Abstract
ract Rabbits could contribute to meat production in South Africa. However, little research has been done on rabbit farming in the country, including on the performance of locally available meat breeds. This study examined the meat production of the New Zealand White (NZW) and Phendula rabbit breeds. The live weights (LW) and average daily gains (ADG) of 80 (44 male, 36 female) NZW and 40 (22 male, 18 female) Phendula rabbits, housed in single-sex groups of three, were recorded from weaning (5 weeks) until slaughter (11 weeks). The slaughter weight, and carcass, organ, and carcass portion weights were recorded for 10 male rabbits and 10 females of each breed, and the physical and proximate chemical quality of the loin meat was determined. The breeds differed for the reference carcass (RC) yield (NZW: 85.3 ± 0.14%; Phendula: 84.9 ± 0.24%) and the proportions of the low-value fore (NZW: 38.6 ± 0.26%; Phendula: 37.6 ± 0.28%) and high-value intermediate (NZW: 19.6 ± 0.16%; Phendula: 20.4 ± 0.28%) parts. Females had greater LW and ADG at 11 weeks old, and reduced dressing percentages, but greater RC yields owing to lighter heads and red offal. Females also had smaller proportions of the fore part. Meat quality did not differ between the breeds or sexes. Overall, both breeds compared well to previous reports. However, they appeared to mature relatively early, as indicated by the significant sex differences, and the high carcass and meat fat content.Keywords: carcass portions, meat yield, New Zealand White, Phendula
Highlights
Rabbits may have the potential to contribute to both commercial and subsistence meat production in South Africa
Significant differences (P ≤0.05) between the sexes are indicated by the significance letters adjacent to the data points and error bars show the standard errors of the means
The greater live weights for female rabbits than males of both breeds at 11 weeks old resulted from the greater average daily gains (ADG) of females towards the end of the growth period (Figure 1), These results differed from North et al (2018a), in which no sex effect on live weight was detected for New Zealand White (NZW) from the same genetic stock
Summary
They share many of the advantages of poultry, as they can be reared intensively (Szendrő & Dalle Zotte, 2011), can be handled by women and children (Lukefahr, 2007; Abu et al, 2008), and can be slaughtered as required for consumption. Maintaining the disease-free status of the country has required banning the importation of all rabbits and rabbit material, meaning that for the past 33 years or so the rabbit population of South Africa has been genetically isolated from the rest of the world Despite their potential, rabbits are under-utilized in the country, and research on the local genetic varieties and farming under South African conditions is scarce. Three studies on the growth and meat quality of South African rabbits have been published in recent years (North et al, 2017; North et al, 2018a,b), in addition to two studies that examined the perceptions of rabbit meat by South African consumers (Hoffman et al, 2004; Hoffman et al, 2005)
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