Influence of birth weight and nutrient supply before and after weaning on the performance of rabbit does to age of the first mating

Szendrő, Zsolt; Gyovai, M.; Maertens, Luc; Bíró-Németh, E.; Radnai, I.; Matics, Zsolt; Princz, Z.; Gerencsér, Zsolt; Horn, Peter A.

doi:10.1016/j.livsci.2006.01.006

Cited by 9 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…In fact, some recent trials (Biró-Németh and Szendrő, 1990;Poigner et al, 2000;Szendrő et al, 2006;Martínez-Paredes et al, 2009;Savietto et al, 2010) have observed a worsening of reproductive performance traits of rabbit females and males when an early undernutrition was foreseeable. This worsening seems to be more related to the birth weight than to the size of the litter in which the young animals were reared (Poigner et al, 2000;Martínez-Paredes et al, 2009;Savietto et al, 2010), although both the amount of milk and feed received during their rearing significantly affected their performance at the age of the first mating (Rommers et al, 2001;Szendrő et al, 2006). Recently, Savietto et al (2010) proposed a possible threshold for the birth weight of females that allows them to reach the beginning of their reproductive life in a suitable body condition, which could maximise their future reproductive potential (Figure 2).…”

Section: Birth Weightmentioning

confidence: 99%

Resources allocation in reproductive rabbit does: a review of feeding and genetic strategies for suitable performance

Pascual

Savietto²,

Cervera

et al. 2013

World Rabbit Sci.

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This article reviews how frequent feeding and selection programmes can affect resource allocation in rabbit does during reproduction. The consequences of these programmes and the central role of body condition for suitable female performance are analysed considering genetic level, health and welfare. Future reproductive potential of reproductive rabbit females is decided before first partum. There is enough evidence of a possible threshold for the rabbit female birth weight to reach the beginning of reproductive life in a suitable body condition to maximise their future reproductive potential. The moment of first mating could be identified as the last of the 'pure' data on the animal, a sign of the animal soma that is probably related to its productive potential. An adequate feeding system during rearing and first pregnancy is relevant for the reproductive performance of rabbit females in the short and long term. The body condition of females changes during the reproductive cycle and throughout their reproductive life according to their genetically determined level. The problems arise when the animals are forced to diverge from this appropriate level, increasing susceptibility to disease, other stress factors and eventual failure. Negative energy balances detected during lactation do not seem to have the strength of those observed in late pregnancy. Genetic selection for litter size at weaning has increased prolificacy, but also the ability to obtain resources without compromising the survival of rabbit females. However, it could also have increased the susceptibility of animals to the environment, focusing more on the maternal investment in the future litter rather than on the current one under restricted conditions to maximise their fitness. Rabbit does selected for reproductive longevity have a greater soma, which enables them to better cope with the possible productive challenges. There is also evidence that they have greater plasticity in using their soma, making them more robust to overcome demanding situations. In addition, there is evidence of a possible improvement of immune system modulation in such robust animals.

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Section: Birth Weightmentioning

confidence: 99%

Resources allocation in reproductive rabbit does: a review of feeding and genetic strategies for suitable performance

Pascual

Savietto²,

Cervera

et al. 2013

World Rabbit Sci.

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“…Here, the majority of our females reached the "critical level" of body development (measured as live weight and PFT; see Martínez-Paredes et al, 2018) when mated for the first time at 153 d of age (only 34 of the 522 females inseminated when 153 d old never conceived and fertility rate at first AI was high, resulting in a small variation on the ages at first parturition, from 182 to 186 d). In this sense, and knowing that small newborn need more time to reach adult weight (Szendrö et al, 2006), we argue that our fast SG females have reached the "critical level" of body development before low SG females, using the additional time to accumulate reserves. In fact, females with an SG above 22.3 g/d (the median value of our rabbit population) reached the AI age (153 d) with +0.38 mm of PFT more than females with an SG below this value (results not shown: 6.12 vs. 6.50 mm, respectively P<0.01).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 95%

“…In ecology, it is widely accepted that a bad start in life reduces fitness and lifespan (Lindström, 1999). For the domestic rabbit, birth weight appears to be positively correlated to maturity, fertility and prolificacy (Szendrö et al, 2006), and all these parameters are impaired when a female is born with a body weight lower than 45 g. Another piece of information relates an excess of fat reserves around first insemination to a subsequent reduced fertility (Savietto et al, 2016). This result reinforces the need to adjust rearing diets to individual nutritional requirements.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Influences of environment on the development and lifetime reproductive performance in domestic rabbit females

