Rabbit industry has promising future

The rabbits are both strong and healthy. [Photo by Ma Jing for chinadaily.com.cn]

The rabbitry of the Enjiang livestock breeding professional cooperative in Luozhuang village, Tianzhong subdistrict, Dingtao district of Heze, Shandong province boasts row upon row of rabbit cages.

The adult rabbits are strong and healthy, while their fur is soft and smooth. To keep them warm during the winter, workers put wood shavings into their cages. 

"The reproduction cycle of these rabbits is quite short, typically around 70 days from birth to sale, and they can reach a weight of 4-5 kilograms," said Lyu Chengsi, the person in charge of the cooperative.

This year marks the 15th year that Lyu has been raising rabbits for their meat. He left is previously unstable job and returned to his hometown to start raising rabbits due to their strong reproductive abilities, short breeding cycle, and high market demand.

Lyu holds that scientific breeding is the key. He often spends several hours in the rabbitry, and is constantly researching and learning new techniques related to feed safety, breeding management, disease prevention, and breeding.

Currently, Lyu's cooperative produces about 400,000 commercial rabbits annually, with a sales revenue of around 15 million ($2.1 million). (Edited by Huang Junyao)