Rabbits are mammals that belong to the Leporidae family. There are various types of rabbits found in different countries due to their good adaptability. According to historical records, the term Rabbit comes from the Dutch language, “koninjtne” which means child rabbit. The word was adopted during the Dutch colonial period in Indonesia.
Although in Indonesia, there are types of rabbits native to Indonesia, but at that time the Indonesian people did not recognize rabbits as pets, as was done by the Dutch who lived in Indonesia.
Today, many people are interested in rabbit farming, both for a hobby and as a professional business. Rabbits are not only sold as pets to decorate gardens, but some are also used for meat rabbits (consumption) such as those that are widely available in the Lembang area, West Java. How do you become a rabbit farm entrepreneur? Here’s a quick overview.
1. Initial Preparation
The first thing that needs to be prepared in rabbit cultivation is the habitat. A good location is close to water sources, away from noise, smoke-free, calm, and protected from predators such as dogs, snakes, eagles, and others.
2. Provision of rabbit
cage. Cages can be made of wood or metal mesh / wire. The cage requirements for rabbits are enough air circulation, little sun exposure, shade, and strong from other animal disturbances. According to its function, cages for rabbits can be divided into main cages and weaning cages. The mother cage is a place for adult rabbits, or sires who have just given birth.
Meanwhile, the weaning cage functions to separate the rabbits that have started to grow up so they can live independently and their mothers can freely marry again. Cages can be made with or without an indentation yard, with a size of 4m x 2m, a height of 1 meter, and a height distance between the ground and the base of the cage about 30 cm. The cage can accommodate 10-15 adult rabbits.
3. Selection of Rabbit Seeds
In choosing rabbit seeds in a farm business depends on the purpose of the cultivation. If you are breeding rabbits to be sold as pets, then the suitable types of rabbits are Angora, Rex, and American Chinchilla. Meanwhile, for consumption purposes, the selected rabbits are Havana, Himalayan, Belgian, Californian, Flemish Giant, or New Zealand types.
The characteristics of good prospective rabbit breeders include active, not dull, clean white eyes, not nervous, high fertility characteristics, good hair growth for ornamental rabbits, and large weight and tall for broilers.
4. Rabbit Care and Maintenance
Activities Routine activities of raising and caring for rabbits consist of feeding, cage sanitation, and controlling livestock health. The types of feed provided are a variety of vegetables (carrots, cabbage, mustard greens, kale, peanut leaves, etc.), grasses, and grains (corn, green beans, rice, bran, etc.). Animal feed in the form of concentrate can also be obtained from animal feed stores.
Feed is given 3 times a day, namely morning (9 o’clock), noon (1 o’clock), and evening (6 o’clock). Meanwhile, water must be provided in the cage in a container that is not easily broken. For sanitation activities, cage hygiene must be considered. Avoid humid environmental conditions to avoid flu or flu that attacks livestock.
Rabbits stricken with disease generally show lethargy, decreased appetite, drooping eyes, and increased body temperature. If it is suspected that one of the livestock is suffering from the disease, it is immediately quarantined in another cage.
Several types of diseases that attack rabbits include: boils (surgery to remove dirty blood), scabies (treated with antibiotic ointments), eczema (with salicylic powder), fungi on the scalp (treated with sulfur), eye diseases (with ointments or eye drops ), colds (antiseptic), pneumonia (with Sul-Q-nox), and dysentery (taking sulfaquinxalin).
5.
Breeding of Rabbits Mother Rabbits (female & male) can be bred after 5 months of age. The mother rabbit’s gestation period usually lasts 1 month. To find out whether she is pregnant or not, two weeks after marriage, the mother’s stomach is groped whether there are balls or not.
If there are small balls, it means that the female parent is pregnant. At week three, pregnant mother rabbits are separated into special cages to keep them calm. A mother rabbit can give birth to 5-10 baby rabbits.
6. Harvest Stage
To raise money from this livestock business, it can be done by marketing it to animal lovers (fur rabbits) or to restaurant entrepreneurs that serve processed rabbit meat (broiler rabbits).
