What color is nutria. Nutria of different color groups. The most common breeds of nutria, which are bred in private farms

Breeding nutria is currently gaining popularity. Nutria is the largest representative of rodents. We can say that breeding nutria is enough the new kind farming occupations. Nutria are animals that have dietary meat, good fur. On this moment there is a variety of breeds of nutria, bred by artificial method.

The nutria breeding business is very profitable. The benefit lies in the fact that these animals are unpretentious in food, have good performance to bring offspring, caring for them is not difficult. Consider the main breeds of nutria and their characteristics according to appearance, personal characteristics.

All nutria can be divided into:

• Standard breeds of nutria with a brown color;
• Colored, all other different colors. In the photo below you can see the whole variety of nutria in nature.

Standard breed of nutria

The standard type of nutria is more similar to its wild relatives. Outwardly, she looks like her own brown. The color, in turn, can vary from light tones of brown to dark red, saturated. These nutrias for the most part still have a brown color without any shades.

Her hairs are colored to a greater extent at the roots, towards the ends of the hairs they are always lighter. It is believed that half of the breeders keep the standard nutria. They are attracted by the ease of care and feeding.

The only drawback is considered to be the fall of the fur coat, if you do not take enough care of their diet and living conditions. She has good reproductive function, and excellent maternal qualities. She also has Brown color eye.

The breed has a body weight of 5-7 kg. But there are cases when the body weight of one animal reached up to 12 kg, but this is very rare cases. The length of individuals is in the range of 45-60 cm. Animals love water, therefore, in order for them to be in the most approximate conditions of existence, it is customary to place them near artificially created reservoirs. At home, these are various water containers.

The diet of nutria is quite diverse, it includes:

• Various kinds of herbs;
• Birch tree shoots, poplars, willows;
• Cereal crops;
• Beets, carrots, cucumbers, zucchini, cabbage;
• Hay and dried brooms with foliage. In winter, such food is used.

It is necessary to wash herbs and vegetables to protect the animals from bloating. Also, you can steam the grains so that they are easier to digest in the stomachs of rodents.

golden nutria

Included in the form of colored nutria. The main distinguishing difference is the presence of a beautiful golden color that attracts many farmers. All the main indicators in terms of weight and length are the same as those of the standard nutria breed. The color on the skin of the animal is unevenly presented. On the back, along the line of the ridge, there is a pronounced golden color. Moving away from dorsal region there is a decrease in the level of brightness of the color, a pale pink color is observed on the abdominal part of the body. Since, in the standard nutria, they have brown eyes.

One of the disadvantages of this species, there is a small fecundity. One female, even under excellent conditions, leads three to four cubs. If you want to get a higher percentage of nutria output, they can be paired with regular nutria. Then you will receive large quantity cubs. In this case, more than half will be golden in color, and the smaller one will be standard.

Feeding the animals will not be any different from their relatives.

black nutria

The black color gives this breed a rich appearance. It was first bred by Argentine breeders. Wool in its qualities is no different from the standard. What makes her good is that her brood is large, like that of an ordinary nutria.

Really purebred black nutrias have a dense edge with a dark black color. If you cross them with ordinary individuals, then the puppies will turn out to be darker in color. Usually traced breeding puppies half black, half brown. Thus, it has advantages over the golden look. In the next photo, consider a black rat.

pearl nutria

Colored nutria are very diverse, pearl individuals have become another representative. This breed was bred from crossing snow, lemon and pastel rodents. They are distinguished by the color of the coat, which is similar to the color of pearls. The color is not evenly distributed over the hairs and along the body. If you look at it as a whole, then note that its color is light. But if we consider the entire length of the hair, we can see that the color changes from lighter on the abdomen to darker on the back.

When mating, you must strictly observe the pair of pearl female and pearl male. If you pair them with other breeds, then their fertility decreases. But if you mate, it is recommended with a pastel look. Their fertility will not decrease, half of the pearl and half of the pastel individuals will be observed in the offspring.

lemon nutria

The color and name of the breed skins vary slightly. The color of her skin is more like a warm orange color. Breeding of the breed was carried out by crossing an Italian and a beige individual.