2019

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<p class="MDPI18keywords">Environmental insults of different nature and intensity, such as fluctuation in the air temperature, which can affect access to food, its quality and diseases, are a reality in any livestock system. This is much more important when the insults occur in early life, conditioning the development and adult life of animals. In ecology, for instance, it is widely accepted that high quality offspring are more reactive against predators, occupy better territories and find more mates, resulting in longer lives and greater fitness. It is also a given that adults exposed to famine or disease as juveniles have shorter lives and produce fewer offspring. To determine whether the environment influences the development and lifetime reproductive performance of rabbit females, we designed an experiment combining two factors: nest and pubescent development. Nest development was measured by recording the average daily gain of 864 females during suckling and during their pubescent life (63 to 184 d old), and body development was conditioned by providing animals a high-energy control (C) or a fibre-rich (F) diet. However, in the course of the study, 191 of the 864 pubescent females were exposed to rabbit haemorrhagic disease (RHD). This unexpected environmental insult was considered as a third experimental factor influencing the reproductive performance of rabbit females. Contrary to expectation, fast suckling gain impairs reproductive lifespan, resulting in fewer newborn kits produced in a female lifetime. Although females on diet F lived 37 d longer than females on diet C, this difference was only perceived in their pubescent life. In addition, the exposure to RHD interacted with suckling gain (SG). Exposed females with a fast SG produced more kits as adults, but in the absence of the virus, high SG females produced fewer newborn kits. These results open new insights into the management of future breeders during nesting and pubescent life.</p>

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“…In rabbits, birth weight is related to mortality (Elmaghraby and Elkholya, 2010), live performance throughout growth (Szendrő et al, 2006), carcass traits and meat quality (Metzger et al, 2011), and the reproductive performance of rabbit does (Savietto et al, 2011). Our study shows that the probabilities of individual survival at birth and at weaning were related to the body weight of kits at birth, as kits with lower birth weight had a higher probability of mortality.…”

Section: Birth Weight Effectmentioning

confidence: 99%

Prenatal factors affecting the probability of survival between birth and weaning in rabbits

et al. 2023

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The aim of this study was to analyse the relationships between kit birth weight and litter size with kit survival from birth to weaning, and to estimate the effects of place of birth, nest quality, cannibalism, lactation, parity order, season and sex. A total of 1696 kits from 82 females of the ITLEV2006 synthetic line were used in this study. A logistic regression was performed. Kit birth weight was directly related to the probability of the kit’s survival from birth to weaning, and increasing birth weight by one gram increased the likelihood of kit survival by 8% to 10% (P<0.001). In line with the decrease in birth weight of kits as the number of kits at birth increases, litter size showed a negative relationship to the probability of survival from birth to weaning, and increasing the litter by one kit at birth decreased the probability of survival of the kits by 5% to 9% (P<0.05). Regarding effects, cannibalism events in the litter decreased the probability of survival of the kits in the first week of life (P<0.01). Being born in the cage decreased the probability of survival of the kits from birth to weaning, and kits born outside the nest had a lower chance of survival than those born inside the nest (P<0.01). The order of parturition had a positive effect on probability of survival of the kits from 5 days of age to weaning (P<0.05). Female kits had a lower chance of survival than male kits, but only until 5 days of age (P<0.01). The lactation status displayed a negative effect on the probability of survival of the kits in the first week of life, and kits gestated in lactating females had a lower chance of survival than those gestated in non-lactating females (P<0.05). In conclusion, the probability of kit survival in the first days after parturition was affected mainly by its weight at birth, litter size, cannibalism events, place of birth of kit, parity order, sex and lactation status, while the probability of kit survival at weaning was directly related to its weight at birth, litter size, place of birth of kit and parity order.

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Influence of birth weight and nutrient supply before and after weaning on the performance of rabbit does to age of the first mating

Cited by 9 publications

References 7 publications

Resources allocation in reproductive rabbit does: a review of feeding and genetic strategies for suitable performance

Resources allocation in reproductive rabbit does: a review of feeding and genetic strategies for suitable performance

Influences of environment on the development and lifetime reproductive performance in domestic rabbit females

Prenatal factors affecting the probability of survival between birth and weaning in rabbits

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