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Growth of Rabbits
ABSTRACT Growth records of 4,270 weanling NZW tended to be less affected by the environmental
rabbits born between March 1985 and December 1989 extremes than the other breeds. The effects on GAIN
were studied to evaluate the effects of breed and of mean monthly temperature and daylength and the
month of birth on postweaning growth performance of interrelationships of these with estimated milk
four medium-sized breeds: Californian (CALI, New production and litter size at weaning were evaluated
Zealand White (NZW), Palomino (PAL), and White by regression methods for the 2,100 NZW fryers.
Satin (WS). Traits examined were 28-d weaning Temperature and daylength had significant effects on
weight (WW), postweaning gain (GAIN), attainment GAIN, with lowest GAIN in the summer, but the
of 1,600-g market weight by 76 d of age (MKT), and individual contributions t o the variance were small
approximate age at 1,600 g (AGE). Least squares
because of some redundancy when month, tempera-
models included breed, month of birth, sex, and year of
ture, and(or) light were included in the same model.
birth as fixed effects and litter within breed by month
and by year and the residual as random variables. The Curvilinear trends were observed that favored GAIN
NZW had significantly higher GAIN and MKT and as estimated milk production increased but decreased
lower AGE than the other three breeds. White Satin GAIN as litter size at weaning increased. In the hot,
had the highest WW, followed by CAL, NZW, and humid climate of southern Louisiana important breed
PAL. White Satin had higher GAIN and lower AGE differences were noted. There were also indications
than PAL or CAL but did not differ for MKT. Poorer that daylength may be an important factor in post-
performance was seen during the summer, but the weaning fryer performance.
Key Words: Rabbits, Breeds, Growth, Environmental Temperature, Photoperiod
1996
GROWTH PERFORMANCE OF RABBIT BREEDS 1997
been reported to achieve more rapid gains, attaining 35 -
market weight earlier than medium-sized breeds or
30 - -
their crosses (Lukefahr et al., 1983b, 1984; Ozimba
and Lukefahr, 199 1). Development and general 25 --
0
recommendations for purebreeding or crossbreeding u* 20 --
programs will require information on genetic and E
3
environmental parameters for growth performance $ 15--
;
W
traits of both purebred and crossbred rabbits reared in 10-
a variety of climates. To date, no postweaning growth I-
Breeda
~ ~~~~
removed from the herd before the sixth weighing after litter accounts for more than just additive genetic
weaning ( a maximum of 76 d). Using the weekly variance. For the sex source and interactions inclusive
weights, a linear regression coefficient of BW on day of of sex, the residual was the error term used. In
age during the postweaning growth period was preliminary analyses, except for breed x month and
computed for each fryer as an estimate of the breed x sex, no other interactions influenced the
individual postweaning rate of gain (Liu et al., 1990). growth traits investigated, so these sources were
Traits included in the analysis were individual eliminated from the models. Also, age and(or) parity
weaning weight at 28 d (WW), postweaning rate of of dam were not included in the above model because
gain ( GAIN), age at which the 1,600-g market weight preliminary analyses showed these effects to be
was first recorded (AGE), and attainment (0, 1) of nonsignificant. The Bonferroni t-test was used to
market weight ( MKT) at or before the sixth weighing separate breed means at the P < .05 probability level
postweaning. (Gill, 1978). The sex mean difference with a single df
Statistical Procedures. To compare the postweaning was tested based on results from ANOVA.
performance of the four breeds, data were analyzed To examine breed x month trends for growth traits,
using the General Linear Mixed Model (GLMM) a statistical package (Harvey, 1990) with polynomial
program of Blouin and Saxton (19901, according to regression capabilities was used. The second mathe-
the following mathematical model: matical model was the same as above, except that
equations for litters were absorbed using the ratio of
residual to litter variances obtained from GLMM
analyses (litter effect accounted for 75.3, 37.5, 21.2,
and 47.2% of total random variation [o$ = 0; + 0 2~ 1
for WW, GAIN, AGE, and MKT, respectively), as
shown:
where Yijumn = observed value of the dependent
variable; p = overall mean; Bi = fxed effect of the ith
breed; Mj = fxed effect of the jth month of birth; YRk =
fixed effect of the kth year of birth; (BM)ij = fixed
effect of the breed x month interaction; (BYR)ik =
fixed effect of the breed x year interaction; (MYR)p = A generalized least squares solution for a fixed effects
fixed effect of the month x year interaction; model was then obtained using Harvey's program. The
(BMYR)ijk = fixed effect of the breed x month x year sums of squares for breed, month, and breed x month
interaction; ll$ = random effect of the kth litter nested interaction were partitioned into those due to each
within breed x month x year of birth subclass, degree in orthogonal polynomials (limit was 5th
assumed to be NID (0, 4); Gm = fixed effect of the mth degree). A step-down, P c .05 probability level was
used to yield best fit polynomial regression models.