Females can bring enough a large number of puppies, with different colors, but all of them have a touch of lemon color. This breed can be used when breeding nutria with a snow-white color.

When mating a white type of male with a female of this breed, very interesting colors of small nutrias will turn out. They will be painted in lemon, white, silver colors.

snow nutria

The very name of this variety speaks of its color. They are pure white in color. Their nose, tail and paws are gently Pink colour. They are very attractive to breeders. It was bred on the basis of crossing gold and silver nutria.

The main difference from other breeds is their mating with other breeds to obtain most puppies. Mating males and females of this breed does not bring high fertility rates.

Silvery

Characterized by an unusual color. The coat looks rich and luxurious. In general, their main use is the use of skins for sewing various fur products. In considering the color, it is worth noting the dark, grey colour reminiscent of the color of silver. Their color can vary from light to rather dark shades.

There are among these animals and those that have a unique undercoat with a bluish tint. These animals are worth their weight in gold, as this color is quite rare. At good diet feeding they can grow up to 12 kilograms. They can be mated with other varieties, the ratio of puppies will be at the level of 50-50%. The following photo illustrates the silver rock.

exotic brown nutria

They were obtained as a result of crossing black and gold rodents. They combine the color of two colors at once. They came in a combination of gold and black. At birth, puppies are brown in color, but as they grow older, the color becomes lighter.

Crossing is best done with black individuals, for maximum brood. With such a crossing, their brown and black puppies will be born in equal shares.

The largest beef breeds are presented in both standard breed and non-ferrous breeds. At proper diet food, you can feed individuals more than 10 kg. In order for the presented breeds to be healthy and give the highest indicators of meat productivity, it is necessary to observe such conditions for their maintenance. Since all these listed rules apply to all types of nutria, we will present the information in a generalized form.

Factors giving excellent cultivation performance

• The temperature regime plays very important role with the height and weight of the rodent. They require optimal temperature regime Not too hot but not cold either. Although they have a warm skin, this does not save them from frost, because their paws are unprotected. And therefore, when you do not have the proper conditions for their winter maintenance, they can simply die from hypothermia of the extremities.
• Application balanced nutrition. This factor suggests the presence in their diet of a variety of different kind, vitamins, minerals, proteins. With their balanced use, animals will quickly gain their body weight.
• Rooms with good lighting. The presence of this factor enables them to recruit faster mass body.
• Establishment of water baths. Since their natural habitation is directly connected with the aquatic habitat, it is their acceptance of water procedures that will be an aid to the fastest development. Taking water procedures their body weight will increase due to the development muscle mass increasing during swimming.

Let us dwell on their diet, also for all types of breeds, but it will not be one, especially when feeding different breeds basically does not occur. Nutria of all breeds are unique animals; they prefer food intended for both rabbits and sheep, cows. All food that animals prefer to eat can be divided into:

Roughage. This category includes various branches, straw, hay. This food is especially applicable in winter. The main point in the preparation of these feeds is their drying during flowering and the setting of buds in herbs. It is during this period that the grass is rich in vitamins, so in winter nutria replenish their vitamin reserves through the use of this herb.

The feed is green. This species includes fresh herbs, tops of various crops. Jerusalem artichoke root is highly valued in their diet. They give a large percentage of the saturation of animals, as well as from potatoes. At the same time, they have nutrients for their speedy development.

Juicy food. It is a variety of vegetables. The diet is used: potatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, caputa, sorrel, watermelons, pumpkin, various waste from the processing of berry crops. Succulent cultures are well digested by the body of animals. In doing so, they get the maximum possible number nutrients and vitamins contained in these products.

Compound feed. They are both ordinary grain crops from wheat to corn, and specially concentrated feed, in the form of granules. The use of compound feed is usually greater when grown under production conditions. As for households, feeding is mainly used with steamed bran, and pure grain of wheat, oats, zhit, etc.

Thus, no matter what breed you choose for breeding, you must definitely take into account whether you can create full-fledged conditions for their maintenance. Indeed, in every business, the main thing is to create conditions under which you can get the highest results in productivity, meat and good quality skins, these beautiful and noble animals.

