Ram Rabbit

1 Ram Rabbit Breed Overview

Ram Rabbit (details)

The Ram Rabbit’s ears droop like a lop rabbit, so some call it the lop rabbit. Unlike pet lops, the Ram Rabbit is a meat breed—one raised on farms.

Chinese name: Ram Rabbit

Alias: Lop rabbit

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Mammalia

Order: Lagomorpha

Family: Leporidae

Genus: Oryctolagus

History: The Ram Rabbit originated in North Africa, later spread to France, Belgium, and the Netherlands, with long breeding histories in the UK and Germany. By selection method it divides into French, German, and English lines. After introduction to China, it is mainly raised in North and East China.

Habits: The Ram Rabbit is gentle, slow to react, likes dry and clean conditions, fears heat and tolerates cold, and likes to chew hard things.

Production performance: Ram Rabbit meat is excellent—high protein, low fat, low cholesterol, fine texture, tender and fragrant. Lean meat rate reaches over 82%.

2 Ram Rabbit Physical Characteristics

The Ram Rabbit is huge—the strongman of rabbits. Sturdy, balanced, it turns heads! The coat is mostly yellowish-brown, ears large and drooping, head thick, short and broad, with a slight bump where forehead meets nose, ram-like, and full hindquarters, sturdy limbs. Bucks look very solid, with thick necks; adult bucks weigh 5–8 kg. Does look gentler, with a wart under the neck, over 5 pairs of evenly arranged teats; adult does weigh 5–7 kg.

3 Ram Rabbit Care Tips

Ram Rabbit (details)

The Ram Rabbit is a favorite of many breeders; people often self-breed, so its care starts from the kit stage—from healthy kits to marketing, covering many aspects.

I. Kit management

Kits have poor temperature regulation and immature digestion, easily dying of cold. Make kits nurse enough colostrum to boost digestion and resistance. After eyes open, growth is fast and milk is insufficient, so start supplement feeding with palatable, complete kit feed to tempt and supplement. Ram Rabbit kits usually wean at 20–30 days; move the doe out, leave kits in the original cage for 7–10 more days of transition.

II. Young rabbit management

Young rabbits are the stage from weaning to 2.5 months. Main measures: reasonable density and correct feeding. As weight grows, reduce density—separate by sex, age, and strength, generally two per cage.

III. Correct feeding

Young rabbits switch from milk to feed; digestion is weak, so feed little and often, controlling intake. Suggested formula: corn 21%, soybean meal 17%, bran 20%, grass meal 40%, trace elements 2%. 30–50 g per rabbit daily, 3–4 times a day.

The Ram Rabbit reaches sexual maturity at 6 months and can be bred. After 2.5 months, select fine breeders as reserve rabbits.

IV. Ram Rabbit vaccination

Make a detailed vaccination plan per the schedule to prevent infectious disease. At 30 days, inject 1 ml hemorrhagic disease monovalent vaccine subcutaneously in the neck per rabbit.

V. Ram Rabbit disease control

For prevention, coccidiosis can be controlled by mixing robenidine premix at 100 g per 100 kg feed for 3–5 days. Rabbit colibacillosis can be treated with Shuanghuanglian injection at 0.2–0.3 ml per kg body weight, twice, to cure.

4 Ram Rabbit Living Environment

Ram Rabbit (details)

Building a Ram Rabbit farm: the most important is site selection and internal construction, based on the rabbit’s environmental needs and local climate. Suggestions follow.

I. Ram Rabbit farm design

Build on a leeward, sunny, dry, ventilated site, high ground with good drainage and easy disease control, good light. Downwind of residential areas, with no large chemical, leather, or livestock pollution sources within 500 m. Also, since the Ram Rabbit is timid and startles easily, keep the farm away from railways and other noise sources.

II. Ram Rabbit hutch design

Design by local climate; orientation usually north-south. Note natural and mechanical ventilation for air quality. Floor firm and flat, 2%–3% slope for cleaning and dryness; concrete common.

Generally two hutch forms: open and closed. Details below.

1. Open hutch

Lower cost, durable, good ventilation. Fixed multi-row cages for centralized management. Cage usually 60–65 cm long, 50–60 cm wide, 40 cm front height, 36 cm back height. Best two to three tiers, cage floor 25 cm above ground to avoid dampness. 10–15 cm between tiers with a cement board for cleaning waste.

2. Closed hutch

Good cold protection but poor ventilation, so space hutches 6–8 m apart with trees for summer shade. Do not overstock; open doors/windows when hot. Cage specs same as open hutches.

5 Ram Rabbit Feeding Guidelines

Ram Rabbit (details)

The Ram Rabbit is not picky and accepts even low-nutrition coarse feed, but its fertility is low, so care during pregnancy is vital, especially nutrition.

I. Feeding requirements

Provide quality feed for a strong body, high and good meat. Besides green feed, add concentrates and trace elements for variety. Common greens: carrots, vegetable leaves, various wild grasses.

Concentrates are complete pelleted feeds made from corn, soybean meal, bran, and quality grass meal per the rabbit’s physiological stage. Pellets do not freeze in winter or spoil in summer, are convenient, and are palatable, boosting appetite.

II. Pregnancy diet combination

Pregnancy is from mating to birth, 31 days, in early, middle, and late stages. Suggested formula: corn 20%, soybean meal 22%, bran 19%, grass meal 37%, trace elements 2%.

1. Early (first 12 days): 70–80 g per feeding, twice a day;

2. Middle (12–28 days): 80–85 g per feeding, 2–3 times a day;

3. Late (last 3 days before birth): 70 g per feeding, 3 times a day.

If possible, increase green feed like carrots daily to meet the doe’s nutritional needs, strengthen her, and promote normal fetal development.