Home / Animal science / INFLUENCE OF GENOTYPE AND FEED RESTRICTION ON POST-WEANING GROWTH PERFORMANCE OF DOMESTIC RABBIT

INFLUENCE OF GENOTYPE AND FEED RESTRICTION ON POST-WEANING GROWTH PERFORMANCE OF DOMESTIC RABBIT

 

Table Of Contents


Project Abstract

Data on 102 progeny of New Zealand White (NZ), Chinchilla (CH) and Dutch (DU) breeds of rabbits and their crossbreds obtained from birth to 14 weeks were used for this study. Genotype and feeding regime were the factors of interest. The genotypes were New Zealand White x New Zealand White (NZxNZ), Chinchilla×Chinchilla (CHxCH), Dutch×Dutch (DU×DU), New Zealand White x Chinchilla (NZxCH), New Zealand White x Dutch (NZxDU) and Chinchilla×Dutch (CHxDU).The feeding regime consists of ad libitum feeding (A), 14 hours feed restriction/day (B), 10 hours feed restriction/day (C) and 6 hours feed restriction/day (D). The experiment was conducted at the National Agricultural Extension Research and Liaison Services (NAERLS) Skill Acquisition Farm, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria-Nigeria. The traits studied at pre-weaning were litter size at birth (LSB), litter weight at birth (LWB), litter size at week 2 (LSW2), litter body weight at week 2 (LBW2), litter size at week 4 (LSW4), litter body weight at week 4 (LBW4), litter size at week 6 (LSW6) and litter body weight at week 6 (LBW6). Traits studied after weaning were body weight (BW), body length (BL), chest girth (CG), head-to-shoulder(HS), shoulder-to-tail drop (ST), length of hind leg (LHL), ear length (EL) and height at withers (HTW). Data collected were subjected to Analysis of variance and correlation procedure in SAS and a fixed effect model was used for the analysis with significant means separated using Duncan Multiple Range Test. There were significant (P<0.05) differences among the genotypes for LWB, LBW2, LBW4, LBW6 and post-weaning growth performance at the different ages. Chinchilla x Chinchilla was superior over other genotypes for most of the post-weaning growth traits studied at different ages (480.00 g, 650.00g, 941.30 g, 1206.00 g and 1401.75g mean body weights at week 6, 8, 10, 12 and 14 respectively). This was followed by CHxDU (476.30 g, 601.30 g, 751.00 g, 910.00 g and 1086.25 g for the same parameters. The coefficients of correlation were from low to high (0.00-0.99) and were positively and negatively correlated in all the genotypes except for CHxDU which were all positive. The results indicated that CHxCH and CHxDU genotypes could be most suitable for optimum genetic improvement. The mean body weights obtained were 772.67±38.72 g, 688.62±32.16 g, 730.75±35.24 g and 705.37±33.45 g for feeding regime A, B, C and D respectively which were not significantly different (P>0.05). It can be concluded that CHxCH genotype performed better in most of the post-weaning growth traits and rabbit farmers can use any of the feeding regimes especially during scarcity of feed and forages for rabbit feeding. The CHxCH is recommended for higher litter size and body weight at weaning while any of the feeding regimes can be adopted.


Project Overview

Blazingprojects Mobile App

📚 Over 50,000 Project Materials
📱 100% Offline: No internet needed
📝 Over 98 Departments
🔍 Project Journal Publishing
🎓 Undergraduate/Postgraduate
📥 Instant Whatsapp/Email Delivery

Blazingprojects App

Related Research

Animal science. 3 min read

Effects of Different Feeding Strategies on Growth Performance of Ruminant Livestock...

The project titled "Effects of Different Feeding Strategies on Growth Performance of Ruminant Livestock" aims to investigate how various feeding strat...

BP
Blazingprojects
Read more →
Animal science. 3 min read

Effects of Probiotics on Gut Health in Poultry Production...

The research project entitled "Effects of Probiotics on Gut Health in Poultry Production" aims to investigate the impact of probiotics on the gut heal...

BP
Blazingprojects
Read more →
Animal science. 3 min read

Effects of Different Feeding Strategies on Growth Performance of Broiler Chickens...

The project titled "Effects of Different Feeding Strategies on Growth Performance of Broiler Chickens" aims to investigate the impact of various feedi...

BP
Blazingprojects
Read more →
Animal science. 4 min read

Effects of Different Feed Supplements on Growth Performance of Broiler Chickens...

The project topic "Effects of Different Feed Supplements on Growth Performance of Broiler Chickens" aims to investigate the impact of various feed sup...

BP
Blazingprojects
Read more →
Animal science. 3 min read

The impact of probiotics on the gut health of livestock animals...

The project topic, "The impact of probiotics on the gut health of livestock animals," focuses on the potential benefits of probiotics in promoting gut...

BP
Blazingprojects
Read more →
Animal science. 2 min read

Effects of probiotics on gut health in poultry production...

The project topic "Effects of probiotics on gut health in poultry production" focuses on the utilization of probiotics as a potential solution to enha...

BP
Blazingprojects
Read more →
Animal science. 2 min read

Exploring the Relationship Between Gut Microbiota Diversity and Feed Efficiency in P...

The project titled "Exploring the Relationship Between Gut Microbiota Diversity and Feed Efficiency in Poultry" aims to investigate the intricate conn...

BP
Blazingprojects
Read more →
Animal science. 2 min read

Assessment of the impact of different feeding strategies on the growth performance a...

The project titled "Assessment of the impact of different feeding strategies on the growth performance and health of broiler chickens" aims to investi...

BP
Blazingprojects
Read more →
Animal science. 2 min read

The Impact of Different Feeding Strategies on the Growth Performance of Broiler Chic...

The project topic, "The Impact of Different Feeding Strategies on the Growth Performance of Broiler Chickens," focuses on investigating how various fe...

BP
Blazingprojects
Read more →
WhatsApp Click here to chat with us