Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-q99xh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T13:37:12.607Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Angora rabbit wool production: non-genetic factors affecting quantity and quality of wool

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 September 2010

H. de Rochambeau ,
R. G. Thébault  and
J. Grun
H. de Rochambeau
Affiliation:
Station d'Amélioration Génétique des Animaux, INRA Centre de Recherches de Toulouse, BP 27, 31326 Castanet Tolosan, France
R. G. Thébault
Affiliation:
URLAF, INRA Domaine Pluridisciplinaire du Magneraud, BP 52, 17700 Surgères, France
J. Grun
Affiliation:
Station d'Amélioration Génétique des Animaux, INRA Centre de Recherches de Toulouse, BP 27, 31326 Castanet Tolosan, France
Get access

Abstract

A study was made of the wool production of 490 females and 137 males of a strain of French Angora rabbit. The female adults weighed 4107 g and produced 249 g of wool every 14 weeks. Production was low for the first harvest (35 g) which consisted mainly of short wool. It then increased rapidly (203 g for the third harvest). After the third harvest, three-quarters of long wool was also bristly. The length of bristles (102 mm) decreased by 4 mm, and that of downs (62 mm) increased by 3 mm when the harvest number went from two to four. The coefficient of correlation between wool production and live weight was lower than 0·30. Adult females born in autumn produced 16 g more than those born in summer. Wool production was at a maximum during autumn and winter harvests and at a minimum in summer.

Winter fleeces had longer bristles and down than summer ones. Males produced well wool than females. When a female dropped a litter, her wool production decreases by proportionately 0·1 to 0·2. Bristly fleeces were clearly different from woolly fleeces on account of higher weight, homogeneity and compression. Objective criteria to evaluate tautness will have to found.

Keywords

rabbitsseasonalitywool production
Type
Research Article
Information
Animal Production , Volume 52 , Issue 2 , April 1991 , pp. 383 - 393
Copyright
Copyright © British Society of Animal Science 1991

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Allain, D. and Thebault, C. 1988. Effects of various melatonin treatments on summer wool production in Angora rabbits. Proceedings of the 4th Congress of the World Rabbit Science Association, Budapest, pp. 441–448.Google Scholar
Caro, W., Magofke, J. C., Garcia, X., Garcia, G., Carvajal, S., Gecele, P., Jadrijevic, D. and Bruna, G. 1984a. [Environmental factor affecting fleece production in Angora rabbits]. Investigaciones del Departamento de Production Animal, 1981–1982, Universitad de Chile, pp. 200–206.Google Scholar
Caro, W., Magofke, J. C., Garcia, X., Garcia, G., Carvajal, S., Gecele, P., Jadrijevic, D. and Bruna, G. 1984b. [Variations in the fleece of adult Angora rabbits with sex and physiological status.] Investigaciones del Departamento de Production Animal, 1981–1982, Universitad de Chile, pp. 226–228.Google Scholar
Caro, W., Magofke, J. C., Garcia, X., Garcia, G., Carvajal, S., Gecele, P., Jadrijevic, D. and Bruna, G. 1984c. [Length of useful life and some fleece characters of Angora rabbits.] Investigaciones del Departamento de Production Animal, 1981–1982. Universitad de Chile, pp. 228–229.Google Scholar
Charlet-Lery, G., Fiszlewicz, M., Morel, M. T., Rougeot, J. and Thebault, R. G. 1985. [Animal variation in the nutritional status of female Angora rabbits during seasonal periods of hair growth.] Annales de Zootechnie 34: 447–462.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Finzi, A., Fioravanti, S. and Ramella Pollone, F. 1989. [Characteristics of Angora wool in relationship to shearing period.] Rivista di Conglicoltura 26: (3), 45–48.Google Scholar
Jadrijevic, U. D., Garcia, F. X., Calvez Morros, J. F., Herrera, S. L. and Lopez, E. M. 1982. [Hair growth in Angora rabbits at 70-days intervals between shearing.] Avarices en Production Animal 7: 91–99.Google Scholar
Jelinek, P., Polach, A., Kukla, F. and Klvana, P. 1980. [The relationship of body weight with fibre yield in Angora rabbits.] Acta Universitatis Agriculturae, Facultas Agronomica, Brno 28: 205–211.Google Scholar
Lee, T. M. and Zucker, I. 1988. Vole infant development is influenced perinatally by maternal photoperiodic history. American Journal of Physiology 255: R831–R838.Google ScholarPubMed
Magofke, J. C. S., Garcia, F. X. and Caro, T. 1982a. [Environmental factors influencing Angora rabbit hair production.] Avances en Production Animal 7: 113–123.Google Scholar
Magofke, J. C. S., Garcia, F. X. and Caro, T. 1982b. [Environmental factors affecting the Angora rabbit's growth.] Avances en Produccion Animal 7: 125–134.Google Scholar
Montoya Onate, M. E. 1985. [Some wool characters in Angora rabbits. 2. The 4th to 8th shearings.] Avancesen Produccion Animal 10: 188–189 (Abstr.).Google Scholar
Ocetkiewicz, J. and Tuczynska, J. 1981. [Wool production of Angora rabbits farm.] Roczniki Naukowe Zootechniki 8: 75–80.Google Scholar
Ricke Munoz, L. 1984. [Production of Angora rabbits in cages with a sloping floor, at four levels.] Avances en Produccion Animal 9: 213 (Abstr.).Google Scholar
Rochambeau, H. DE and Thebault, R. G. 1989. Genetics of the rabbit for wool production. Animal Breeding Abstracts 58: 3–15.Google Scholar
Rougeot, J. and Thebault, R. G. 1983. [Seasonal variations in coat composition and structure with special reference to the Angora rabbit]. Annales de Zootechnie 32: 287–314.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rougeot, J. and Thebault, R. G. 1984. [The Angora Rabbit, Its Fleece and Its Breeding.] Les éditions du Point Vétérinaire, Maisons-Alfort, France.Google Scholar
Rougeot, J., Thebault, R. G. D. 1986. [Use of melatonin implants to prevent reduction of summer wool production in Angora rabbits]. Annales de Zootechnie 35: 363–372.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schlolaut, W. 1987. Nutritional needs and feeding of German Angora rabbits. Journal of Applied Rabbit Research 10: 111–121.Google Scholar
Schlolaut, W. and Lange, K. 1983. [The influence of sex, age, technique of feeding and methionine content of feed on quantitative characteristics on wool grown in Angora rabbits.] Zuchtungskunde 55: 69–84.Google Scholar
Viranyi Kovacs, A. 1988. Histological examination of the hair follicles of Angora rabbits from various body regions in different seasons. Proceedings of the 4th Congress of the World Rabbit Science Association, Budapest, Vol. 3, pp. 576 (Abstr.).Google Scholar