A study was performed to compare three Spanish maternal lines of rabbits (A, V and LP) in terms of daily milk production during the first three weeks of lactation and the gross chemical composition of milk. The composition traits were fat (%), protein (%), ash (%), lactose (%) and total solids (%). Data of milk yield were analysed using mixed models whose variance components were estimated by REML and the contrasts of interest by the generalized least squares method with and without covariates; the covariates were number born alive (NBA) and doe weight at kindling (WDK). Data of milk composition was analysed by the same way but only with covariates. The coefficients of regression were 7.03±1.08 (g/d. kit) and 0.02±0.0 (g/d. g) for NBA and WDK, respectively. The LP line had a superior daily milk yield during the three weeks of lactation over the other two lines. The parity effect was not a significant source of variation neither for milk yield nor for milk composition traits. The differences between lines were not significant for milk composition traits except for ash % between LP line and the other lines, for protein % between V and LP lines. The overall mean of daily milk yield was 221.74±2.87 (g/d). For milk composition, the overall mean was 14.6±0.17, 11.11±0.07, 1.89±0.04, 2.67±0.12 and 30.27±0.24 % for fat, protein, ash, lactose and total solids %. |
