Abstract
The effect of season and parity order on doe fertility and rabbit growth was evaluated. Two hundred and fifty Hyplus® does were divided into five groups according to kindling, each in a given season of the year (September, December, February, April and June). Another five groups were separated by parity order (from the first to the fifth kindling). After weaning, each group of rabbits was fed until 77 days of age. The season of the year significantly affected service number of pregnancy, litter size, litter weight at birth, litter weight at 21 days, litter size at weaning as well as live weight at 77 days. Parity order affected service number of pregnancy and litter weight at 21 days in a more limited way. Significant interactions of season and parity order were determined in service number of pregnancy, with the highest values occurring in December (2.2, P ≤ 0.010) and February (1.9, P ≤ 0.010) at the second kindling. Litter size was the largest in December and at the fifth kindling. Significant interactions (P ≤ 0.015) were also found in litter weight at 21 days, whereby litter weight had increased by the third kindling. However, the highest litter weight was reported after the fourth kindling in December.
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