Breeding nutria on small private farms is becoming increasingly popular. Animals are not only unpretentious in nutrition and conditions of detention, but also differ good health. It is better to choose swamp beavers for breeding in a nursery or at a special fur farm. And before you make a choice, you should learn better about the characteristics of nutria breeds: not only the color of the fur, but also the weight of the rodent, the nuances of keeping, and fertility depend on the breed.

Features of nutria breeds

The marsh beaver family includes more than fifteen breeds. They are divided according to color into:

• standard,
• Colored.

Standard nutria are closest to their wild relatives in color, body shape, and fur density. They possess good eyesight, developed sense of smell, hearing. The skin of the rodent is brown: from light on the tummy to dark brown or almost black on the back. The guard hairs are of different lengths: shorter on the tummy, much longer on the back. Standard breeds of nutria are the most prolific and less demanding of conditions, so they are often the first choice of nutria growers. Minus - the price for standard fur is always less than for colored fur.

Colored breeds of nutria appeared as a result of a long and purposeful selection, fixing the necessary mutations and careful selection of puppies for the tribe. Colored nutria are less prolific, and some need special conditions. So cream and silver nutria tolerate cold snaps worse, and white ones are very demanding on the quality of food.

Colored nutria: breeding features

Fur breeders divide all colored breeds into two groups. The first includes breeds with a dominant gene:

• Azerbaijani,
• black,
• brown,
• Golden.

To the second - breeds with a recessive genome:

• Italian,
• Beige
• Lemon and others.

The main difference: the ability to transfer color to puppies with intrabreed selection, as well as with other colored nutrias. If a standard female is covered with a colored male with dominant gene, then most puppies will be colored: the color may be the color of the male or different from the parent. If the male is recessive, then most of the puppies will be a standard color. This practice is very often used in young farms, when two or three colored males of different breeds are bought for a family of 10-15 standard females.

When breeding nutrias, many breeders prefer to keep the lines pure.

A line refers to all males obtained from one breed sire. Such males transmit character traits to all offspring: animals differ in the quality of fur, brightness of color, exterior, pedigree and fertility. The disadvantage of such selection is a strict attitude to the selection of females.

It is important to avoid close inbreeding. Second important point: females must be large, conformation and carry color genes.

Description of nutria rocks

There is no consensus on which breeds are best for home keeping and breeding. To answer this question, it is necessary to study the fur market and focus on which skins are more in demand. When choosing a nutria breed, it is also worth considering personal preferences and wishes, the climatic features of the region and opportunities.

standard breed

Breeding and keeping standard nutria is the simplest. That is why the breed has become so popular. The color of the fur of a standard swamp beaver varies from light brown to black-brown, it may have zonal lightening - this is allowed by the breed standard. At good feeding females are able to bring up to three litters per year, each of which consists of 6-8 puppies. Standard females are good mothers: they are distinguished by milkiness, they are able to leave not only their own, but also adopted puppies.

The structure of a standard nutria is very similar to a wild relative: a large head, a thick, short and strong neck, small ears covered with dense hairs, a strong and muscular body with a deep chest. Feet with well developed toes.

Very often on the video on the Internet you can see standard males of gigantic size. With good feeding, the animal grows up to 60 cm in length and can weigh up to 15 kg!

Nutria albino

Albinos are sometimes called white nutria, but this is not true. Albinism suggests complete absence pigmentation: the skin of such an animal is snow-white, the skin is pink, the paw pads and tail are also pink. The eyes may be pink or red. Albinism is a rare and complex mutation that is possible in any breed. Having received one or two albino puppies, breeders very often seek to fix the mutation in subsequent litters. This is not always possible: when crossing closely related individuals with a genetic mutation, some of the puppies are born with weak bones, poor eyesight, various physical abnormalities.

Most puppies do not live past puberty. Males may not be able to reproduce.

