Effect of Natural Mating Frequency and Artificial Insemination on Fertility in Rabbits and Their Cyto-genetic Profile (X-chromatin)

Abstract

A study was conducted to determine the cyto-genetic profile of breeding rabbits and the impact of natural mating frequency and artificial insemination on its fertility status. Twenty four (post-pubertal) does aged 8-9 months and four matured (aged 10-12 months) fertile bucks of New Zealand white breed, were randomly assigned to four experimental groups (A, B, C and D) in a Completely Randomized Design (CRD). Groups A to C had been subjected to different level of daily mating of once a day (treatment A- the control), twice daily (treatment B) and thrice daily (treatment C) mating pattern. Animals of group D were subjected to artificial insemination. The experiment lasted for six months, during which two parities were obtained. The mean conception rate, kindling rate and litter size showed significant differences (p<0.001) among experimental groups according to increasing level of frequency of daily mating. Significant difference (p<0.05) was also observed on litter weight when decreasing the order of daily mating frequency. The frequency of daily mating had no influence (p>0.05) on gestation length. The X-chromatin incidence of does with zero conception and their males were within a normal range of 2-12% and 0-2%, respectively. It can be concluded that daily mating frequency has a favorable influence on reproductive parameters examined in this study.