Abstract

544 weekly body weight records of strains of New Zealand white rabbits were analyzed to model the growth of rabbits for improved breeding. The weekly body weights were collected from 2 to 22 weeks of age when the rabbits were sexually matured. Results of correlation analysis showed higher and highly significant (P<0.01) correlation coefficient values among body weights at early ages (0.79 to 0.91) than values obtained for higher ages (0.25 to 0.73). The R² (%) value of all polynomial functions used were above 93% except that of logarithmic thus suggesting good fit of the models. However, because animals cannot be exposed to an environment that will have abundant resources and growth cannot be at a constant rate hence the logistic model which incorporated these factors is assumed to have better predicted the growth of rabbits used in this study. The logistic model exhibited adequate fit with coefficient of determination of over 93.

Key words: Growth in rabbits for improved breeding.