Document Type : Original Article
Authors
1
Dept. Ciencia Animal, Universidad Politécnica de Valencia, Camino de Vera s/n, 46022 Valencia, España
2
Poultry Production Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Kafr El-Sheikh, Kafr El-Sheikh University, Egypt.
3
Carrera de Medicina Veterinaria y Zootecnia, Universidad Politécnica Salesiana, Calle Vieja 12-30 y Elia Liut, Cuenca, Ecuador.
4
Department of Animal Production, Faculty of Agriculture at Moshtohor, Benha University, Egypt.
Abstract
The most important issues of the meat rabbit breeding are discussed, particularly the ones related to the foundation and selection of specialized lines, paternal and maternal, to be used in a scheme of three way crossing. Special attention is given to the analysis of different approaches to found new lines, but are also commented the methods and criteria of selection and the responses obtained in different programmes. A comparison is made among four maternal lines, founded on different criteria and sharing the same environment for long periods of time. Important differences were detected for litter size, fertility, growth and longevitybetween the lines attheir origin, which can be explained based on the selectioncriteria used at the time of their foundation. Therefore, all the issues related with the foundation of a new line should be carefully considered. The foundation of a line exclusively based on the concept of breed without considering production criteria seems less suitable than other criteria more closely related to production.
Keywords
)
View on SCiNiTO