Effect of lighting schedule on production of rabbit does

Abstract

The aim of the experiment was to analyse the effects of the lighting schedule on the rabbit does' production. The does were randomly housed in 2 rooms at the age of 11 wk. In the 1 st room, a continuous 16 h light period was applied (8:00-24:00) (16L:8D, control group; n60 does, 239 parturitions). In the 2 nd room, an 8 h light period was used (8:00-16:00) which was extended by an additional 1 h light period in the middle of the 16 h long dark period (23:00-24:00) 8 d prior to insemination (8L:7D:1L:8D, treated group; n59 does, 223 parturitions). The experiment was finished after 5 reproductive cycles. Significant differences (P<0.05) were obtained for body weight of the does (higher in treated group), litter size (control and treated groups: total born, 9.23 and 8.69; born alive, 8.83 and 8.24, at 35 d, 8.29 and 7.84; respectively), litter weight, individual weight of kits, suckling mortality and for feed consumption between 21 and 35 d of the lactation period. No significant differences were observed for number of inseminations per parturition, feed intake between d 0-21 of lactation, the does' condition at kindling measured by the TOBEC method and doe survival. The annual performance per doe was superior in the control group for number of kits born alive (65.0 and 58.8, P0.036), number of weaned (at 35 d) kits (58.9 and 53.8, P0.046) and total weight of the weaned kits (58.2 and 52.7 kg, P0.049) compared to the treated group. According to the results, the 8 h light period extended by an additional 1 h had no favourable effect on production compared to the continuous 16 h light. © WRSA UPV 2003.