White Azeri breed

Swamp beavers of this breed have one distinguishing feature: down and outer hair are snow-white and indistinguishable from each other in their structure. This is what makes swamp beaver fur so valuable and expensive on the market. Breed color is passed on to puppies dominant genes, therefore, even when mating with standard swamp beavers, some of the offspring will have beautiful, white fur, the tail and paws may be black.

albino

The main difference from Azerbaijani whites is the creamy beige or champagne shade of the undercoat. The outer coat is white. Any pigmentation, darkening or blotches of other shades are unacceptable by the breed standard. When interbreeding within the breed, all cubs in the litter will be white. It is beneficial to cross Albins (Italian White Swamp Beavers) with Standards: more than half of the puppies in the litter will have a beautiful silver color.

snow nutria

Snow swamp beavers are not representatives independent breed. This is the result of crossing a silver female and a golden (better than a light golden male). It is better to choose a female from a litter obtained from an albino female - this will increase fertility. Getting snowy puppies in a litter is quite difficult, but the price of fur pays for all the effort. Mating of two snow individuals is not recommended: there will be no more than three cubs of a standard, white, brown or golden color in the litter.

Argenta

Argenta or silvery nutria are distinguished by a gray (from dark to light) color with a beautiful, steely tint. The undercoat is bluish (most valuable) to sandy. Argentas were obtained from crossing Italian (albino) and beige individuals with standard ones. It is not recommended to cross two argents: fertility decreases.

Perlata

Mother-of-pearl swamp beavers - perlata - the result of mating beige swamp beavers and albino. It is better to use an Italian white female and a beige male. The fur is a beautiful, rich gray-silver shade with a noticeable creaminess. The undercoat most often has a bluish tint. Intrabreeding selection allows you to get cubs:

• Brown,
• White,
• beige,
• Mother-of-pearl.

Brunella

Brunella or brown nutria are distinguished by a very dark, almost black color of the integumentary hair on the back and golden on the sides. The fur of these animals looks luxurious: on the video on the Internet you can often see how the fur of the animal shimmers with gold in the sun. Brown nutria skins are quite expensive. When two brown individuals are crossed, puppies are born in the litter different colors: some of them can be standard, some brown, some golden.

pastel nutria

Very rare breed. The color is very similar to the color of a ripe chestnut. The color has zonal darkening. With intrabreeding, it is almost impossible to get a pastel color. It is recommended to cross with brown, golden, standard nutria.

lemon nutria

Swamp beavers of this rare color are most often kept in apartments: they have very soft and delicate fur, and outwardly they least resemble ordinary nutria. Color can only be obtained from a pair of golden and albino or beige nutria. They are quite demanding in care: they do not tolerate cold snaps, they need quality feed susceptible to infectious diseases.

Nutria sapphire

The second name of the breed is beige nutria. It is divided into three intrabreed types:

• dark,
• average,
• Light.

The breed is quite popular with hobbyists: the animals are easy to keep, not demanding, prolific, and the fur is highly valued in the market. The main hair is brown (from dark chocolate to sand) with a beautiful smoky sheen. The color is zonal: at the base of the hair it is very often close in color to beige or light brown, and the ending can be silvery.

Creamy nutria

Very close in color to sapphire. It is distinguished by a light beige color of the tummy and a lighter, most often pale beige color of the back. The skin on the paws may be pinkish or bluish. Eyes - dark ruby ​​​​or the color of ripe cherries. Their best qualities fur acquires by the age of five months. Older individuals may appear brownish shades, which reduces the cost of the skin. The color is well transmitted during intrabreed mating.

Straw nutria

This is not a separate breed of swamp beaver. Straw nutria - genetic mutation obtained by crossing two nutria standards. Animals are distinguished by a lighter color, soft, thick and silky fur. When mating two swamp beavers of straw color, the puppies in the litter will be only the standard color. It is most advantageous to use straw spawners for crossing with any colored nutria: cubs can turn out to be of a unique color or with a fixed straw suit.

Nutria black

The black swamp beaver has a beautiful, rich, very deep and uniform color. Allocate one intrabreed type: black zonal. Differs in a lighter, often with a golden or silver sheen, color in the ears, on the tummy and sides. Black marsh beavers are very attractive in appearance, and their fur is highly valued. Crossbreeding is possible both within the breed and with any white, lemon, beige or standard swamp beavers. With the rest of the colored breeds, the number of cubs in the litter will be no more than three.

