Hybrid Effects Of Rabbits Of Four Species On Reproductive Performance And Production Performance

With 4 Rabbit varieties and 3 crosses taken as experiment materials, the heterosis of rabbit is analyzed on reproductive performance and production performance, which helps to select a good cross combination and provides theoretical basis for rabbits-farming in China, especially in Sichuan. Main characters are tested such as litter size, birth weight, body weight at different age, weight before slaughtering, carcass net weight, cooked meat percentage, tone value of muscle, pH of muscle, intramuscular fat and so on. The results follow as:(1)European white rabbits (♂)×Qixing rabbits(♀):Litter sizes 10.62, Birth weight 54.2g, Lactation force 2116.9g, Body weight at weaning age 530.2g, Survival percentage at weaning age 91.3%, Body weight on 84d 2503.7g, Daily gain at fattening period 35.2g, Survival percentage on 84d 93.1%, Dressing percentage 53.3%, Cooked meat percentage 64.6%, pH of Longissimus muscles pHl 6.41,pH2 5.81, pH of Left hind leg muscles pH1 6.41,pH2 5.87, Intramuscular fat in Longissimus muscles 1.43%, Intramuscular fat in Left hind leg muscles 2.24%.(2)European white rabbits (♂)×Tianfu black rabbits(♀):Litter sizes 10.17, Birth weight 51.2g, Lactation force 2349.6g, Body weight at weaning age 533.6g, Survival percentage at weaning age 89.9%, Body weight on 84 d 2491.3g, Daily gain at fattening period 35.Og, Survival percentage on 84 days 97.2%, Dressing percentage 52.3%, Cooked meat percentage 69.7%, pH of Longissimus muscles pH1 6.41,pH2 5.74, pH of Left hind leg muscles pH1 6.41,pH2 6.39, Intramuscular fat in Longissimus muscles 1.61%, Intramuscular fat in Left hind leg muscles 2.87%.(3)European white rabbits (♂)×Californian rabbits(♀):Litter sizes 8.45, Birth weight 49.1g, Lactation force 1714.7g, Body weight at weaning age 527.g, Survival percentage at weaning age 84.0%, Body weight on 84d 2697.6g, Daily gain at fattening period 38.8g, Survival percentage on 84 days 87.7%, Dressing percentage 52.7%, Cooked meat percentage 64.5%, pH of Longissimus muscles pH1 6.81,pH2 5.67, pH of Left hind leg muscles pH1 6.41,pH2 5.70, Intramuscular fat in Longissimus muscles 2.05%, Intramuscular fat in Left hind leg muscles 3.14%.In summary, European white rabbits (♂)×Qixing rabbits(♀) and European white rabbits (♂)×Tianfu black rabbits(♀) do quite well in reproductive performance; European white rabbits (♂)×Californian rabbits (♀) tops the three cross combination in production performance, yet the other two combinations are also outstanding in comparison to other cross combination reported. With good qualities in Dressing percentage and cooked meat percentage, the experimental groups do well in slaughtering performance.Tone value of muscle and pH of muscle show little difference to others reported; European white rabbits (♂)×Californian rabbits has the highest value of intramuscular fat, which may allows it of a better flavor.