Читать книгу Rabbit Production - James I McNitt - Страница 70

The rabbit’s coat is prime when the hairs have a good sheen, are tight, and have attained their maximum length. The skin is white and the hair flows back into place evenly when the coat is rubbed from the rump to the shoulders.

Unprimeness is indicated by a dull, uneven coat and loose hair. The hair does not flow back evenly when the coat is rubbed from the rump to the shoulders. Patches of new fibers can be seen, and these new fibers will appear in a growth pattern that varies from animal to animal. The skin of these new hair growth areas is dark and easily detected on rabbits with colored coats.

The pattern of shedding in rabbits has not been definitely established. There is a juvenile molt that begins when a rabbit is about two months old and lasts until it is four to six months of age. Heavy feeding of the young tends to cause the molt at an earlier age. In addition, there is the annual molt with mature rabbits. This molt varies in time of appearance in different geographical areas. Rabbits may be thrown into molt by disease, going “off feed,” the sudden occurrence of unseasonably high temperatures, or other stresses. Evidence of molting in the herd is the accumulation of loose hair on the wire sides and in the corners of the cages and the droppings being bound together by embedded fibers.

Shedding first occurs on the sides of the rump and the thighs, followed by the back, then increasingly in areas down over the sides. There is a pronounced degree of similarity in the size and location of the ingrowing new coat areas on both the right and left sides of the rabbit.

A high quality diet and high feed intake promote molting. The growth rate of hair is more rapid with a high nutrient intake, so the rate of turnover of hair is greater. Restricted feeding of adult show animals reduces the amount of hair shedding and keeps the fur in prime condition for a longer period. Some rabbit raisers claim that molting adversely affects reproductive performance, but this belief is not well substantiated. In fact, little attention is paid to molting in commercial meat rabbit operations.