Survival analysis in two lines of rabbits selected for reproductive traits

The objective of the study was to analyze the reproductive longevity of 2 selected lines of rabbits. The first one was the Prat line, a line selected in Spain on litter size at weaning, and raised in overlapping generations. The second one was a French line, the A1077 line, selected on litter size at birth and individual weight at 63 d of age, managed in batches, and artificially inseminated with discrete generations. Reproductive longevity was measured beginning at the first successful mating, assessed by a pregnancy diagnosis in the Prat line, and at the first kindling in the A1077 line. In the A1077 line, culling for infertility occurred after 3 unsuccessful artificial inseminations. The trait analyzed, defined as the doe length of productive life (LPL), was the time in days between date of the first positive pregnancy diagnosis and date of culling or death in the Prat line. In the A1077 line, the trait was the number of AI after the first kindling. Effects included in the model were year-season, litter size at birth, reproductive cycle or physiological status x cycle interaction, age at first mating, batch (only for the A1077 line), and additive genetic value of the animal as a random effect. Survival analyses were carried out with a Cox model for the Prat line and a discrete model for the A1077 line. The estimated heritability values for LPL were around 0.16 in the Prat and A1077 lines with a model including physiological status x cycle interaction effect. Removing this effect from the model led to an increase in estimated genetic variance with h2 = 0.24 and 0.19 in the Prat and A1077 lines, respectively. Including the traits LPL and number of AI from first fertile mating or AI in selection programs could increase reproductive longevity and decrease the replacement rate.