Let's Get Acquainted With Nutria?

2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38

I have written a lot of articles about animals. They, as a rule, all belong to the agricultural category. It seemed to me that it would be necessary to talk about more exotic creatures of God. After all, for this we are given brains, arms and legs, to use everything that Mother Nature gives us. I propose for consideration an article on nutria. I will try to tell you about them in as much detail as possible

At first glance at nutria, you might think that it is a huge rat. This is not entirely true, but, nevertheless, nutria belongs to the category of rodents. In general, nutria is a wild animal, but man has successfully tamed and even breeds them, both fur and meat.

Nutria is a disease-resistant animal. It has beautiful thick fur, which is then used to make fur coats. The weight of an adult animal is about 7-8 kg. The appearance of the nutria resembles a beaver, therefore in some areas it is called a marsh beaver. The length of the body reaches 70 cm, the tail is up to 45-50 cm. The nutria has a rather hectic character, it is a nervous animal, requires taming, so when starting such an animal, take care of the time allocated for it. Just spend more time with them so that the animals recognize you, and do not bite or hurt you.

The muzzle of the nutria has a blunt shape, it has a flat crown, with protruding upper incisors, the lower incisors are hidden behind the upper ones, but are also visible. The incisors are brightly colored, mostly orange, but also brown. The paws are short, the front ones are shorter than the hind ones, there are membranes between the toes to facilitate swimming. The front legs have 4 movable toes, 5 are underdeveloped, such a structure of the front legs allows the nutria to hold food tightly. The tail is covered with keratinized scales with coarse hairs between them. The animal has very good hearing. There are almost no edges on the ears. There are valves on the ears and nostrils that close when diving, protecting the animal. Nutria, like all rodents, is often a nocturnal animal, but in captivity it all depends on the feeding regime. They tolerate heat and even heat well. They tolerate frost well, but not frost. Regarding reproduction, I will say that there is no specific time frame for this. Nutria mate and give birth to offspring when they please. The estrus period is about 30 days. Pregnancy lasts approximately 130-135 days. Females puppies at night. After giving birth, the offspring is worth examining. The number of puppies in a litter is about 4-7 pieces at a time. They are born sighted, with hair and can even swim in the water a few hours after giving birth. The weight of a newborn nutria puppy is about 200 grams. Growth intensity occurs in the first year of life. At this time, they can gain up to 700 grams per month. The mass will grow up to two years, but more slowly.

Containment method

Nutria is a semi-aquatic animal. To keep her in captivity, you should think about a small pool. There is an opinion that it is possible to keep animals without a pool, but, to be honest, your fur will turn out to be dull and inconspicuous, and the meat is not so tasty and soft. Animals should be happy with life, so that their skins are shiny, they should have everything, just like in the wild. Animals are kept in cages (one-tier or two-tier). The bedding can be straw or hay, and sawdust is also possible. The crate is cleaned every day, this is an important aspect of keeping all fur animals. They are building small pens with small pools for walking. Nutria is drunk with vegetables, but water must be required. The water changes every day. Stagnant water can cause intestinal upset. In food, animals are not whimsical, they eat grass, grain, vegetables. You can not spend much on the purchase of expensive feed. If you are in an area where winters are especially harsh, the cages and rooms are insulated. In winter, the room temperature should not drop below 15-17 degrees.

When constructing a pen with a pool, do not forget that you need a concrete fence with a height of a meter and a half, so that the animal does not run away. Nutria are very clean, they need water to keep their fur in good condition.

Nutria is a rather aggressive animal. The bite is painful and dangerous. It won't have a problem biting your finger in half if you catch it. There is a certain way for this. Never try to catch an animal behind the back, nutria do not tolerate this. To catch the nutria, you need to drive it into the cage, into the nest, holding the tail with one hand, closer to the middle. Animal, for this it must rest its paws on the cage. Gently pass the other hand under the front paws and grasp it lightly, so that there is a little skin in your hand. Raise so that the head is higher than the tail.

I wrote above that animals are tamed. If you don't want to be bitten, take time for the animals. Stroke them on the belly, they love this action and willingly give themselves to be cuddled.

Nutria fur

The quality of the nutria fur depends on the feeding and maintenance. When processing the skin of nutria, all the integumentary hair is plucked out, leaving only a thick, even fluff, although in some places (factories) plucking of the integumentary hair has long been stopped. The fur is water-repellent, lightweight and very warm. Fur coats are wearable, for years. The fur does not tarnish, does not come out in shreds, does not wear off, it is easy to care for it. The most valuable is the fur that is on the belly of the animal.

Nutria meat

Nutria meat is considered a dietary product. Meat contains minerals, proteins, fats and vitamins of groups B, D, E, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, iron, manganese and other useful substances. The meat is easily digestible, therefore it is prescribed for people with disorders in the gastrointestinal tract. This meat is also good for people with weakened lungs. Nutria tastes like a rabbit or a bird, depending on how it is cooked. The meat is very juicy, it is ideal to bake it. The calorie content per hundred grams of meat is 200 kcal.