Nutria pearl

Pearl swamp beavers are the result of crossing snow and lemon nutria with pastel ones. A rare and highly prized color morph. The outer coat is light gray, sometimes almost white. The color of the down is from rich brown on the back to lemon or sand on the abdomen. At birth, all puppies have more dark color and acquire a pearl suit by 6-7 months. With intrabreed breeding, the fertility of marsh beavers is sharply reduced. To obtain a pearl suit, it is recommended to cross with standard or pastel males. Demanding in care: you need a bath, a spacious paddock and good ventilation of the winter room.

Nutria giants

Nutria breeds differ not only in color and fertility, but also in size. So the largest include:

• The black one, sometimes called the Canadian giant,
• white Azerbaijani,
• Standard.

Representatives of these breeds, with good care and proper cultivation, can reach a weight of 15 or more kg with a body length of 55 to 80 cm. Owners of giants very often take professional photos and videos of their pets and offer them for mating.

The rest of the breeds are more modest in size and have an average weight of about 8 kg.

As a result of a long breeding process nutria, variability and heredity of their body, new types of hair color and new breed groups were identified, completely different from the standard (dark brown) nutria. Already known 10 mutational and 7 combined types of nutria by hair color.

Interest in colored nutria among amateur animal breeders is increasing every year. Below are the characteristics of the color colored nutria and some questions of their biology.

The most common are standard nutria. Their general color is brown, but it can vary from grayish brown to dark brown or brown with various shades. General hair color standard nutria depends on the color of the covering hair. The belly, which is much lighter than the ridge, is dominated by hairs with a lighter apex and a darker base. Towards the ridge, the clarified part on the covering hairs gradually decreases.

Except standard nutria widespread nutria in the following colors.

White nutria. The color of the down and awn is white or with a very slight cream tint. Distinguish whites Italian, Azerbaijani, Severinsky, snowy.

White Azerbaijani nutria first appeared in the Karayaz fur farm of the Azerbaijan SSR in 1956. Most of white Azerbaijani nutrias has a pure white (snowy) color of downy and guard hairs. The hairline of some animals is pigmented in certain parts of the body, which occupy up to 10% of the area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe skin. More often, pigmentation is located around the eyes, ears and on the rump at the root
tail. The belly, that is, the most valuable part of the skin in terms of commodities, is almost always white. Among piebalds there are animals with complete and weakened pigmentation. In some, only the awn or partially down and awn are pigmented, in others the entire down. The color of the eyes white Azerbaijani nutria brown. The fecundity of animals of this breed group when breeding in itself is 4.6 puppies, when crossed with standard females 4.95.
When breeding white nutria V pure form and when they are crossed with standard ones, splitting into white and standard ones is observed among the offspring of the first generation. When breeding in itself, 2/3 of the color offspring similar to the parents and 1/3 of the standard color are obtained, and when crossed with the standard 50% colored and 50% standard.

White Severinian nutrias were bred at the Severinsky fur farm by selecting standard nutria from the general herd, which had white marks on the head, paws, tail, and gray-haired. As a result of the subsequent breeding of animals with white marks in themselves, specimens of pure white nutria were obtained.
Guard and down hair in these animals pure white. skin on open areas pink. The eyes are bluish-gray, dull and almost always closed. The females are infertile. Most males have a normal reproductive ability, but some of the animals do not show sexual activity. When crossing them with standard ones, all offspring have a standard color, but most puppies have white spots on the skin. Due to these shortcomings white Severinian nutrias unsuitable for industrial breeding.

Albino snow coypu were bred on the farm of the All-Union Research Institute of Hunting and Fur Breeding and on the Syrdarya farm of the Uzbek SSR by G. V. Sokolov and N. M. Timofeev as a result of crossing heterogeneous hybrids obtained from mating white italian And golden nutria. Snow coypu are homozygous for Italian white and heterozygous for golden. Snow nutrias have a pure white coat color, brown eyes, nose, tail and paws are light pink.

