Crossing rabbits of different breeds: types, breed selection, features

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

Rabbits are a very popular type of farm animals among domestic owners of household plots. Such animals grow and multiply simply rapidly. At the same time, their meat is distinguished by a number of valuable qualities. For example, it does not contain cholesterol, and therefore can be classified as a dietary product.

Why cross breeds

With a huge number of advantages, rabbits, unfortunately, have one rather serious drawback. The he alth of these animals is much weaker than that of many other farm animals. This is especially true for pedigreed rabbits. Caring for such animals is often very difficult, and mortality in the herd can be high.

In order to improve livestock through the most he althy offspring, some farmers use such a procedure as crossing rabbits of different breeds. Thus, it is possible to breed stronger half-breeds resistant to various diseases. In addition, when crossing representatives of different breeds, indicators in terms of farm productivity are sometimes improved. Often such young animals gain weight faster andgrows bigger.

Using Soviet Chinchilla

Of course, you need to breed half-breeds on a rabbit farm correctly. First of all, this concerns the selection of parent breeds. If this issue is not given maximum attention, instead of strong offspring, you can get even more whimsical and frail than the parents. So what kind of rabbits can be crossed with each other?

Very often, farmers use the Soviet chinchilla to improve the quality of the herd. These rabbits do not grow as large as many modern breeds. However, they have one important advantage over most varieties of animals bred on farms today - endurance and unpretentiousness.

It is believed that Soviet chinchilla males can be used to produce he althy productive crossbreeds from the following breeds of rabbits:

• white giant;
• New Zealand.

At the same time, females of this breed can be crossed with males:

• Viennese Blue;
• New Zealand.

Crossing rabbits of different breeds in a household is carried out according to standard technology. That is, a female with estrus is simply placed in a cage with a male, and after two weeks they make a control mating.

What other breeds can be crossed

In addition to the Soviet chinchilla, farmers often use male white giant and Viennese blue to improve the quality of livestock. Such animals are allowedcross with females of the New Zealand breed. Crossbreeding with Californian rabbits is also permitted for the White Giant and Viennese Blue.

Which breed is best for a beginner

Rabbit breeding is, unfortunately, quite complicated. Many farmers fail to breed such animals. Diseases of rabbits are very numerous, in most cases they are infectious and spread in the herd at lightning speed. The impact on farms of this specialization during epidemics can be simply colossal.

Therefore, experienced farmers, in order not to be disappointed, advise beginners to first try their hand at breeding outbred rabbits. Such animals are not particularly productive. But with regard to diseases, they are usually not as frail as thoroughbreds.

Having gained experience, in the future it will be possible to improve the livestock by absorbing crossbreeding of rabbit breeds. Such work on the farm in the future will simply need to be repeated approximately every 3-4 years.

What is absorption crossbreeding: a description of the technology

In this case, to replenish the herd, several rabbits of some productive popular breed are purchased. Then they are crossed with females from the herd according to the scheme below.

That is, the absorption crossing of rabbits looks like this:

• 1 half-breed litters;
• 2 litters - ¾ purebred blood;
• 3 - 7/8;
• 4 - 15/16;
• 5 - 31/32.

At the final stagerabbits are already being bred "in themselves".

What are the benefits of absorption crossbreeding

Indicators on a farm with outbred rabbits using this technology can increase significantly. It is believed that the absorptive crossing technique allows:

• increase animal body weight by 30-40% by the end of fattening;
• significantly increase the stamina of rabbits;
• reduce feed consumption;
• increase the multiplicity of rabbits;
• reduce puberty.

Having retained their stamina and strength of he alth, rabbits on the farm after such work become more productive and acquire the breed qualities of those males that were purchased at the first stage.

Whom to choose for improvement

Thus, for absorption crossbreeding, the farmer will first need to acquire several thoroughbred rabbits. But what kind of animals are best suited for this? In most cases, farmers choose white and gray giants to improve the performance of their herds. The offspring from such rabbits in outbred females is born very strong and quite large.

It is also believed that flanders are very good for improving the herd on the farm. Crossbreeding rabbits for meat (to obtain later a large amount of it) is often carried out using rex.

