Effect of housing model on the productive performance of bouscat rabbits raised under subtropical conditions in Assiut [electronic resource].

Includes references.

In this study, the isolating efficiency of two housing models (traditional and non-traditional) was evaluated for raising male (M) and female (F) growing rabbits under Upper Egypt climatic conditions. The traditional housing model (TR) was built from concrete bricks, while the non-traditional one (NTR) was made from cheap and available materials such as mud bricks and palm leaves. Two hundred and thirty growing rabbits, six weeks old, were placed into two housing models, TR contained 40 M and 50 F and NTR contained 70 M and 70 F, both of them were under the same managerial, feeding and hygienic conditions throughout the year. The external and internal temperature (°C), relative humidity (%) and temperature humidity index (THI) were recorded daily and used for comparison between the two housing models. Besides, body weight (BW), body weight gains (BWG), feed intake (FI) and feed conversion (FC) were estimated in this study. The achieved results confirmed that THI was significantly better in NTR than in TR model all over the year, particularly in spring and summer seasons. Furthermore, .productive traits (BW, BWG, FI and FC increased relatively in NTR model at 8 wks of age. They were (1.2&1.8), (1.1&1.2), (0.3&1.2) and (0.8&1.1) in male and female, respectively. The corresponding figures at 24 wks were (8.8&9.4), (29.2&25.82), (11.4&10.3) and (21.0&16.5), respectively. It is worth to mention that the productive performance of Bouscat rabbits during the summer was better in the NTR than in the TR model. Therefore, it is recommended to use such model in small and large farms owing to its beneficial effects on the productive traits of growing rabbits as well as the availability of its materials which are considered of low cost, when compared with the total costs of other housing models such as TR.

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