THE EFFECT OF GENOTYPE ON GROWTH TRAITS IN RABBITS
Abstract
This study investigated the effect of genotype on a number of growth traits; which includes birth weight, weekly relative growth rates and estimated percentage of heterosis for weekly growth rates on crosses between three breeds (Chinchilla, Dutch, and New Zealand White) of rabbits. The genotypes from the crosses were New Zealand White x Dutch (NZW x DTH), New Zealand x Chinchilla (NZW x CHA) and a pure breed; New Zealand White x New Zealand White (NZW x NZW) in a 1: 3 mating ratio. The breeding pattern was designed such that all the sire line was the New Zealand breed while, the dam lines were the Chinchilla and Dutch. Reciprocals crossing between the lines was however not employed in the design. A total of 63 rabbits (21 per breed), were reared under uniform environmental and nutritional conditions for 8 weeks. The results showed highly significant (p
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