The effect of the increased lighting prior to insemination on the rabbit does' production.Original Title A termekenyites elott megnovelt megvilagitas hatasa az anyanyulak termelesere.

摘要

In order to replace the PMSG treatment used for oestrus synchronisation, the effects of the lighting increased from 8 to 16 hours were examined. The experiment was carried out at the Kaposvar University, using Pannon White rabbit does. Prior to the experiment each doe had 2-3 parturitions. The does were randomly allocated to the treatment groups in equal number then they were housed in two identical rooms. Rooms differed only in the applied lighting regime. In the first room a 16L:8D lighting regime was used throughout the experiment (16-16L group). In the other room (8-16L group) a lighting system of 8L:16D was used (lighting: between 6.00 and 14.00) after parturition, then the light period was increased to 16 hours per day 8 days prior to insemination (lighting: between 6.00 and 22.00 hours). Light intensity ranged between 40 and 70 lux. In the 16-16L and 8-16L groups, 153 and 154 inseminations (94 and 111 parturitions) of 55 and 54 rabbit does were evaluated, respectively. The increased lighting period prior to insemination favourably affected the pregnancy rate (16-16L: 61.4% vs. 8-16L: 72.0%, P<0.05). Although, the differences were not significant, number of kits born alive and litter size at 3 weeks of age were higher in the 8-16L group, while at the age of three weeks slightly higher individual and litter weights were recorded in the 16-16L group. No differences were found for suckling mortality between the groups. Comparing the pooled results per 100 inseminations, the 8-16L does produced more kits alive at birth (620 vs. 522, P<0.05) by 16%, which difference can be considered as substantial. The results suggest that light stimulation could be an alternative to PMSG treatments.