EFFECTS OF HETEROSPERMY AND MULTIPLE MATING ON GESTATION LENGTH AND LITTER CHARACTERISTICS OF DOMESTIC RABBIT

Abstract

The efficiency of production and the profitability of rabbit farming greatly depend on its reproductive success, which in turn is conditioned by such factors as fertility and litter size. The present study involved the use of four bucks and 16 does to evaluate the effects of heterospermy and multiple mating on gestation length, litter size at birth, litter size alive at birth, kit born dead per litter and mean kit‘s weight from birth to weaning. The results showed that number of mating and heterospermy did not significantly affect (p>0.05) the gestation length, litter size at birth and litter size alive at birth. However, double mating and heterospermy were associated with numerically greater litter size at birth and number of kits born alive than single mating and homospermy. Multiple mating and heterospermy did not significantly affect (p>0.05) the mean kit weight at week 4 post-partum. However, litters born through heterospermic mating generally had higher mean kit weight. It was concluded that double mating and heterospermy may help to improve the litter birth characteristics and kit pre-weaning weight in domestic rabbit. However, the fact that the superiority was not statistically significant call for further studies using larger number of does and bucks. This is imperative as the accuracy of determination of does‘ production performance is dependent on the size of data used in the evaluation.