Situation of smallholder rabbit raising systems in the uplands of Thailand

 Choke Mikled ^*,** Supharoek Nakkitset ^**  Wichit Sonloi ^** and Kanitta Tikam^*,**

Chiang Mai, Thailand
agani008@chiangmai.ac.th
^* Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Chiang Mai University, Thailand.
^** Livestock Development and Extension Section, Royal Project Foundation,  Chiang Mai, Thailand.

Abstract

At least 20 Royal Project Development and Extension Centres and 89 farmers are involved in the rabbit raising scheme in the upland areas of Thailand. The main feed resources are vegetables wastes from vegetables growing areas. The breeds of rabbits are mainly crossbred between New Zealand White doe and Zika-Z or German Giant buck. The market of rabbit meat is expanded and increased every year according to more demand especially in the big city like Bangkok.

 Key words: Vegetable wastes, New Zealand White, Zika-Z, German Giant, Smoked rabbit meat.

 Introduction

In general, rabbit raising is commonly for pets, laboratory animals, meat and fur. During the past few years, the countries like China, Indonesia, Vietnam and Thailand  were seriously affected by Avian Flu (Bird flu). The smallholder farmers faced difficulty on chicken or duck raising, resulted in reducing meat supply for human consumption. Alternative kinds of livestock such as rabbit is become an important role for meat production in these countries. In Thailand, His Serene Highness Prince Bhisataj Rajani the Chairman of the Royal Project Foundation has initiated the farmers in the upland areas to raise rabbits for some years, through the Livestock Development and Extension Section, Royal Project Foundation. The main objectives of rabbit raising in the Royal Project areas are mainly for meat and to utilize vegetable wastes as sources of feed of rabbit. At present, there are at least 20 Royal Project Development and Extension Centres involved in rabbit raising for commercial market as well as for home consumption.

General situation of rabbit raising in the uplands

Rabbits are small herbivorous animals which consume little food, take up little space, grow fast and are easy to manage. The benefit of raising rabbits is also very high if in good management. The rabbit meat is high in protein and calcium and contains low fat and cholesterol. It is easy to digest and taste good in comparable with chicken meat. At the beginning rabbit products were not consumed by local Thai peoples and the value of them was mainly from European restaurants. But at present, rabbit products have got larger market in Thailand. Since the beginning of the introduction of rabbit raising to the uplands, it shows the tendency of high initiative of the farmers to raise rabbits. In Table 1 showed that there are at least 20 Royal Project Development and Extension Centres involved in the rabbit raising project and there are 89 farmers accepted to raise rabbits and supply rabbits to the Royal Project Foundation market channels. The total number of rabbits in August 2008 was 6,797 rabbits.

Breeds of rabbits

At the beginning, mainly the crossbred Native x New Zealand White and Californian were brought to the Royal Project areas from the Rabbit Farm, Department of Animals Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Chiang Mai University. Later in December 2002, the Heifer Project International (Thailand) donated 128 male and female rabbits breeding stocks to the Royal Project Foundation imported from China. These rabbits were 23 New Zealand White, 20 Californian,  24 Japanese Big Ear, 12 Rex , 23 Zika-Z and  26 German Giant.These breeding stocks were initially raised at the Rabbit Farm, Chiang Mai University, and then spread to the Centres that interested in raising rabbits through the programme initiated by the Heifer Project International (Thailand) called “Passing on the Gift” Then, through “Cross-Border Passing on the Gifts” the Royal Project Foundation; passed 200 rabbits of  5 breeds, namely – 49 Zika-Z, 54 Californian, 33 Japanese Big Ear, 43 New Zealand White and 21 German Giant to the Heifer Project International (Vietnam) as the gift in June 2007. At present the Centres and the farmers involved in raising rabbits in the uplands are trying to cross among the breeds that they have in the farms in order to get better growth performance. It has been found out that the crossbred between mating New Zealand White as a doe and Zika Z or German Giant as a buck is better than among exotic breeds themselves in terms of the number of young rabbit per litter and the adaptation to different kinds of local feed resource, environment and managements in the upland areas.

