There are several effective techniques for rapidly fattening commercial meat rabbits, many of which are similar to general rabbit fattening methods. These strategies focus on optimizing growth, health, and efficiency. Here are the key points:
1. **Breed High-Quality Hybrids**: Selecting superior hybrid breeds or inbred lines is crucial for achieving good productivity. Degraded or inbred rabbits often have poor growth performance. Breeding high-quality meat rabbits, such as New Zealand x California, Flanders x New Zealand, or Saibei x New Zealand hybrids, can significantly improve results. In recent years, imported meat rabbit breeds from abroad have shown better overall performance than local varieties.
2. **Focus on Weaning Weight**: The weight at weaning plays a critical role in the survival and growth rate of rabbits. A weaning weight of over 600 grams by day 30 is ideal. This requires proper maternal care, adequate milk supply, and careful management of litter size and feeding practices.
3. **Manage the Three Transitions**: During weaning, three transitions must be carefully managed: environmental, feed, and feeding schedule. Keeping rabbits in the same cage, avoiding separation of siblings, gradually introducing new feed, and maintaining consistent feeding routines help reduce stress and support healthy growth during this sensitive period.
4. **Straight Fattening**: Unlike traditional methods that involve multiple stages, straight fattening involves feeding high-quality pellets throughout the entire growth period. This approach ensures consistent nutrition and maximizes growth efficiency, with the fattening period typically lasting 70–90 days depending on the region.
5. **Avoid Castration**: Male rabbits mature quickly, usually around 3.5 to 4 months, but they are typically slaughtered before reaching sexual maturity. Therefore, castration is unnecessary and can cause stress and recovery issues. Small amounts of male hormones during the fattening period can actually enhance growth and lean meat percentage.
6. **Use Advanced Feed Additives**: In addition to basic nutrients, high-tech feed additives can greatly improve performance. Products like rare earths, cyadox, bacitracin zinc, humic acid, enzymes, antioxidants, vitamins, and probiotics all contribute to better growth, disease resistance, and meat quality. One notable product is "Tuo Le," developed by Hebei Agricultural University, which has been widely used across China.
7. **Optimize Environmental Conditions**: Temperature, humidity, stocking density, ventilation, and lighting all impact rabbit growth. Ideal conditions include a temperature around 25°C, humidity between 55% and 65%, and proper ventilation. Stocking density should be adjusted based on farm capabilities, generally around 14 per square meter in rural settings. Low light levels during the fattening phase can promote growth and reduce aggressive behavior.
8. **Use Pelleted Feed**: Experiments show that pelleted feed improves weight gain by 8–13% and enhances feed efficiency. For breeds like Rex rabbits, relying solely on green feed may not yield optimal results. Pellets provide more consistent nutrition and better coat quality.
9. **Disease Prevention**: Common diseases during the fattening period include coccidiosis, diarrhea, enteritis, and respiratory infections. Preventive measures, such as clean housing and proper hygiene, are essential for maintaining health.
10. **Slaughter at the Right Time**: Rabbits grow most rapidly before sexual maturity. To ensure optimal meat quality and profitability, slaughter should occur before 3 months of age. Delaying slaughter leads to slower growth and lower meat-to-bone ratios.
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