-A total of sixty-six young males were used to evaluate the effect of low (L), medium (M) and high (H) concentrations of dietary digestible energy received during the rearing seasons (autumn and spring) on the performance and main semen characteristics of males for artificial insemination selected by a high growth rate. Males reared during the spring season presented a significantly higher weight at weaning than those reared during the autumn season (P < 0.001), and these differences were maintained until the end of the trial. The requirements of the males were easily covered as a general rule. In the autumn group, the males were unable to intake the digestible protein recommended only during their 3rd month of life, especially with low concentrate diets (P < 0.05). H males showed higher semen concentration and production during the autumn season, while L males showed a higher semen concentration and production than M males during the spring season, the H group showed intermediate values (P < 0.001). Males reared during the spring season showed significantly higher values of sperm concentration (P < 0.01) and production (P < 0.01). H males presented a lower percentage of spermatozoa with cytoplasmic droplets than the L group (P < 0.05) and the lowest values for sperm abnormalities during the autumn season, while the L group presented higher values for percentage abnormalities, especially during the last month controlled (P < 0.05). As a general rule, the main motility parameters controlled were not affected by the rearing diet received nor the season. These results seem to indicate that the management of rabbit males during the growing and rearing periods seem to significantly affect their subsequent performance and semen production.rabbit males / rearing / semen characteristics / dietary energy / season

This paper describes the work performed in the last year within the Teaching Innovation Project "Development of generic skills to promote student excellence" by the team of Innovation and Educational Quality (EICE) GRIPAU at the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV). GRIPAU is a multidisciplinary team of teachers focused on promoting innovation and improving the quality of learning in Higher Education. In this paper GRIPAU has implemented a teaching methodology that facilitates