Growth and Mortality in Pre and Post-Weaning Rearing Periods for Sudanese Local Rabbits

In the present experiment 230 rabbits (133 in the first generation and 97 in the second generation) were used to investigate body weight from birth to 14 weeks of age (WT0 to WT14), pre and post-weaning weight gain , % of still birth(SB) , % born alive(BL), total kits weaned (KW) pre-weaning (PRM)and post-weaning mortality(PSM). Growth curve was also obtained for this local breed. Least square means for WT0.WT2, WT4, WT6, WT8, WT10, WT12 and WT14 were43.10±0.63, 176.76±4.10, 320.99±6.59, 471.23±9.14, 600.48±10.68, 725.73±11.68, 877.26±12.94 and 1008.79±13.08 gm respectively. Coefficients of variation for body weight traits were found to be high (above 20%). Seasons of the year significantly (P?0.05) affected BW2, BW4, BW6, BW8 and BW10. Daily weight gain in this study was low in both pre- and post-weaning periods. The first generation showed high pre- and post-weaning mortalities than the second one. However, pre-weaning mortality was high than post-weaning mortality in both generations. Seasons significantly (P?0.05) affected pre-weaning mortality, being higher in summer days than in autumn and winter. It was concluded that, local Sudan rabbit dams suffer from poor maternal ability particularly in monoparus dams reflected on high percentage of pre-weaning mortality. Also, it was clear that summer hot days caused severe kit deaths, so it is advisable to breed rabbits in autumn and winter.