Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 7, 2025

Intranasal Immunization and Milk Collection in Studies of Maternal Immunization in New Zealand White Rabbits Oryctolagus cuniculus
Published on: July 31, 2021
Effect of genotype of growing rabbits on productive performance with special reference to residual feed intake at hot
Moataz Fathi1,2, Magdy Abdelsalam1,3, Ibrahim Al-Homidan1
1Department of Animal Production and Breeding, College of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Qassim University, Buraydah, Al-Qassim 51452, Saudi Arabia.
Objective:
Better feed efficiency can be achieved by selecting rabbit genotypes with lower residual feed intake (RFI) under high ambient temperatures.
Methods:
Two genotypes of rabbits (Jabali, Saudi local breed and imported, Spanish V-line) were used to derive RFI and to investigate the relationship between RFI and productive traits. In total, 250 animals (125 each) were housed in individual wire mesh cages in a semi-closed rabbitry. Growth performance, feed criteria, carcass evaluation, biochemical blood analysis, and immune responses were determined.
Results:
Superiority in growth performance, feed efficiency, carcass characteristics, and cellular immunity was recorded in the Jabali breed compared to the V-line genotype. According to regression analysis, a significant effect of daily body weight gain was found, upon computing the expected feed intake in both genotypes. Moreover, mid-body weight0.75 had a significant effect only in the Jabali breed. Positive correlation coefficients between RFI and dry matter feed intake or feed conversion ratio were found. The same trend in this relationship between RFI and productive traits was observed in some cases for both genotypes. An opposite trend in correlations was observed in the studied genotypes for some traits.
Conclusion:
The results suggest that the relationship between RFI and productive traits must be taken into consideration in rabbit breeding programs under the prevailing environment. However, further studies are required to investigate the effect of rabbit genotype and environmental factors on computing RFI.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Background and Environment Affect Phenotype
An example of how genetic background affects phenotype can be seen in horses. The Extension gene in horses is responsible for their coat color. A wild-type gene (EE) produces black pigment in the coat, while a mutant gene (ee) produces red pigment. A...
Production Efficiency
Epistasis
Energy Budgets

