No abstract

The aim of the study was the statistical analysis of conformation traits of New Zealand white rabbits from a breeding farm for a period of ten years. Analysis of variance showed a statistically highly significant effect of gender on body size and weight of the animal, as well as on fur quality, body built and racial type. The year of license had statistically highly significant impact on animal size, body weight, fur quality, the specific racial features, body built, racial type and the total number of points received by the rabbits. The interaction of gender and year of license had statistically high impact only on body weight, while there was no statistically significant effect for other analyzed traits. The study also estimated phenotypic correlations between the studied traits. The correlations were quite varied and ranged between 0.772 (between racial type and the year of the license) to 0.6017 (between body built and the total sum of points).Keywords: breeding, New Zealand White, body built, evaluation, use, statistical analysis. IntroductionBreeding of rabbits, although known for a long time, is relatively young as a branch of animal production. It reached more significant economic importance, both in Poland and worldwide, only in the sixties of the twentieth century, when the global turnover of meat rabbit intensified. The breed of rabbits, which was and is very important in rearing and breeding is New Zealand white. The aim of the study was the statistical analysis of conformation traits of New Zealand white rabbits from a breeding farm for a period of ten years. Material and methodsThe present paper analyzes the conformation traits of New Zealand white rabbits. The analysis was conducted on the basis of a license evaluation of animals from a breeding farm. The assessment included a period of 10 years. 858 animals were analyzed, including 117 males and 741 females. During the license evaluation, as given in Rabbit Model (Frindt, 2000), the following characteristics were taken into account: body weight, body build, racial type, fur quality and specific racial traits. For every feature an animal could receive a maximum of 10 or 20 points. The lowest permissible rabbit weight at the age of 8 months and over was 3.5 kg; the highest 5.5 kg. While assessing males and females at exhibitions, body weight by 5 % lower than aforementioned was allowed, for this trait an animal might receive a maximum of 10 points. Body built had to be harmonious whit Trunk of medium length, cylindrical, well muscled, well developed front and hindquarters, broad shoulders and dorsal part. The head firmly set on a short neck, close to the body. Limbs were strong, massive and short. A small, symmetrical, single dewlap was allowed in older females (over 1 year). It had short tail close to the body. The maximum number of points for this feature was 20.