Phenotypic Correlation of Body Weight and Linear Body Measurement in New Zealand white and Chinchilla Rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus)

Résumé

Data on 16 weaner rabbits from two different breeds were used for this study. The breeds were New Zealand White (NZ), Chinchilla (CH). The rabbits were obtained from the crosses between New Zealand White × New Zealand White (NZ× NZ), Chinchilla × Chinchilla (CH×CH). The experiment was conducted at the Skills Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development Centre of National Agricultural Extension Research and Liaison Services (NAERLS), Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria-Nigeria. Data on body weight and linear body measurements (LBMs) namely: body length (BL), chest girth (CG), head-to-shoulder(HS), shoulder-to-tail drop (ST), length of hind leg (LHL), ear length (EL), height at withers (HTW) ear length (EL), heart girth (HG), body length (BL), head to shoulder (HS), leg length (LL) and tail length (TL) were collected after weaning (6 to 14 weeks of age). The relationships among the measured traits were determined using Linear Correlation Procedure of SAS (version 8.0, 2004). The value of the Pearson’s linear correlation coefficient determines the level of relationship between the LBMs. Correlation coefficients ranged from 0.18-0.99 and 0.01-0.98 in NZ and CH respectively. The correlation coefficients varied from positive to negative; low to moderate and high correlation coefficients were observed among body weight and LBMs. In conclusion, offspring from crosses between NZ×NZ and CH×CH breed of rabbits had both positive and negative correlation coefficients between the LBMs and body weight.