White italian nutria albinos entered the USSR from Italy in 1958. Unlike white Azerbaijani these animals do not have pigmented spots, but underfur and covering hair with a slight creamy tint. The skin on the exposed areas is pink, the whiskers are white, the eyes are brown. Among white italian nutria no animals with pure white underfur have been registered. In terms of reproduction, white Italian nutria are not much different from standard nutria.

When crossed with standard, the entire first generation will be silver. When backcrossed, white and silver puppies are obtained. The average fecundity of white Italian nutria when bred in itself is 4.7 puppies, and when crossed with standard females 5 puppies.

Albinos have an almost white coat color and pink eyes. They have no economic value.

Mother-of-pearl nutria (pearl) (See double picture left, top) have silver-gray fur with a slight creamy tint, zone-colored guard hairs and a creamy-bluish (smoky) underfur. The general color of the skin is similar in color to mother-of-pearl.

Mother-of-pearl nutria obtained by crossing beige with white Italian. Down color is often light beige, sometimes with a creamy tint. When breeding in itself, the young are obtained in three colors (beige, white, mother-of-pearl). Among mother-of-pearl nutria there are animals with undesirable dirty-gray shades.

Silver nutria. (See the picture on the left, bottom) They have a silvery and silvery-dark gray awn on the back, without ocher and brown tones, and a bluish-slate underfur.

Silvery nutria are crossbreeds of standard with beige and white Italian, as well as with mother-of-pearl, snow and lemon nutria. Silvery nutria are similar in color to the standard ones, but cast with greater purity. In silvery nutrias, the lightened part of the covering hairs is usually white or almost White color. The color of the underfur of silver nutria is heterogeneous. It varies from light brown to brown, light gray to dark gray.

Golden Kaliningrad nutria. (See the picture on the right) The hairline of these nutrias is golden or light golden in color. The down is yellow or light yellow with a pinkish-gold sheen. The color of the fur on the abdomen is somewhat weaker.

We are waiting for your feedback and comments, join our VKontakte group!

Homeland of nutria − South America, from where it was brought to the former Soviet Union. This is a very undemanding and hardy animal with beautiful and fairly strong fur, which is 10-15 times more wearable than a rabbit. Animal photo different types are presented below.

External Data

IN vivo nutria settle on the banks of ponds and other fresh water bodies, live in burrows. Outwardly, they resemble beavers, but their tail is conical, smaller. Females are inferior in size to males (as for beavers, they have the opposite). Under natural conditions, they are more active at dusk, in captivity this figure depends on the regime of keeping, as well as feeding.

Nutria belongs to the nutria family, a detachment of rodents. The body length is 55-65 cm or more, the tail reaches 30-50 cm.

Body weight adult 6-7 kg, rarely - 9-10 kg, and sometimes exceeds 13 kg. Average duration life 6-7 years.

There is no seasonality in reproduction - nutria mates and gives offspring at any time of the year. The gestation period is 132 days with fluctuations of 3-5 days.

The tail is covered with horny scales and sparse hairs on top. The front legs are shorter than the hind legs. four fingers hind legs connected by swimming membranes. The animal has good hearing. The ears and nostrils have special valves that close tightly during diving.

By nature, the nutria is a shy animal, however, under the condition of a calm, affectionate treatment, it is quickly tamed. Quickly adapts to captivity, unpretentious, is a valuable object for.

The body of the nutria, in addition to the tail and paws, is covered with a dense waterproof hairline, consisting of silky fluff and coarse covering hair. Fur value is determined by downy hair, the length of which on the back is 2-2.5 cm, and on the stomach and chest - 1.5-2 cm.

Nutria breeds

In the wild, the color of the hairline is brownish-brown. Animals with this color are called standard.

In addition to the standard ones, more than ten color forms have been deduced. On farms and in private households, nutria is mainly bred.

• whites;
• silver;
• golden;
• beige;
• black.

white nutria

This group includes Azerbaijani, Italian and Severin. Azerbaijani white nutrias are characterized by a pure white color, there are no yellowish or cream shades. Sometimes black spots are visible on the neck or around the eyes. If you mate Azerbaijani nutria with standard breeds, already in the first generation with the same probability can be born as white or standard individuals.

