Many people mistakenly believe that nutria is bred solely for obtaining high-quality and inexpensive fur. This is not entirely true. The value of nutria, except for the skin, is also in delicate, tasty and dietary meat . That is why the cultivation of nutria at home is becoming increasingly popular. Fertility of these animals allows us to provide meat not only to our family, but also to our numerous relatives.
Nutria: breeds, breeding, maintenance and care
There is a lot of nutrients. The main ones are:
- golden;
- black;
- white Azerbaijani;
- white Italian;
- cream;
- smoky;
- pearl;
- pearl;
- albino;
- silvery;
- lemon;
- brown exotic;
- pastel;
- snow;
- beige.
However, for breeding on the plot the most optimal breed is the standard nutria. It has a higher fertility and is not very demanding in care.
Before you buy animals, you should build cells for breeding nutria. It should be borne in mind that an adult animal can easily gnaw through the wooden parts of the cage with the help of teeth, tear off an unsuccessfully welded metal rod or bite off a finger to a person. You can keep nutria and without the cage - on the floor of the barn, but you should take into account their traumatic danger during skirmishes.
When everything is ready you need to decide where to buy nutria for breeding. For this, there are special farms, rabbits and fur farmers who breed tribal nutria. And to get them better in the warm season, so that animals do not get sick during transportation.
Feed the nutrient hay, corn stalk, rhizome, bulb and grass. In addition, it is desirable to add them to the diet vegetables: squash, beets, carrots, etc. Animals quickly get used to a certain routine of the day, so when feeding, you must follow a certain regime. With pleasure, nutria eat porridge with vegetables. In the warm season in the cage, there should always be a bowl of water, especially in pregnant females and nutria, contained without a pool.
The temperature of the contents of nutrients should not be negative, because it can lead to frostbite of those parts of the body that are almost not covered with fur. And for breeding animals in cages should not be colder than 15 degrees Celsius and fairly spacious. If it is colder in the room, then it's worth taking care of warm litter for pregnant females and newly born puppies.
Early maturation of nutria allows reproduction to start at 4-5 months of age of the female, but it is desirable to do it a little later - at 6-8 months. And for males the optimal age for starting mating is 7-9 months, when their weight reaches 3.5-4 kg. Mating at an earlier age can lead to such consequences as a decrease in the fecundity of females, the appearance in the litters of stillborn puppies and the excessive sexual activity of males.
Nutrient care and cultivation is not particularly difficult. At the right age and during the period when the females come to the "hunt", a male with the desired qualities for mating is planted to them. The number of females can be any, but it is recommended not to exceed their number of 20 individuals.
Young growth feeds from the uterus to 2 months, and then they are planted in a separate cage to puppies about the same age. Closer to three months they are divided on the floor and planted. The health of young animals should be carefully monitored. Daily care that there was no fights and regularly weighed. On the good development of young nutria can be judged by the correspondence of weight and age.