Mass selection for 70-day body weight in rabbits

Five generations of phenotypic mass selection for increased 70-d body weight (market age, MW) were conducted in an experimental population of rabbits. Market-age weight was recorded for 1,616 rabbits from 336 litters (sired by 121 bucks and reared by 321 does). Additional growth and carcass traits measured in control (C) and select (S) lines were 28-d weaning weight (WW), 28- to 70-d average daily gain (ADG), carcass yield percentage (CY), loin primal cut percentage (LP), and lean-to-bone ratio in the loin primal cut (LBR). Average inbreeding coefficients in litters by the fifth generation were 10.3 and 11.2% for C and S lines, respectively. After five generations the difference in weighted cumulative selection differential between lines for MW was 1,015 g. Using an animal model with REML and regression procedures, observed and realized estimated heritabilities for MW were .12 and .11, respectively. Estimates of heritability by REML were .04, .17, .37, .25, and .35 for WW, ADG, CY, LP, and LBR, respectively. Bivariate REML estimates of direct genetic, common litter, and residual correlations between MW and a second growth trait (WW or ADG) were all positive and moderate to high in magnitude (range of .56 to .98). At generation five, mean direct breeding values of S and C line rabbits for MW were 133.2 and 12.0 g. Genetic trends were 29.1 and 29.4 g per generation for MW, estimated according to regressions of estimated mean breeding value (obtained from mixed-model analyses) or of observed S minus C line mean differences on generation number, respectively. Correlated response for WW, ADG and LBR was consistently favorable, whereas results for other carcass traits studied were inconclusive. Selection was effective for increasing MW performance.