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The inheritance of wool quantity and live weight in the French Angora rabbit

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 August 2016

D. Allain ,
H. de Rochambeau ,
R. G. Thébault  and
J. L. Vrillon
D. Allain
Affiliation:
institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, Centre de Toulouse, Station d’Amélioration Génétique des Animaux, BP 27, 31326 Castanet Tolosan, France
H. de Rochambeau
Affiliation:
institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, Centre de Toulouse, Station d’Amélioration Génétique des Animaux, BP 27, 31326 Castanet Tolosan, France
R. G. Thébault
Affiliation:
Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, Centre Poitou-Charentes, Unité Expérimentale Génétique Animale Phanères, Le Magneraud BP 52, 17700 Surgères, France
J. L. Vrillon
Affiliation:
Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, Centre Poitou-Charentes, Unité Expérimentale Génétique Animale Phanères, Le Magneraud BP 52, 17700 Surgères, France
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Abstract

More accurate definition of Angora rabbit breeding objectives has been investigated by considering multiple expression of different traits. Data on 9672 fleece harvests produced by 1343 Angora does which had at least one wool harvest were analysed in order to study genetic variability according to age. The animals of the French breed were defleeced and weighed at 8 and 21 weeks of age for the first and second time respectively. Thereafter, does were defleeced every 14 weeks and weighed 9 weeks before defleecing. Total fleece weight and live body weight were recorded at each harvest.

Direct heritability estimates of total fleece weight were similar accross ages and ranged from 0·31 to 0·42 . A significant maternal heritability was also observed at all ages of harvest. Maternal genetic estimates decreased with age from 0·44 at the first harvest to 0·10 for an adult harvest. Except for 8 weeks of age, genetic correlations between total fleece weight and live weight were generally not significantly different from zero. Genetic correlations of total fleece weight between the first and subsequent harvests were low (from 0·22 to 0·39) but genetic correlation estimates between consecutive harvests after the first were high, and ranged from 0·68 to 0·89 . The results suggest that the second harvest would be the first good predictor of breeding value for total fleece weight in the adult Angora rabbit.

Keywords

genetic parameterslive weightrabbitswool production
Type
Research Article
Information
Animal Science , Volume 68 , Issue 3 , April 1999 , pp. 441 - 447
Copyright
Copyright © British Society of Animal Science 1999

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