself gain good weight. In addition, she needs peace, peace and only peace - so she will feel more protected. If the expectant mother needs to be disturbed, moved somewhere, for example, then you need to support her under the abdomen. Yet rabbits are not an easy burden. Temperature fluctuations are very undesirable - it is optimal that the room was about twenty degrees.
Childbirth
Regardless of how long the pregnancy of decorative rabbits lasts, and ordinary rabbits too, before birth they begin to be noticeably nervous. The animals roam around the cage, trying to find a better place for themselves, tearing down the fluff from the abdomen to build a nest for posterity. From the behavior it will be clear: something is approaching. In addition, before the birthing, the movement of the rabbits becomes very noticeable - it will be impossible to overlook it. Typically, labor begins at night or early in the morning. The immediate duration of the okrol cannot be predicted: for the birth of one baby it takes from ten minutes to an hour - everything depends on the number of newborns and their size.
The females themselves eat the last and the rabbit’s film, but at the same time they can ruthlessly crack down on those who were born dead. Therefore, it is better if possible to control the birth. If one of the living babies is out of the nest, then, having deposited the rabbit and wiping his hands with hay and down from the cage (this will help to discourage the smell of a person), the newborn rabbit needs to be placed with his brothers. The female can not be returned to them for another half an hour - someone else's fragrance in the cell is still preserved. Then the female needs complete rest. You should only feed the rabbit, and she will monitor the cubs on her own.
Feeding
During lactation, it is very important to minimize contact between the female and the surrounding world. It doesn’t matter how long the pregnancy lasts and it’s okrol itself: if you smell someone else’s on the babies, the mother may refuse to feed them. If this happened, then the rabbit should be jailed, and the babies should be wiped off with hay and down from the cage of the new “mother” so that she would not notice that she was feeding offspring. In the absence of opportunities for such a change, both rabbits and their mother are taken out of the cage. The female is laid, holding, on a hard surface with the abdomen up, and let the kids get enough.
A nursing mother should consume more fresh food, and three weeks after the okrolya, it is time to start taking care of the cubs, adding food for them. Babies are born naked and blind. But after two weeks, overgrown with the first fluff and with open eyes, they begin to leave the cozy nest. The nutrition of both young animals and mothers should include vegetables, animal feed, wheat bran, bone meal. The diet needs to be balanced, so that the rabbits develop well, and the mother was able to recover faster. Keep track of your favorites, breed them correctly. And then everything will be fine.