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Considered today the largest rabbit, the German Riesen (German giant) descends in a straight line from the Belgian Flanders. After the Flanders came to Germany in the XNUMXth century, German breeders began to develop their own line of giants, emphasizing weight gain. The Germans achieved their goal. And the result was so good that a new breed of rabbits was registered. If the blood of a different breed were added to the Flanders, then there would be no disputes today. But the German Riesen is a pure Flanders rabbit by blood, which is why many breeders do not recognize the Riesens as a separate breed, considering the German Riesen a branch of the Flanders rabbit.
In fact, three large breeds of rabbits have now been bred in Germany: German Riesen, White Giant and Butterfly.
The white giant is still the same Flemish rabbit, but smaller than its colored counterparts – the German giants, which is why the white rabbits were identified as a separate breed.
Of these three breeds, the German Risen is the largest, with an average weight of 7 kg. The white giant weighs half a kilogram less. And the smallest one is a butterfly. Only 6 kg.
German Risen standard
Rizen has a head proportional to the body with large cheeks (in males), in rabbits the heads are more elegant and elongated. The ears should be at least 13 cm long and not more than 20 cm long. Narrower at the base and wider in the middle, the ears of the rizen resemble skittles turned upside down.
Like any meat breed, the rizen has well-developed muscles. The body is massive with a broad back and deep chest. Rabbits differ in that the bulk of their muscle mass is located on their hind legs. Therefore, the sacral section of the Risen should be wide and powerful.
The front legs are massive, widely spaced to support the weight of the body.
Smaller rabbits are culled for meat. The average body length of a Risen is 70-75 cm, weight is 7-8 kg. Breeders continue to work on the size of German rizens and today rabbits weighing 9-10 kg are no longer a rarity. And champions can reach almost 12 kg. The current standard of the German Rabbit Breeders Association allows an upper weight limit for German Riesens of 11,8 kg.
An attempt to raise a record weight rabbit can end up with a fat animal that is not capable of reproduction. In obese males, there is an inability to fertilize rabbits, and in obese females, the number of cubs in the litter decreases. Often, an obese rabbit herself dies during the birth.
Riesen rabbits theoretically belong to meat-skin breeds. The length of their coat is 4 cm. Initially, the colors determined by the agouti gene prevailed in German rizens. That is, zone-gray and zone-red. White is a spontaneous mutation of the genes responsible for color.
The nondescript “hare” color was the main obstacle to the use of this breed for the manufacture of fur products, although the large skin is of greater interest to furriers than the skins of smaller rabbits. The situation was corrected when rabbits of the Risen breed of blue and black colors were bred.
“Standard” color.
On the video, rabbits of the German Risen breed of standard color
Blue color.
Black color.
The standard also allows a red color, which on -language sites can be called “gold”, using tracing paper from English. When searching for rizens on an ad, it must be borne in mind that the exotic “gold” is just a red rabbit and its productive characteristics are no different from other rabbits of this breed that have wool of a different color.
The calm and docile disposition of the German Risen allows you to keep them as pets.
Features of the content of German Risen
This breed of rabbits is not very adapted to the climate, so rizens require either insulated cages when kept outdoors, or placement of cages in a building with a controlled microclimate.
Giants also require a cage area one and a half times larger than usual. And for a rabbit with a brood, twice as much. The height of the cage must be at least 60 cm with the cage content of German rizens.
But such content is suitable for rabbits fed for meat, and not very convenient for keeping breeding stock.
It is better to keep the breeding herd in individual enclosures with a floor area of 1 – 1,5 m².
With shed keeping, bedding for rabbits is usually not provided, except for queen cells. But due to the large weight, the rizens too often get the so-called “corns” – pododermatitis, damaging the feet of the paws on the floor grate. Therefore, for giants, the presence of hay bedding in a cage is a prerequisite for the proper maintenance of this breed of rabbits. But then the function of the lattice is lost, through which the rabbit droppings fall out of the cage.
You can make a special retractable tray on which the bedding will lie, and which can be removed from the cage. But this will require the alteration of ordinary cages for rizens.
For this reason, it is often convenient to simply keep the giants in an aviary, where it is enough to remove the rabbit from its premises, and then remove all the dirty bedding with a shovel.
If sawdust is laid under the hay, then the rabbits will sit on dry hay, as urine will be absorbed into the sawdust lying under the hay. You need to clean such enclosures as needed, but do not delay this procedure, otherwise the rabbit will crush the droppings of litter and live on manure, as in the photo, and this adversely affects the condition of the coat and skin on the paws of the animal.
After removing the bedding, the cage must be disinfected.
