Data on 4702 litters was used to compare some litter traits and reproductive intervals for two exotic breeds of New Zealand White (NZW) and Californian (CAL) rabbits raised under intensive commercial conditions. The traits investigated were litter size at birth (LSB), number born alive (NBA), number born dead (NBD), litter size at weaning (LSW), number dead at weaning (NDW), litter weight at weaning (LWW) and average bunny weight at weaning (AWW), while reproductive traits included days open (DO) and kindling interval (KI). Across all parities, the performance of NZW does at birth and at weaning was generally slightly higher than those of CAL does with values of 8.4 vs 7.8, 7.4 vs 6.8, 1.95 vs 1.45, 1.8 vs 1.35, 5.6 vs 5.7, 2983 vs 2868 g and 534 vs 512 g for LSB, NBA, NBD, NDW, LSW, LWW and AWW, respectively. The reproductive performance of NZW does were also generally better than those of CAL does with averages of 18.1 vs 19.5 days for DO and 47.9 vs 49.9 days for KI. Most litter traits and reproductive intervals were not significantly affected by sire of doe and year-season effect. The sire of doe has inconsistent effect on litter traits and reproductive intervals in different parities. |
