Genetic parameters of growth traits and carcass weight of New Zealand white rabbits in a tropical dry forest area
Keywords:
Productive traits; tropical climate; genetic correlation; heritability; repeatabilityAbstract
Objective: The objective of this study was to estimate the heritability (h2), repeatability (r), and correlations ( rˆyi yi) in some traits of zootechnical interest in a population of New Zealand white rabbits of a tropical dry forest area. Materials and Methods: Three mating groups were formed, each one of 1 male and 70 females. The traits evaluated were litter size at birth (LB), born alive (BA), born dead (BD), litter weight born alive (LW), litter weight at weaning (LWW), weaning weight (WW), slaughter weight (SW), and carcass weight (CW). Weaning took place at 42 days, and the fattening phase lasted 60 ± 3 days. A descriptive statistical study was carried out on the study variables. Paternal heritability was estimated (h2f ) and maternal ( h2m), repeatability, rabbit index IC, and Pearson’s correlations ( rˆyi yi) between traits. The descriptive statistics showed high variation for the BD traits. Results: The values of the productivity found were similar to those presented in studies around the world. h2 presented magnitudes between low and medium. h2f ranged between 0.09 and 0.42 and between 0.11 and 0.45 for h2m. In general, the values of h2m were higher than the values of h2f . The r values for the traits LB, BA, LW, LWW, and SW presented low magnitude, while it was medium for WW and CW. From the values of r, IC was calculated for each of the rabbits, allowing their categorization, which will be used in future selection plans. rˆyi yi among the variables ranged from −0.01 to 0.860. They were generally positive and mostly not significant (p > 0.05); they took a magnitude from low to moderate, except for the correlation between LB and BA. Conclusion: The production of rabbits under tropical conditions is similar to other reports. The genetic parameters evaluated were medium-to-low, indicating a robust non-additive gene and/ or environmental effect.
J. Adv. Vet. Anim. Res., 8(3): 471-478, September 2021
Downloads
6
1
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2021 Donicer Eduardo Montes Vergara, Darwin Yovanny Hernndez Herrera, Naudin Alejandro Hurtado Lugo
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).