Features of feeding
Rizens eat the same food as other breeds of rabbits, but it must be borne in mind that all feeding rates in the tables are based on rabbits weighing 4-5 kg. For rizen, the feed rate increases in proportion to its weight.
Ideally, it would be rational to use full-featured factory-made rabbit food for rizens, since these foods are balanced in vitamins and minerals, plus they do not cause bloating, which can be obtained by feeding rabbits juicy food from the garden. The disadvantage of these feeds is that few people produce them in Our Country, except for imported feed for ornamental rabbits in pet stores.
Therefore, when breeding rabbits for meat, you either have to make compound feed for them yourself, or feed them with grain. In addition to hay and grain feed, rabbits can be fed succulent feed. But it is juicy food that causes digestive problems in rabbits, so they must be fed carefully.
With self-compilation of the diet, it is difficult to balance it in vitamins and minerals. But you need to know that most of the vitamins are produced in the intestines of the rabbit by the bacteria living there, therefore, in the absence of dysbacteriosis, the rabbit almost does not need vitamins.
The table shows those vitamins that are produced in the intestines of a rabbit.
In the case of dysbacteriosis, for example, during a course of antibiotics, these vitamins must be added artificially and the microflora in the rabbit’s intestines should be restored as soon as possible.
Three vitamins are not produced, while being necessary: A, D, E.
Vitamin A is responsible for the regulation of the reproductive and nervous systems, as well as for physical development. Able to accumulate in the liver. Hypervitaminosis symptoms are similar to signs of poisoning. Contrary to the belief that red vegetables contain the most vitamin A, fresh nettles contain more of it than carrots.
Vitamin E necessary for the development of muscle mass, the reproductive system and the normal functioning of the cardiovascular system.
Vitamin D prevents the development of rickets and promotes the proper development of bones. But it must be borne in mind that vitamin D hypervitaminosis causes the deposition of calcium on the walls of blood vessels.
Even with an increase in the diet, the proportions of feed for Riesen rabbits remain the same as for other breeds. In winter, hay is at least 15%. You can give hay up to 25%. Concentrates from 40 to 60%. Succulent feed from 20 to 35%. In summer, hay is often harvested, leaving grass, which is usually classified as succulent or green fodder. In this case, herbs give from 35 to 60% and concentrates from 40 to 65%. The maximum values of concentrates are usually given to fattening rabbits.
Breeding
German Risen – a late-ripening rabbit. If meat breeds can be started in mating as early as 5 months, then with rizen you will have to wait up to 8-9 months. Due to late maturity, giants are now losing ground to broiler early-maturing rabbit breeds. The rabbit brings on average as many cubs as smaller breeds. At the same time, young females have few litters, to the point that they can give birth to only one rabbit.
5-6 rabbits are allocated per male. With a larger number of females, a decrease in fertility is possible.
After mating, the rabbits are transferred to an enhanced diet. With a lack of minerals, feed of animal origin, as well as chalk and feed phosphates, are added to the feed. In winter, tricalcium phosphate, 5 g per head per day, must be present in the diet.
How to choose a breeding rabbit
To grow a tribe, you need to buy young animals from spring litters. The rabbits born in the spring had the opportunity to receive a maximum of vitamins and nutrients. Although some believe that winter litters are stronger and better suited for breeding use, although the animals from these litters grow smaller than spring and summer counterparts.
It is best to take 4-month-old rabbits in a breeding farm with a good reputation.
When choosing a rabbit, you need to look at his behavior and appearance. Although, according to the description of the breed, rizens are very calm animals, nevertheless, a rabbit that is too motionless should alert. If at the same time the animal tries to hide under the wall or hide in a corner, it is better, in general, not to take rabbits from this litter.
On external examination, the rabbit should be “smooth”, in the sense that bones should not stick out under the skin. If the owner claims that the animal is thin because it is growing, it is better to buy breeding stock in another farm. But the rabbit should not be too fat either.
The coat of a healthy animal lies evenly on the body and usually causes a desire to stroke. Tousledness indicates health problems. The eyes should be clean and shiny, no discharge from the nose.
If there is sticky hair on the paws, then the rabbit was cleaning his eyes or nose with his paws. Such an animal should not be bought.
An even broad back and even powerful paws will indicate the absence of rickets. Rabbits should also have a wide croup.
It is also worth looking into the mouth. A rabbit with a malocclusion is better not to buy. Such an animal will soon begin to have problems with teeth and, as a result, with eating and assimilation of food.
Feedback from owners of German giants
To summarize
German Risen are well suited for breeding in the southern regions of Our Country, where winters are similar to European ones. In colder regions, rabbits of this breed will have to build an insulated rabbitry.