Effect of genotype, housing and feeding on productive and carcass traits of growing rabbits

The aim of the experiment was to examine the combined effect of genotype, housing condition and hay supplementation on productive performance and carcass traits of growing rabbits, to obtain information on the differences among the different combinations of treatments. The genotypes, housing and feeding conditions were the same as in the previous experiment (Szendrő et al.). Data between 5 and 12 wk were evaluated. A clear tendency in weight gain, body weight at 12 wk and dressing out percentage can be detected in groups of PLarge rabbits: Cage-Pellet>Cage-Pellet+Hay>Pen-Pellet>Pen-Pellet+Hay, although in HGiant rabbits only the Cage-Pellet rabbits differed from the other 3 groups. The ratio of perirenal- and scapular fat showed similar tendencies in both genotypes. Between groups Cage-Pellet and Pen-Pellet+Hay, the ratios of hind and fore part to reference carcass showed increasing tendency, while that of mid part decreased. The highest ratios of ear lesions were observed in groups of HGiant-Pen-Pellet (55.3%) and PLarge-Pen-Pellet (50%), followed by PLarge-Pen-Pellet+hay (31.7%), although in the other groups no lesions occurred.