That is, rabbits of large breeds are best suited for absorption crossbreeding. In the herd itself, of course, it is necessarychoose the he althiest queens. At the same time, only the largest females are suitable for this purpose, of course. For further crossing from half-breed litters, of course, you also need to choose the strongest, most active and he althy individuals.

Purchasing manufacturers

Crossing rabbits of different breeds must be carried out in accordance with all the rules. First of all, the farmer needs to try to choose good producers. When purchasing thoroughbred rabbits, among other things, you need to pay attention to their appearance. The legs and buttocks of such animals, for example, must be strong enough. Of course, only he althy males with good breed qualities should be chosen to improve the herd. You need to buy such animals in disease-free farms with a good reputation. Rabbits from the market are likely to infect the entire herd, and the farmer will suffer great losses.

What else you need to know

When improving the herd using new blood or breeding "in itself", the farmer should follow a few more important rules. So, it is believed that you cannot use as producers:

• rabbits over 3-5 years old;
• rabbits who ate their litter at least once;
• rabbits who have had at least one miscarriage;
• rabbits over 3 years old.

It is best to choose female rabbits for crossing with the widest possible backside. In this case, low-milk rabbits must be culled. In such animals, the cubs slowly gain weight after birth.

Types of crossing:industrial option

On large farms, they often use a special method of crossing rabbits, achieving the effect of heterosis. In this case, in the end, hybrid animals are obtained, which significantly exceed their parents both in development speed and in weight, but are not capable of producing good offspring.

This technique is used mainly only on large farms. In order to be able to get hybrids, the farm must specialize in the cultivation of rhinestones of two or more breeds. Also, such a farm is equipped with a separate fattening shop for the hybrids themselves.

Such crossing is called industrial. On large farms, two schemes for such breeding can be used:

• simple - when using 2 breeds;
• complex - with rabbits of 3 breeds.

In most cases, the hybridization scheme in large farms is used as follows:

• the first crossing of rabbits is made between a male and a female of any two breeds;
• a female hybrid of the first generation is crossed with a male of one of the original breeds (of course, not related);
• rabbits born from her are crossed with a male of another breed.

Then the process is simply repeated.

Best breeds for hybridization

Different breeds of rabbits are crossed on large farms using the heterosis technique. The table below shows which animals are best suited for mixing with the heterosis effect.

Breeds for hybridization

Male	Female
White Giant	Butterfly, Californian, New Zealand
Soviet chinchilla	New Zealand white, white giant
Viennese blue	New Zealand, Californian, Soviet chinchilla
Sheep	Soviet chinchilla
Butterfly (stringer)	Viennese blue

The result of crossing the breeds of rabbits listed in the table is often simply impressive.

Inbreeding

Close mating of animals on a small farm is considered unacceptable. Crossing rabbits of different breeds for meat (both to improve its quality and to increase its quantity) in most cases is successful. It is likely that even a novice farmer will be able to improve the livestock in this way. The only thing is that an entrepreneur of such specialization should try to avoid inbreeding. Rabbits and rabbits for crossing should be taken from different litters from distant parents in terms of relationship.

On small farms, inbreeding is a very dangerous phenomenon. Its negative effects are:

• slow development of baby rabbits;
• morbidity of offspring;
• inability to reproduce.

It is interesting that it was with the help of inbreeding that some of the now popular breeds were bredrabbits, for example, the same white giant. However, getting a new breed in the conditions of a small farm and in the absence of certain knowledge and skills from the farmer, of course, is unlikely to come out. He will cause irreparable harm to his flock. It is believed that it is necessary to change producers on the farm at least once every 3-4 years. At the same time, new rabbits for reproduction should be bought on the side.

Reproductive crossbreeding

This technique is mainly used only in breeding farms. With its use on experimental farms, new breeds of rabbits are being bred. In this case, very sophisticated technologies are used to solve the tasks. Crossing rabbits on such farms is carried out in stages with checking each intermediate result.

Exactly in this way, for example, in the last century, the first Soviet chinchilla was born. The ancestors of these very popular rabbits in our country are the French chinchilla and the white giant.

Crossing to get a new variety is still usually several breeds at once. In some cases, this technique can also be used to adapt foreign rabbits in Russia. White giants, for example, there are two varieties - Belgian and domestic. The latter were obtained by adapting to the harsh Russian climate through the "influx" of the blood of gray giants and chinchillas.