Hycole Doe Milk Properties and Kit Growth

Abstract

The level of production and the physiochemical traits of rabbit milk affect the growth and the mortality of bunnies during lactation. The goal of the study was to analyze the effect of litter size and day of lactation on the quality traits of rabbit milk, milk production, and associative traits. The study was conducted on 32 Hycole does and their litters. The rabbit milk pH ranged from 6.61 to 7.46. The colostrum was characterized by the highest content of total solids (31.54 and 31.80 g kg−1) and fat content (15.73 and 15.9 g kg−1). The milk from the beginning of the lactation was characterized by the highest level of somatic cell count (SCC) (523.67 and 536.57 103 mL−1), which gradually decreased to reach the lowest level on days 17 and 21 of lactation. The daily milk production was greater for does nursing 10 kits per litter compared to those nursing eight kits per litter (p < 0.001). The peak of milk production occurred on day 17 postpartum. To conclude, the litter size has a clear effect on milk production as well as litter weight and litter weight gains. It is also important to note that the day of lactation affected the physiochemical traits of rabbit milk.

Effect of does parity order on litter homogeneity parameters

“…Firstly, its viability is weak. Moreover, low birth weight kits suckle less than heavier littermates, and, generally, they consume less milk (Szendr} o et al 2019;Ludwiczak et al 2020).…”

“…Reproductive performance of rabbit does (Castellini et al 2010), milk production and quality (Ludwiczak et al 2020), as well as litter size (LS) and litter weight at birth (LW), growth rate and mortality rate (MR), are useful indicators of the productive potential within a rabbit farm (Rebollar et al 2009;Szendr} o et al 2019). In rabbits, the variation of LW, individual LW, and LS are associated with parity order; for example, LS is substantially lower in the first kindling compared to the subsequent litters (Szendr} o 2000).…”

“…Moreover, LS is correlated to the weight gained by suckling rabbits at weaning: indeed, kits of larger and heterogeneous litters are generally characterised by lower weight at weaning than kits of smaller litters for the corresponding weight (Poigner et al 2000a,b;Szendr} o et al 2019). This is due to the chance of kits to find an available teat during suckling period and on their milk intake (Ludwiczak et al 2020). LS is negatively associated to the individual milk share (Lebas 1975, Ferguson et al 1997, due to reduced access to the teat (Szendr} o and Kampits 1985) and heterogenous kits size (Lenoir et al 2012;Blasco et al 2017).…”

Growth of suckled rabbit kits depending on litter size at birth

“…Recent genetic selection programs for reproductive traits in maternal lines of meat-type rabbits have focused mainly on the improving litter size (Pascual et al, 2013). In addition, dam lines of crossbred rabbits are selected also for the improvement of maternal capacity, including mainly high fertility and high milk production (Ludwiczak et al, 2020).…”

“…The quantity and quality of milk production significantly influences the pre-weaning growth intensity of rabbit kits (Ludwiczak et al, 2020). Postpartum litter standardization is currently performed on meat-type rabbit does to 7-8 or 9-11 kits per litter in primiparous and multiparous does, respectively (Dalle Zotte et al, 2013;Alfonso-Carrillo et al, 2014;Fik, 2020).…”