Fattening indicators of young rabbits when feeding Prebiolact-Kr

Measures to increase production are used to address the issue of providing the population with food. During the peak of the industry (1975–1985), Ukraine annually produced 120–165 thousand tons of rabbit meat, 30–45 million skins, and its share in world rabbit production reached 8 %. In the national volume of meat production, the share of highly dietary rabbit accounted for 8–10 %. Rabbit breeding in Ukraine was a very lucrative industry, which employed more than 600 thousand rabbit breeders. However, in recent years, rabbit breeding has declined due to the lack of modern scientific developments on the issues of complete feeding, rabbit keeping technology, low level of breeding and veterinary support. The development of the industry and the lack of coordinating bodies, both in the center and on the ground, are holding back. At present, the rabbit population of Ukraine is 97–98 % concentrated in individual farms and is 1.2–1.3 million breeding and repair livestock, and the rest in farms and breeding entities of various forms of ownership and management. According to the results of state certification, the breeding base of the industry in Ukraine today consists of 1 breeding plant and 7 breeding breeders of rabbit breeds. For feeding young rabbits used complete ration granular feed, the structure of which had different prebiotic content: I control group – the drug was not received, 2 experimental – 1.5, 3 – 2.0, 4 – 2.5 g/goal. per day. The studies were conducted on four groups of young rabbits, selected on the principle of groups of analogues, 25 heads in each. Thus, the total amount of feed increased from 80 g/goal. per day (35–41 days), up to 100 g (42–48 days), 120 g (49–55 days), up to 140 g (56–62 days), up to 160 g (63–69 days) up to 180 g (70–76 days). Feeding of young rabbits when reared for meat Prebiolact-Kr in animals of the second group at 43.1 g, the third 44.6 g and 45.0 g. The use of Prebiolact-Kr in the feeding of young rabbits when fed meat contributes to an increase in fattening performance, which may be the basis for the practical application of this supplement. Perebiolakt-KR showed the best results in feeding fattening and repair young animals at a dose of 2.0 g/goal per day.

Does wild rabbit population size affect connectivity?

<p>Wild rabbit is a relevant species in the Iberian Peninsula due to its ecological and economic roles. Conservationists and game managers therefore have a shared interest in assuring the existence of resilient and sustainable populations. Although management principles and guidelines are mostly known and understood, often the results are not as good as expected. Local abundance can vary significantly even in short periods, while the colonisation of adjacent territories is uncommon, probably due to the territorial behaviour of the species. Aware that the foundation of nuclei requires interaction among individuals, we hypothesised that rabbit abundance plays a significant part in population connectivity. In order to find out whether the population size affects nuclei connectivity, we conducted a graph theory-based connectivity analysis. The results confirm that connectivity grows with rabbit abundance, but only to a certain degree, and there is a spatial separation of the nuclei regardless of the population size. These outcomes suggest that a comprehensive wild rabbit population increment plan should address both the abundance and spatial distribution, but should not aim at achieving a continuous distribution of wild rabbit with constant or similar abundance. Regarding specific management actions, we argue that in restocking operations new nuclei should be located within dispersal range from the existing ones to promote inter-nuclei connectivity, but not too close, as the nuclei segregation tendency is likely to persist due to the species’ territoriality.</p>

The Decline of Terrestrial Acclimatization

This chapter covers ASV’s conflicts due to financial problems and the failure of acclimatization species and acclimatized animals that became agricultural pests, such as rabbits. The rabbit population, which became known as the rabbit plague, caused ruined crops and environmental disasters. Farmers demanded the right to destroy rabbits, protection of their property rights, and revision of the game laws. Recognizing the failure, the institution questioned the utility of acclimatized terrestrial vertebrates for pest control and emphasized protecting agriculturally useful native animals to control pests. New generation of scientists in the Field Naturalists Club of Victoria (FNCV) and the Zoological and Acclimatisation Society of Victoria (ZASV) were concerned with national nature, extinction, and animal welfare. Recommended strategies like seasonal protection of animals were issued to prevent the possibility of imminent extinction.