sex class; (BG)im = fixed effect of the breed x sex
interaction; (MG)jm= fixed effect of the month x sex To carry out a more detailed analysis of the effects
interaction; (YRG)I, = fxed effect of the year x sex
of daylength and temperature on growth, only the
data from the purebred NZW were used because of the
interaction; and qumn= random errors, assumed to be
larger numbers ( n = 2,100). After absorbing the
NID (0, 4). random litter effect, solutions for fixed effects were
The above full model was employed to obtain obtained from two generalized least squares models
generalized least squares means for breed, month, and consisting of month, year, and sex and first-order
year and their first- and second-order interactions interactions, excluding or including mean monthly
where the random litter source served as the error temperature (TI as a covariate, as follows:
term. Despite the obvious genetic relationships among
litters, this was considered the appropriate error term
because of the limited number of sires and because
GROWTH PERFORMANCE OF RABBIT BREEDS 1999
Table 2. Generalized least squares breed and sex means, SE, and variances for growth characteristics
Proportion
Age a t reaching
Weaning Rate of gain, market wt, market wt
Item wt, g ( W W g/d (GAIN) d (AGE) (MKT)
Breed
Californian 525 f 9.6b 35.0 k .35a 61.1 f .2gC .90 f .02a
New Zealand White 539 k 6.2c 39.9 f .23c 58.4 f .laa .94 f .Olb
Palomino 496 f 9.ga 34.5 f .36a 61.9 f .30d .89 ir .02a
White Satin 550 k 9.1d 36.0 f .34b 60.1 f .28' .92 f .02a
Sex
Male 529 f 4.6 36.7 f .19 60.2 ir .16 .92 f .01
Female 526 k 4.6 36.0 i .19 60.5 ir .16 .90 f .01
Contrast
Male-female 3 k 2.1 .7 f .17** -.3 f .16** .03 f .01**
Variance
Among-litter, a1 11,590 12.0 14.2 .02
Within-litter, uc 3,810 19.7 15.9 .06
a,b,c,dBreed means within a column lacking a common superscript letter differ ( P c .05).
**P c .01.
424
(b)
..' 0
5 0 . 1 : : : : : : : : : : : I
JAN FW YAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUQ SLP OCT NOV DEC
@4+
86 .m4: : : : : : : : : : : I
JAN FW UAR APR YAY JUN JUL AUQ SEP OCT W DEC JAN FEE UAR APR YAY JUN JUL AUQ SEP OCT NOV M C
MONTH MONTH
Figure 2. Breed x month responses for fryer growth performance. (CAL = Californian, NZW = New Zealand
White, PAL = Palomino, and WS = White Satin; WW = weaning weight at 28 d, GAIN = postweaning rate of gain,
AGE = age at which the 1,600-gmarket weight was first observed, MKT = proportion attaining market weight at or
before the sixth weighing postweaning].
Year was a significant source of variation for WW, also the years when the highest proportion of fryers
GAIN, and AGE, although there were no apparent were marketed at the lowest ages. The heaviest WW
trends in the year means during the 5-yr period of the were observed in 1986, although those in 1987 were
study (Table 3 ) . The highest rates of gain were in nearly the lowest.
1986 and 1987 when, incidentally, the lowest mean Temperature and Daylength Effects on Postweaning
maximum temperatures were recorded. These were Weight Gain o f New Zealand White Fryers. As shown
Year
Item 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989
Table 4. Prediction equations for average daily gain (GAIN] in New Zealand White rabbits according to en-
vironmental and(or) maternal characters
Item 3a 3b 4a 4b 5
Intercept 37.68 46.85 39.68 41.75 41.17
Month of birth
Linear .2593 2.6870
Quadratic ,4346 -.5179
Cubic -.0029 -.2166
Quartic -.0113** ,0056
Quintic .0046**
Daylength, h
Linear -.06770 -.06772 -.06400
Quadratic .00011 -.00036 -.00036
Cubic .00001* .00001* .00001**
Temperature, "C
Linear -1.0699 ,3383 .3868
Quadratic -.0488* -.0498 -.0479
Cubic - -.0062* -.0065**
Litter size a t 28 d, n
Linear -.7558
Quadratic .1638
Cubic -.0297*
Estimated milk yield, kg
Linear 2.8407
Quadratic - - - - -2.9063**
Residual df 2,083 2,081 2,085 2,082 2,077
Residual R2,% 4.06 4.45 3.84 4.42 6.30
Total R2, %b 48.66 49.05 45.31 45.89 47.77
aRefer to text for full description of models.
bMultiple coefficient of determination (R2) values represent the sum of partial contributions of model fixed effects only from a generalized
least squares analysis after absorbing variation accountable to random among-litter effects. The difference between total and residual R2
values is due to the litter effect.
