RABBIT LOCAL BREED: IDENTIFICATION AND USE AS AN ALTERNATIVE ACTIVITY IN SMALL SCALE FARMS
– PRELIMINARY STUDY –
Alma Llambiri1, Lumturi Papa2, Kristaq Kume1
1Centre for Agricultural Technology Transfer, Fushe Kruja, Albania
2Agricultural University of Tirana, Albania
kkume@icc-al.org
The rabbit is a limited spread spices in Albania. It is rather difficult to determine the origin of the local rabbit population of Albania. It can be classified in a middle breeding group. It is a population with high morphological and biological variability, with high variation in the coat color. The preliminary results of identification and characterization show that the local rabbit population is under the uncontrolled gene migration causing the high phenotypic variability. Causal and uncontrolled copulations are frequent in this population. Mature females and males have a live body weight respectively of 3–3.5 kg and 4–5 kg. The age of does at the first mating is 4.5–5 months. The number of litters per year is 4–5, the litter size at birth (total born) 6.5–7.6, at weaning is 6–7. The young rabbits weight is 2330 g on average at 98 days of age. So one doe can produce up to 62 kg of meat live weight and its longevity is 3–4 years. The gross income of the farmer (small scale farms with limited inputs) from one doe per year is in round 400 Euro. The rabbit local breed is very well adapted to hard living conditions. Its management in small scale farms conditions as an alternative activity could be profitable as well as helpful for the rabbit local breed conservation and development in Albania.
Keywords: rabbit; description; performance; growth rate; small scale farm
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