RABBIT\nPRODUCTION SYSTEMS<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n 1. Extensive\nsystem: <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Total\ndependence on forages and kitchen wastes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Advantages<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n –\nCheap<\/p>\n\n\n\n –\nEasy to provide the quantity of food required<\/p>\n\n\n\n Disadvantages<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n –\nForage availability varies with season<\/p>\n\n\n\n –\nThe quality of the forage reduces during dry season<\/p>\n\n\n\n –\nIt is labour intensive<\/p>\n\n\n\n –\nIt can introduce diseases and health problems<\/p>\n\n\n\n 2. Intensive system;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Total\ndependence on prepared concentrate foods from the feed mill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Advantages <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n –\nHigh levels of production <\/p>\n\n\n\n –\nLittle risk of disease introduction<\/p>\n\n\n\n Disadvantages<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n –\nVery costly<\/p>\n\n\n\n –\nDepends on the feed miller (in terms of availability and quality)<\/p>\n\n\n\n 3. Semi-intensive system:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The\nuse of forages supplemented with prepared concentrate foods. It falls between\nthe extensive and intensive system in terms of advantage and disadvantages. It\nis also the system that is most suitable for the small-scale producer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n HOUSING\nAND EQUIPMENT<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n HOUSING<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Rabbit housing and equipment differ from country to country.\nFactors that affect their design include;<\/p>\n\n\n\n Temperature<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The optimum temperature in a rabbit shed is around. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Effective ventilation is required to control extremes of\ntemperature and also to remove ammonia. Housing is a critical issue for rabbit\nhealth. Poor ventilation will result in irritation to the respiratory tract and\nsusceptibility to infection from bacteria. Heat stress will cause major rabbit\nmortalities and reproductive failure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Protection:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Housing should be\nable to prevent against injury within the hutch, rain, direct sunlight, direct\nand indirect wind and predators such as dogs, cats, rats, ants, man, etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ventilation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n A.Natural\nventilation systems <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Can use wind and animal heat to move air.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Natural ventilation can be provided with a high gable roof,\na ridge vent, and open sides with flaps that can be opened or closed depending\non the atmospheric requirements. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In high wind areas, a stub wall or wind baffle outside the\nopen sided sheds is needed to reduce wind velocity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Advantage <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Natural ventilation is low cost, <\/p>\n\n\n\n Disadvantages <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Lack of control over air movement, inability to lower the\ninside temperature of the rabbitry below that outside, and over-ventilation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n B.\nmechanical ventilation systems <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Are used in environmentally controlled buildings, using fans\nto provide required airflow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The advantage <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n There is the ability to control rate of airflow for\neffective removal of moisture, heat and ammonia; <\/p>\n\n\n\n Disadvantages <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n There is the high initial and operating cost <\/p>\n\n\n\n The need for backup systems in case of power failure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Evaporative cooling systems may be used in a hot, dry\nclimate. A water sprinkling system on the roof of the rabbit shed will help to\nreduce high temperatures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Space requirements<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Sufficient room is required for caged rabbits to move\naround, to feed and drink without difficulty. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The minimum legal standards for different classes of rabbits\nare given below:<\/p>\n\n\n\n If the floor of the cage is of wire mesh material it should\nbe of woven or flat construction. The square mesh of the floor should not\nexceed 19 x 19 mm for adults and 13 x 13 mm for kittens. The optimum for\nrectangular mesh is 50 x 13 mm. The thickness of the wire mesh should not be\nless than 2.5 mm diameter (12 gauge). Cage arrangement can vary depending on the\nsize of the enterprise. Multiple deck configurations require a faeces diverter\nor multideck conveyor belt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Feeders and watering\nequipment<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Good feeding and watering equipment will supply feed and\nwater in hygienic condition and will avoid causing discomfort or stress to the\nrabbits. A feed hopper in a cage should have a sufficiently big opening and\nshould be large enough to feed all the rabbits in the cage at the same time. An\nautomatic watering system can be installed. The drinking nipples of the watering\nsystem should be at optimum height from the floor of the cage, around 10 cm\nfrom the floor of the cage and they should not project more than 2.5 cm into\nthe cage. It is always advisable to have a backup system to ensure that rabbits\nhave access to water in case of a failure of an automated system. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Cage systems<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Individual rabbits are kept in cages or hutches. Hutches may\nbe constructed of wood frames with wire netting at the sides and base. All wire\nhutches last longer and are more expensive. They may be built in one, two or\nthree tiers<\/p>\n\n\n\n Two or three tier hutches are used where there is\ninsufficient space but requires more labour than single tier<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cage measurements<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Doe and her litter or weaned upto market mass<\/p>\n\n\n\n Individual mature rabbits<\/p>\n\n\n\n NB:<\/strong>\nRabbit may also be raised on solid floor on litter of wood shavings (economical\nbut risky of disease outbreak is high)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" RABBIT PRODUCTION SYSTEMS 1. Extensive system: Total dependence on forages and kitchen wastes. Advantages – Cheap – Easy to provide the quantity of food required Disadvantages – Forage availability varies with season – The quality of the forage reduces during dry season – It is labour intensive – It can introduce diseases and health problems …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[48,32,46,51],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vetanimalhealthcare.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vetanimalhealthcare.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vetanimalhealthcare.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vetanimalhealthcare.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vetanimalhealthcare.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=154"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/vetanimalhealthcare.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":157,"href":"https:\/\/vetanimalhealthcare.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154\/revisions\/157"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vetanimalhealthcare.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=154"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vetanimalhealthcare.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=154"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vetanimalhealthcare.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=154"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}