Rabbit Growth, Development and Molting Traits

1 Rabbit Growth and Molting Characteristics

I. Growth and Development Traits

1. Faster late embryonic growth. In the womb, growth is slow early and fast late. Fetal weight is affected by litter size and the dam’s nutrition, not by sex.

2. Rapid kit growth. Newborn kits are hairless, eyes shut and ear canals closed, but they develop very fast: fur starts at 3–4 days, eyes open at 10–12 days, they begin eating at about 20 days, and the coat is formed by about one month. Most breeds weigh only about 50 g at birth, double by one week, reach 10 times birth weight by four weeks, and hit 40% of adult weight by eight weeks.

3. Growth affected by milk intake. A litter has several kits with great early growth potential, but it is limited by nutrient supply. The dam’s milk yield and litter size affect kit growth speed; many kits with low milk supply grow slowly.

4. High growth and feed conversion in weanlings. Normally a young rabbit’s weight keeps rising with age. In the New Zealand White, daily gain peaks at 8 weeks and slows after 9. Feed conversion is 2:1 at 3 weeks (the best), falling to 3:1 at 8 weeks and 4:1 at 10 weeks.

In practice, use the rule of fast early growth and high feed conversion to manage weanlings well and on time.

5. Breed and sex differences. Growth rates differ a little by sex, showing clearly only after 8 weeks. Before that, males grow slower than females and are always a bit lighter under the same care.

II. Molting Traits

A rabbit is born naked; fur starts at 3–4 days and the fetal coat is shed at about one month, after which regular age-based and seasonal molts begin.

1. Age-based molts. As a rabbit grows it sheds old fur and grows new. This age-related shedding happens twice in life: the first around 30–100 days, the second mostly around 130–190 days. Timing varies with breed, nutrition and ambient temperature.

2. Seasonal molts. Adults molt once each spring and autumn. Spring molting is around March–April, as days lengthen and it warms, and the rabbit swaps its ‘winter coat’ for a ‘summer coat’. Autumn molting is around August–September, as days shorten and it cools, and it needs the ‘summer coat’ swapped for a ‘winter coat’. The start and duration of seasonal molting are affected by age, sex, health, nutrition and climate. Seasonal molting is normal metabolism, so during this period give the rabbit rich extra nutrition.

This concludes our look at rabbit growth, development and molting; we hope it helps you understand rabbits better.