Frequency and time of nursing in wild and domestic rabbits housed outdoors in free range

Abstract

lnvestigations were carried out during 104, 24-hours intervals in wild rabbits and 257, 24-hours intervals in domestic rabbits kept in two enclosures measuring 150 m² each. Both wild and domestic rabbit does nurse their pups more than once a day (wild rabbits: 1.28 per 24 h; domestic rabbits: 1.12 per 24 h) with the highest frequency in the 2_nd week of lactation (wild rabbits: 1.48 per 24 h; domestic rabbits: 1.27 per 24 h). During the night, 84% and 86% (wild, domestic rabbits, respectively) of all nursing took place. Light-dark change influences the time of nursing in both wild and domestic rabbits. The highest frequency of nursing in domestic rabbits was found in the first two hours after onset of dusk, whereas the peak in nursing activity in wild rabbit does was postponed after midnight.