Performance of wool type angora rabbits under temperate conditions of Kashmir (J&K), INDIA

An attempt has been made to determine the production and quality performance of wool type Angora rabbits and screen out the best suitable breed under temperate conditions of Kashmir. A total of 202 records of French Angora and German Angora rabbit breeds maintained for 3 years (2009-2011) were evaluated to estimate the performance of quality and production traits in relation to genetic and non-genetic factors. For French Angora rabbits, the overall body weight gain (adult weight), annual wool yield (AWY), staple length (SL), medullation percentage (MP) and fiber diameter (FD) were found to be 2.506 ± 0.0432 kg, 303.575 ± 0.316 gms, 5.161 ± 0.0183 cms, 2.228 ± 0.0217 % and 12.289 ± 0.0178 µ, respectively. In case of German Angora rabbits, the values of 2.506 ± 0.033 kg, 605.96 ± 0.474 gms, 6.219 ± 0.0279 cms, 2.513 ± 0.0348 % and 12.347 ± 0.0265 µwere observed for the respective traits. The breed was found to reveal significant effect (P<0.01) on birth weight, weaning weight, annual weight, annual wool yield, staple length and medullation percentage and non-significant effect on fiber diameter. The sex was found to exhibit non-significant effect on all the traits under study. Based on present study, it can be concluded that German Angora breed of rabbit is most suitable for angora wool production and quality under temperate climatic conditions of Kashmir region.