Estimation of Pre-And Post-Weaning Body Weight of Rabbits Using Linear Body Measurements in a Humid Tropical Environment

Abstract

This study evaluated the possibility of predicting body weight (BW) of the domestic rabbit using linear body measurements at both pre and post-weaning ages. Body weights of six genotypes – New Zealand White (NZW), Chinchilla (CHIN), Dutch (DUT), NZW x CHIN, NZW x DUT and CHIN x DUT were predicted. The linear traits used were body length (BL), heart girth (HG), head-to-shoulder (HS), shoulder-to-tail drop (STD), length of hind limb (LHL), ear length (EL) and height at withers (HTW). Multiple linear regression models were used to obtain the prediction equations. HS, LHL and EL were not good estimators of body weight and did not show significant associations with BW. At pre-weaning age, STD was the best predictor for the genotypes apart from CHIN x CHIN and NZW x DUT, which had BL as best estimator. At post-weaning, STD, BL, HG and HTW were best predictors for NZW x NZW, CHIN x CHIN; DUT x DUT, NZW x CHIN; NZW x DUT and CHIN x DUT, respectively. The coefficient of determination (R²) were all positive and highly significant (p< 0.001) at the two stages. For the pre-weaning phase, R² values were all high and ranged between 87.0% and 97.3%, while in the post-weaning stage, it ranged from moderate (56.8%) for NZW x DUT to high (95.1%) for NZW x CHIN. BW and the linear traits, except HS, LHL and EL, were significantly (p<0.001) associated, indicating strong inter-relationships between BW and the traits. With the prediction models, approximate body weights of rabbits could be obtained using linear body measurements.