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355165

Studying The possibility of Improving Post-weaning Body Weight Traits of New Zealand White Rabbits Using Different Selection Indices

Article

Last updated: 01 Jan 2025

Subjects

-

Tags

Animal Reproduction & Artificial Insemination

Abstract

The article aims to improve post-weaning body weight traits of New Zealand white rabbits (NZW). A total of 1,904 progenies dataset of rabbits belonging to a research rabbit farm of the Department of Animal Production, Faculty of Agriculture, Al-Azhar University, for three generations from 2019 to 2022 was used to estimate genetic parameters of body weights and to establish different selection indices with desired gains. Body weights (BW) in grams were measured at 4 (BW4), 6 (BW6), 8 (BW8), 10 (BW10) and 12 (BW12) weeks of age (referred to in the selection indices with X1, X2, X3, X4 and X5, respectively). To analyze the data, a multi-trait animal model was applied. Heritability estimates ranged from 0.12 for BW4 to 0.23 for BW12. The expected genetic gain per generation (ΔG) ranged from 5 to 50.4 g for BW4, 8.1 to 70.4 g for BW6, 13.8 to 98 g for BW8, 22.1 to 78.1 g for BW10 and from -9.47 to 130 g for BW12. To maximize the genetic response to selection, four indices were suggested based on their relative efficiency (RIH): I13: -8.31 X1 +5.14 X2+1.22 X5 (RIH = 0.64), I6: -1.47X2 +1.30 X4 (RIH = 0.59), I17: -1.894 X2 +3.976 X3-1.343 X5 (RIH = 0.58) and I10: 0.62X2 +0.078 X5 (RIH = 0.57). Regarding characteristics related to body weight in NZW rabbits it is possible to utilize selected programs aimed at genetic enhancement. However, it is important to gather additional data sources and expand to enhance indices accuracy.

DOI

10.21608/ejvs.2024.284394.2025

Keywords

body weight, genetic gain, Rabbits, selection indices

Authors

First Name

Mohamed

Last Name

Shehab El-Din

MiddleName

Ibrahim

Affiliation

Department of Animal Production, Faculty of Agriculture, Al-Azhar University, Nasr City, Egypt.

Email

shehabeldin@azhar.edu.eg

City

Cairo

Orcid

0000-0001-7496-2964

First Name

Mahmoud

Last Name

Gharib

MiddleName

-

Affiliation

Animal Production Research Institute, Agriculture Research Center, Dokki, Cairo, Egypt

Email

mghreeb95@yahoo.com

City

-

Orcid

-

First Name

Ramzi

Last Name

Ahmed

MiddleName

A.

Affiliation

Faculty of Agriculture, Al-Azhar University

Email

ramzyahmed@azhar.edu.eg

City

-

Orcid

-

First Name

Esteftah

Last Name

El-Komy

MiddleName

Mohamed

Affiliation

Animal Production Department, Agriculture and Biology Research Institute, National Research Centre, El Buhouth St., 12622 Dokki, Cairo, Egypt.

Email

emelkomy@gmail.com

City

-

Orcid

0000-0002-4342-8811

Volume

56

Article Issue

7

Related Issue

48611

Issue Date

2025-07-01

Receive Date

2024-04-22

Publish Date

2025-07-01

Page Start

1,527

Page End

1,532

Print ISSN

1110-0222

Online ISSN

2357-089X

Link

https://ejvs.journals.ekb.eg/article_355165.html

Detail API

https://ejvs.journals.ekb.eg/service?article_code=355165

Order

355,165

Type

Original Article

Type Code

140

Publication Type

Journal

Publication Title

Egyptian Journal of Veterinary Sciences

Publication Link

https://ejvs.journals.ekb.eg/

MainTitle

Studying The possibility of Improving Post-weaning Body Weight Traits of New Zealand White Rabbits Using Different Selection Indices

Details

Type

Article

Created At

23 Dec 2024