White Italians are distinguished by a creamy shade of hairline. dark spots missing. If you mate with standard breeds, in the first generation, the offspring will be silver.

Severinian white nutrias are bred in Krasnodar Territory. They are characterized by a pure white color, but often there are animals with dirty gray shades of fur.

They differ in silvery or silvery-dark gray color of the hairline on the back, yellow-brown tones are absent. Fluff of a bluish tint. The skins of silver nutrias are quite beautiful. When these breeds are crossed with each other, you can get silver (50%), white and standard (25% each) offspring.

golden nutria

They differ in golden wool, the fluff has a yellow or light yellow color. If you cross these nutria with standard ones, already in the first generation you can get offspring with a golden color. By fertility golden rocks somewhat inferior to the standard.

Beige nutria

These animals are significantly darker than golden ones. The hairline is dark sandy in color with a lightened zone running along the ridge. The down is also a dark sandy color, but there is a creamy-smoky hue that is somewhat darker on the back than on the belly.

black nutria

brought into the territory former USSR from Canada in 1966. Animals differ from other species in pure black covering hair, uniform throughout the body, as well as dark gray down. It is not recommended to mate black nutrias and animals with other shades, since their fecundity is below standard.

In addition to the above, there are other mutant color forms: pink, pearl, blue, smoky, straw and others.

What breed should be preferred? Most experts believe that standard nutria are the best option. They are fertile and do not require special attention to yourself.

Standard nutria are brown in color, which can be of various shades. The weight of an adult nutria is about 5-7 kg, however, larger specimens can also be found, the weight of which reaches 12 kg.

The head of such nutria is quite large and flattened, and the ears are small and do not let water through. The nostrils of the nutria are also protected from water penetration by muscles that contract when diving.

Other breeds of nutria

Of course, standard nutrias are not the only breed of these beautiful animals. Golden nutria are no different in size and weight from standard ones. The hairline on their spine is yellow-gold, which is how they got their name. On the back and abdomen, the underfur is pink.

The black coypu differs little from the common coypu in terms of the structure of the pubescence and its fecundity. It boasts a deep black coat and dark gray underfur.

For white Azerbaijani nutria, the white color of the outer and downy hairs is characteristic. Some individuals are distinguished by the presence of pigmented areas of the hairline. The fertility of such nutria is 4-6 puppies.

White nutria differ from Azerbaijani ones in a creamy shade of underfur. When breeding, their fecundity is 4-5 puppies.

As for cream nutria, they are characterized by brown and beige shades. The eyes of such animals are cherry red, and with age they acquire yellowish and brownish hues. When bred, their average fecundity is 4 puppies.

Beige nutria are among the most popular breeds. They are distinguished by a brown coat color, and their coat color can be gray-beige and dark beige. In terms of their fertility, they are the same as standard nutria.

Nutria meat breeds, which are bred for the sale of their meat, have recently gained great popularity. They need special care, including providing animals special diet nutrition.

The nutria giants deserve special attention, the videos of which scatter over the Internet and win the hearts of millions of people.

How to choose a breed of nutria?

Before choosing a breed of nutria, you need to decide which breed is needed. For example, some farms breed nutria with colored skins. The fact is that such skins are valued much higher, but most people do not take into account the patterns of appearance of colors in the process of crossing animals.

You should also pay attention to the fact that each breed has its own characteristics of fertility. A standard nutria can give birth to about 15 puppies a year, while an Italian one cannot give birth to more than 8. As you can see, the difference is significant, but the cost of white Italians is 70% higher than standard nutrias.

Buy the best not nutria giants, but young animals, whose weight does not exceed 2 kg. One nutria family usually includes several females and one male who is not related to the females. To date, more than 20 types of nutria are known, the most popular of which are standard, Polish nutria, white Azerbaijani, lemon and beige.

Thus, nutria are unique animals, the choice of breed of which largely depends on the purpose of using the animals.