Potential Growth and Chemical Composition Changes During the Growth of New Zealand White Rabbits
Adenike Adetutu Eniwaiye | Zikhona Theodora Rani-Kamwendo
This study was conducted on New Zealand White male and female rabbits over a period of 133 days to ascertain their potential growth rates, body composition for major body parts, and chemical makeup. A total of 220 New Zealand White rabbits, evenly distributed between males and females, were used for this study. One hundred rabbits for potential growth were weighed from day 14 to day 140, while twelve rabbits, six males and six females, were randomly selected at days 14, 21, 28, 35, 42, 56, 70, 84, 112, and 140 for carcass analysis. Although the rate of maturation was faster in females than in males, the Gompertz equation fitted separately to the growth data for males and females indicated that the body weights were similar throughout the trial (0.0243 vs. 0.0239), but males had a higher mature weight (315 g) than the females (309 g). Mature body protein weights averaged 1497 g in males and 843 g in females, and mature body lipid contents averaged 252 and 227 g, respectively. The rate of maturation per day of pelt-free body protein of males and females was 0.0103 and 0.0172, while that of body lipids was 0.0410 and 0.0471, respectively. Separate equations were required for males and females to describe the allometric relationship between protein and lipids in the pelt-free body. The rate of maturation of pelts in females was higher than in males (0.0249 vs. 0.0214/d), and the mature weight was lower (456 vs. 523 g, respectively).
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