1Department of Animal Genetics and Breeding College of Veterinary Science, Rajendranagar, Hyderabad 500 030, India.
2University Computer Centre, ANGR Agricultural University, Rajendranagar, Hyderabad 500 030, India.
The pre-weaning body weights at birth, 1, 2, 3 and 4 weeks, Average Daily Gain (ADG) during 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th week of age and Cumulative ADG (CADG) up to 2, 3 and 4 weeks of age of 171 Soviet Chinchilla bunnies were analyzed. Season of birth significantly affected the body weights at birth and 1-week age, year of birth had significant effect on body weight at one-week age, whereas the litter size at birth significantly influenced the body weight at birth and 4 weeks age, ADG during 4th week and CADG up to 4 weeks age. The overall least squares means of body weights at birth, 1, 2, 3 and 4 weeks of age were 57.98, 104.53, 161.68, 225.87 and 322.45 g, respectively, while the means for ADG during 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th week and CADG up to 2, 3 and 4 weeks of age were 6.70, 8.09, 9.17, 13.80, 7.40, 7.99 and 9.44 g, respectively. The estimates of heritability for pre-weaning body weights and growth rates ranged from low (0.07 0.19) to high (0.65 ± 0.31). The genetic correlations ranged from medium (−0.39) to high (0.86), while the phenotypic correlations varied from low (−0.17) to medium (0.49).