 Feed resources and management

In the upland areas under the Royal Project Foundation, the farmers generally grow different kinds of high value temperate and subtropical crops, namely; vegetables, herbs, fruit trees and flowers. Former times, the waste products from different kinds of vegetables after grading and packing were discarded by throwing away or just making compost and/or feeding to the pigs. Through the rabbit raising programme the extension workers suggest the farmers to feed their rabbits from vegetables wastes. By this way it can be added the values of vegetable wastes and also to test that those vegetables are free from pesticides. As we all know that rabbits are very sensitive to chemical toxicity. In parallel, the experiments were also conducted to compare the utilization of different kinds of vegetable wastes compare to conventional feed resources such as grasses and supplemented with concentrates (pellet feed for growing pigs)  in terms of growth performance (Nakkitset et. al. 2008). It was found out that vegetable wastes can be good sources of feed for rabbits. Also the introduction of new kinds of forage grasses and legumes to the upland areas for rabbit feed are taken place. In the future, when the rabbit raising in the uplands of Thailand goes into more commercialized, the complete feed in pellet forms made from suitable feed resources may be used in order to get the standard growth performance and better meat quality for higher markets. The proper housing is needed for rabbits to provide healthy surroundings, adequate light and protection from dogs and other enemies. It is easy to construct the hutch by using local materials like bamboo or wood for sides and frames and may use wire mesh floors. For does we need to supply also nesting boxes. Rabbits have a number of valuable advantages, as one doe can produce 4- 6 litters of 6-8 young rabbits each per year. The breeding schemes to provide enough young weaning rabbits for meat production cycle are very important to continuously supply rabbits for the market channel. Luckily, the rabbits have a high reproduction rate. Unlike others livestock, the female doe does not have any fixed estrous cycle, ovulation is rather induced, so marking it possible for rabbits to be bred anytime. In this case, one can directly mate the does after 35-45 days of nursing their young. The suggestion is that it is better to take the doe to the buck for mating.

Diseases and problems of rabbits

The common diseases that were found in the uplands of Thailand, especially during the wet periods in the rainy season were enteritis or entero-toxemia and coccidiosis. Enterotoxemia is of particular important in weanling rabbits. At weaning, the gut of the young rabbit is susceptible to microbial invasion because the stomach (pH approximately 5) has not dropped to the very acid (pH 1.5 to 2) bacteriocidal level typical of adult rabbit. If the diet is high in energy, carbohydrate overload of the hindgut may occur, with a proliferation of microbes in the caecum. The high quantity of VFA causes a temporary drop in caecal pH, killing many of the normal microbes and allowing proliferation of pathogens such as Clostridium spiroforme and E. coli, which produce lethal toxins. However, post weaning enteritis can be minimized by feeding a low-energy high-fiber diet. The crude fiber content should be 13-15 percent and the diets should contain less than 20 percent cereal grain (Cheeke, 1999). The second serious disease that was found to responsible for more loss through deaths and lower production of rabbits is coccidiosis, especially in the young growing rabbits. This could be reduced the cases by proper management. Apart from these diseases, the disease of the ears and skin often found in rabbits, especially ear mange and skin mange. If detected in early stages, it can be easily and effectively treated.

Marketing

 Rabbits consume large amount of forage green of many types which people do not eat. They convert this forage into meat which people do eat. Thus, rabbit meat is a cheap source of animal protein-high in nutrients and low in cholesterol. When cooked rabbit meat is indistinguishable from chicken meat, hence, it is also called white meat. Moreover, with the increasing living standard, people love high- protein and low-fat lean-meat rabbits. One rabbit has many different cuisines, which are very popular at present. In Table 2 showed the amount of rabbit products that sold through the Market Division, Royal Project Foundation. The amount of slaughtered rabbit meat increases markedly in 2007-2008 compares to 2006-2007, due to more rabbits were raised by the upland farmers and more demand for rabbit meat. The major market is in Bangkok. During the past two years the smoked rabbit meat was supplied to the market when rabbits were over demand of the slaughtered rabbit meat market or when the Royal Project Foundation set up the “Royal Project Fair” in Bangkok (August) and Chiang Mai (December). In September, 2008 onward we try to supply smoked rabbit meat to the supermarkets. It is hoped that under present situation, rabbit raising by the smallholder farmers in the upland areas could be expanded and increased the number as far as the consumers like to eat high quality and healthy meats.

Bibliography

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Nakkitset, S.,C. Mikled, and I. Ledin 2008: Effect of feeding head lettuce, water spinach, ruzi grass or Mimosa pigra on feed intake, digestibility and growth in rabbits. Asian-Aust. J Anim. Sci. 8:1171-1177.

Sandford,J.C. 1986: The domestic rabbit. Collins Professional and Technical Books, William Collins Sons& Co.Ltd, London. 272 pp.

Xuping Rabbit Online 2008: Small investment but fast and big benefit. www.chinarabbitking.com/english/ytxy.htm-Online (2 September 2008)

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