Five most productive breeds of nutria

In our country, nutrition is a relatively new, but rapidly growing branch of agriculture. Nutrias are valued for high-quality fur and for high dietary characteristics of meat. The current government strongly supports domestic producers, both public and private sector. Revenues from the sale of animal hides and meat are not taxed, and their purchase prices are strictly fixed.

Modern specialists for successful breeding badly lack a theoretical and practical knowledge base. Therefore, reliable information about the most promising breeds of nutria is currently more relevant than ever.

In our country, there are five of the most common breeds that are distinguished by high profitability of production.

Modern nutrition is a new branch of domestic agriculture. It is gradually but surely developing with the support of the state. According to the current legislation, the purchase prices for the sale of fur and nutria meat are strictly fixed, and the income from their sale is not taxed.

Animals are bred for luxury fur and dietary meat. They are unpretentious in care and fertile, therefore Nutrition is a profitable business for many entrepreneurs. Currently, there is very little information about these animals, as well as some practical knowledge about which breeds are better and which ones are worse. Therefore, in the article we will talk about promising, according to experienced breeders, breeds that should be bred on private farms and in state nurseries.

Breed description

Experts divide all nutria into two main types:

• 1. standard (most common);
• 2. color (the most diverse).

The main difference between breeds is the color of fur.

Standard nutria are most similar to wild animals, they have beautiful brown eyes and excellent vision. Most often, these animals are dark brown, the intensity and shade of color can be different (from light to dark, from brown to steel). The length and color of weakly sinuous hairs are uneven.

Breeders note the zonal dependence of their color: on the abdomen, they are shorter and lighter, and on the back - longer and darker. Standard nutria are the most prolific, they bring from 5 to 6 cubs and are distinguished by high maternal qualities.

Colored breeds have arisen as a result of breeding and natural hereditary mutations. The variety of colored rocks is quite large. The basis of the separation is the color of the fur, the size of the individual and the fleshyness of the animals. In our country, the most common five colored rocks.

It is important to note that the colored rocks of nutria are valued more than the standard ones. Almost all breeds quickly and successfully breed under the basic rules of keeping and feeding. Animals give high and medium viable offspring from 3 to 5 babies.

Colored pelts of nutria are used as raw materials for expensive fur hats, clothing and accessories. White Azeri breed with a pearl-white pad and snow-white Italian breed with a cream fluff are the most popular among colored nutria. Skins of such animals are very expensive, as well as fur products made from them. These are new breed groups with no zoning in dyeing, but 10% of pigmentation of hair around eyes, tail, ears and rump is allowed.

The main groups of colored rocks

All colored rocks are divided into two main groups:

• 1. dominant (white Azerbaijani, gold, black);
• 2recessive (white Italian, smoky, beige and mother of pearl).

The basis of the division is the ability of animals to give the original generation after crossing with breeds of standard color.

If black nutria mate in this way, then babies are born only with black fur, sometimes with a zonal color, which with age becomes deeper and more uniform, like in all representatives of this breed. If individuals of standard and white Azerbaijani coypu happen, then the brood turns out to be half white, and if it’s snow-white Italian, only silvery cubs are born.

As for fertility, in some breeds it is significantly (by 25%) lower with single-breed crossing. With mating of different breeds fertility increases.For example, in Azerbaijani and golden coypu there are no more than 3-4 babies in the litter, but after they are mated with animals of standard color, five puppies are born.

General characteristics for all breeds of nutria

Adults of any breed weigh from 5 to 7 kg (there are giants up to 12 kg), their length does not exceed 60 cm and is never less than 45 cm. All nutria without exception are herbivorous semi-aquatic rodents that inhabit wetlands. Per day, an adult healthy individual consumes about 2, 5-3 kg. plant mass consisting of roots, stems and young shoots.

On the big flat head they have brown eyes, the vision of nutria is excellent. They have 20 teeth with well-developed incisors. In adults, full-fledged animals, they have a bright orange color.

How to breed?

All nutria are bred in groups: 1-2 selfs (better than sisters) and one male passing from group to group. He is able to fertilize about 8 females at a time. Kosyachny males are called those who happen to 5 or more (up to 15) females. The event lasts at least 30 minutes and not more than 1.5 hours.