*P < .05.
**P< .01.
GROWTH PERFORMANCE OF RABBIT BREEDS 2003
crease feed intake in rabbits (Cheeke et al., 1987;
Papp et al., 1987; Simplicio et al., 1988; Jin et al.,
1990). Further, the partial linear, quadratic, and
cubic regression coefficients for temperature and
daylength were similar in both Models 4b and 5
(Table 41, even with the additional covariates of litter
size at weaning and estimated milk yield. Statisti-
cally, this finding might imply that milk production
and litter size at weaning tended to be independent of
environmental effects of temperature and daylength.
37 J 4 GAIN was clearly maximized when litter size at
14.80 15.00 15.20 15.40 15.60 15.80 16.00 weaning was at a minimum (one fryer), whereas
DAYLENGTH, h temperature had a more consistent cubic response
over the litter size range (Figure 5b). Interestingly, a t
Figure 4. Postweaning rate of gain [GAIN) of New intermediate temperatures, the competition-related
Zealand White fryers for the Models 4a and 4b as stress of a large litter size on GAIN seemed to be less
described in the text. marked. Estimated milk production of does had a
quadratic tendency on their own fryer GAIN, but in
association with a cubic effect of temperature (Figure
thereafter, with a slight increase in growth rate from 5c). This implies that fryers that suckled does with
15.9 to 16.0 h (Figure 4). A similar pattern was seen lower milk production may have been more sensitive
when temperature was included (Model 4b), although to cold and heat stresses. GAIN was maximized at the
predicted GAIN was at a higher level, reaching a peak milk production level of approximately 3.2 kg.
at approximately 15.1 h. The marginal contribution of Daylength imparted only a small effect on GAIN,
temperature was only 5 8 % (Table 4). The similarity but, as litter size at weaning increased, GAIN sharply
in the patterns between models with and without decreased in a quadratic manner (Figure 5d). Milk
temperature could also be explained on the basis of production influenced GAIN to a greater extent than
natural confounding among temperature, daylength, daylength (Figure 5e); the higher milk production
and month variables. The difference between the level gave a favorable quadratic response in GAIN. As
“month” models (3a and 3b) that excluded or included expected, fryers from the largest litters and nursing
temperature and the “light” models (4a and 4b) was from the poorest-lactating does achieved the slowest
only .22 and .03% of total variation in GAIN, GAIN (Figure 5 0 . GAIN declined substantially as
respectively. Either would seem appropriate, there- litter size at weaning increased from one to four
fore, depending on whether a month- or light-constant fryers, and thereafter showed a steady negative linear
reference is preferred. trend to a litter size of 11 fryers. Hardman et al.
The unusual annual variation in daylength that (1970) and McNitt and Moody (1988) demonstrated
arose from not controlling the morning light adds to that kits responded positively to an increased milk
the difficulty of drawing precise conclusions regarding
supply (i.e., double-suckling). Lukefahr et al. (1990)
the effect of daylength on fryer performance in the
recommended that, to avoid poor gains, litter size at
commercial situation. Changes in daylength of as little
birth should be adjusted by fostering so as not to
as 1 h are sufficient to induce marked alterations in
reproductive behavior of does (Hudson and Distel, exceed nine kits.
1990). Although the effect is probably not as obvious In Table 4, the joint marginal contribution due to
in growing rabbits, such changes may nonetheless litter size at weaning and estimated milk production
affect growth performance. From our investigations, it in addition to the variation accounted for by the
seems that there are real effects of daylength on fryer random litter effect (47.77 - 6.30% = 41.47%) is
growth rate that need to be investigated in much more small. This finding is despite the marked response
detail under more controlled conditions. surfaces portrayed for GAIN involving these two
Postweaning Weight Gain Response Surfaces. From independent variables. The litter source may reflect
Model 5, response surfaces with GAIN as the depen- certain proportions of direct genetic variance (addi-
dent variable and daylength, temperature, litter size tive, dominance, and epistasis), plus maternal genetic
at weaning, and estimated milk yield as independent and(or) environmental variance, direct by maternal
continuous variables were studied (Figure 5). The genetic covariance, and environmental effects (e.g.,
cubic response in GAIN associated with temperature competition, litter size, pen effects) apart from mater-
was much more pronounced than that due to day- nal environmental effects being shared in common
length (Figure 5a). More feed energy is expended t o among littermates. Further research is also warranted
maintain body temperature at colder ambient temper- to determine the relative importance of these compo-
atures, whereas higher ambient temperatures de- nents of variance in meat rabbit production.
2004 McNITT AND LUKEFAHR
Figure 5. Response surfaces for postweaning rate of gain [GAIN) in relation to daylength, temperature, litter size
at weaning, and estimated milk production.
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