PRODUCTION AND BEHAVIOUR OF GROWING RABBITS DEPENDING ON THE SEX-COMPOSITION OF THE GROUPS

The objective of this study was to analyse the effects of the sex-composition of group on the production and behaviour of growing rabbits. Altogether 168 growing rabbits were evaluated between the ages of 5 and 11 weeks. Seven rabbits were placed to each pen (0.9 x 0.5m). The rabbits placed to the same pen were full sibs (FS), only females (F), only males (M), or mixed sexes (FM). The group sex-composition had no effect on the production (weight gain, body weight, feed intake, feed conversion ratio, mortality). No differences were found for the occurrence of the behavioural patterns. Lesions on the body caused by the aggressive animals were initially observed at the age of 7 weeks. It was more frequent for the F group between the ages of 7-9 weeks, but on the contrary, at the age of 11 weeks the occurrence of the lesions was 40.5% in the M group which was higher than that of the other groups (23.8%-28.6%). Based on the results it could be concluded that housing the growing rabbits segregated by sex, primarily only males, was disadvantageous.