Under favorable conditions, animals breed year-round.They develop puberty 4 or 5 months after birth. Sexual activity of males does not stop, and in females periodic estrus occurs every 24-30 days (sometimes 14-16 or 35-40 days).

In the period of sexual activity in nutria-females the sexual loop swells and reddens, when a male is brought to her, she does not interfere with mating. Otherwise, she actively fights back and opposes the advances. The female, which already had offspring, often becomes quarrelsome and fights with the male, therefore such before mating is placed in one open-air cage (preferably it is pretreated with creolin or formalin). They are planted with a large and experienced male.

Individuals that are unsuccessful or not bristled at all for 5-6 months and are not bred. In order to ensure an optimal rate of increase in the population of nutria, the farmer is obliged to make a mating schedule. The main litter (70% -75%) of the current quarter is obtained by mating animals from August 20 to November 25 of the previous year. The next offspring is expected from mating from March to May inclusive.

Pregnancy

Pregnancy in females of most breeds lasts 132 days, sometimes longer or shorter by about a week.Night births last from 20 minutes to 2 hours, their duration depends on the physical condition of the mother and the number of babies. After the nutria mom eats the last, she actively cares for and protects newborns.

Most often 4 or 6 live puppies are born, weighing not less than 175 g and not more than 250 g. The breeder should examine them on the first birthday, if the mother is very nervous, then on the second day.

Progeny

Cubs are born full, covered with wool, with excellent vision, formed by incisors and molded teeth. A newborn samochka is smaller than a newborn male. From the first days they feed on maternal colostrum, and, using milk, the suction lasts 1-2 months. On the second third day after their birth, they move independently, go out into the cold in winter, and bathe in the summer with pleasure.

One and a half or 2 month old babies are separated from their parents and raised until slaughter. In the process of growing up (for the year), they often increase the weight by 10 times, sometimes 12 times. After 5-6 months, the period of active growth stops, and they grow more slowly, and after 3-4 years their fertility decreases, therefore nutria contain about 2 years.

Nutrition

Balanced nutrition of nutria is an integral part of their successful breeding. The diet of such animals is mostly monotonous, it consists of plant mass and does not include meat and fish. Animals long and reluctantly get used to new products. They are fed dried or fresh tops of corn, rogoz, reeds, thick branches (to grind cutters), and also root vegetables: carrots, Jerusalem artichoke, parsnip and potatoes, which in exceptional cases can be replaced with pumpkin or squash.

Animals feed on young corn cobs. Corn of any maturity they like very much, but its consumption must be limited, because the animals recover quickly and this reduces their fertility. Corn is fed on meat breeds of animals in order for them to rapidly gain weight.

In the diet of nutria include cereals and legumes: barley, wheat and oats. An adult animal eats per day from 125 g to 250 g of grain, before consumption it is moistened with water so that it is better absorbed. These cultures should not dominate, they are an important supplement to the basic diet.In the summer, animals are given grass (preferably alfalfa or espartret), in winter, grass meal and hay.

Sugar beet is an important and useful product for nutria, but its consumption is limited to females during lactation. Often the beets cause the mother’s milk channels to become clogged with sugar and the young do not receive the right amount of milk. As a result, babies lose weight, get sick and often die.

Carrots and potatoes should not be given to the animals, as well as such poisonous plants as dope, euphorbia marsh, tart buttercups, hemlock and celandine. The diet does not include rotten foods, soured porridge and moldy hay. Sprouted potatoes are poisonous for nutria! Calorie and volume of food increase:

• all animals in winter;
• females - during lactation;
• young animals - during active growth.

Nutrition nutria has age-related features, for example, young (up to 4 months) animals are not recommended to give whole oats and rough bran. Individuals aged 2.5 to 3 years are given feeds with a high content of calcium and phosphorus. To ensure that animal hair was a beautiful food they are vitaminized: enriched with manganese, phosphorus and fatty acids.

Ways of content

The main advantage of breeding nutria, is the ability any breed contain two schemes:

• • free;
• • partially free.

To do this, use suitable natural reservoirs with stagnant water or create artificial backwaters, often using rates in which fish are bred. They are protected from outside interference (predators, fishermen, watering of livestock, etc.). It is important that the shores of such bodies of water were steep (for the construction of burrows) and there were thickets of edible plants nearby.

With any scheme of keeping animals, they must be fed up, otherwise they may ruin nearby vegetable gardens and agricultural crops in search of food.