Genetic Selection and Reproductive Performance in Rabbits
Summary
Genetic selection in rabbit breeding has focused on enhancing key reproductive traits such as litter size, kit survival, growth rate and reproductive longevity. Early programmes often targeted single traits under ideal conditions, risking reduced resilience when environmental constraints were imposed. More recent approaches combine multi-trait selection indices with cryopreservation of embryos to conserve genetic diversity and assess long-term responses. Selection for growth rate, ovulation rate and longevity has revealed trade-offs among prenatal development, maternal body reserves and the onset of reproductive senescence, underlining the need to balance productivity with animal welfare and robustness. Investigations into additive and non-additive genetic effects, heritability estimates and repeatability measures have refined our understanding of the genetic architecture of prolificacy. Practical strategies such as within-litter homogeneity based on birth-weight quartiles have been proposed to standardise kit growth and improve survival across successive parities. Collectively, these research efforts inform sustainable rabbit production by guiding selection protocols that maximise reproductive output while preserving genetic resources.
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Genetic Selection and Reproductive Performance in Rabbits publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in genetic selection and reproductive performance in rabbits across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Heritability: The proportion of observed variation in a trait that is attributable to additive genetic factors in a given population and environment.
Cryopreservation: The process of preserving biological material, such as embryos, by cooling to sub-zero temperatures to halt biological activity.
Rederivation: Regeneration of a live population from cryopreserved embryos, enabling direct comparison of genetic lines under uniform conditions.
Prolificacy: The capacity of a doe to produce a large number of offspring per reproductive cycle.
Body reserves: Energy stores, primarily fat and protein, that a doe mobilises to support gestation and lactation.
Genetic drift: Random changes in allele frequencies within a population due to chance, which can reduce genetic diversity over time.
Foundational criterion: The initial set of traits chosen to guide a selection programme and define its genetic base.
References
- Effect of does parity order on litter homogeneity parameters. Italian Journal of Animal Science (2020).
- Reproductive robustness differs between generalist and specialist maternal rabbit lines: the role of acquisition and allocation of resources. Genetics Selection Evolution (2015).
- Late reproductive senescence in a rabbit line hyper selected for reproductive longevity, and its association with body reserves. Genetics Selection Evolution (2007).
- Rederivation by Cryopreservation of a Paternal Line of Rabbits Suggests Exhaustion of Selection for Post-Weaning Daily Weight Gain after 37 Generations. Animals (2020).
- Evaluation of foetal growth, litter size and reproductive performance in rabbit after 18 generations of selection for growth rate using cryopreserved embryos. Livestock Science (2021).
- Correlated Response on Growth Traits and Their Variabilities to Selection for Ovulation Rate in Rabbits Using Genetic Trends and a Cryopreserved Control Population. Animals (2021).
- Genetic parameters of growth traits and carcass weight of New Zealand white rabbits in a tropical dry forest area. Journal of Advanced Veterinary and Animal Research (2021).
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