Rating Your Rabbits' Performance Will Determine Your Success or Failure

With a small number of rabbits, it is fairly easy to determine which is the most productive, or is it?

Commercial rabbitries must have a rating system to stay in business and to optimize their production. Using a simple data recording system such as explained below, it can be seen that what may at first seem to be a top producing doe may be in reality, a mediocre producer.

In the form below, an index is tabulated from information such as: date of kindling, number of kits weaned and total days of production. From those criteria, an index number is deduced which reflects the weekly productivity of the doe based on her total days in production.

(Sample for illustration purposes only) - A doe kindled on 01 Jan, weaned 6 kits on 04 Feb, with 35 days of production. This results in the following math - 6 ÷ (35÷7), or 6 ÷ 5 = 1.2.

The same doe was rebred 11 days after first kindling - 12 Jan, and kindled again on 11 Feb. 10 of her newest kits were weaned on 18 March, resulting in a total number of 16 kits weaned in a productive life of just 76 days. This time the math is - 16 ÷ (76÷7), or 16 ÷ 10.857 = 1.47.

For the third breeding, the doe was not successfully bred until 18 March. At this, her third litter, she had 8 on 19 April, lost 3, and weaned 5 on 23 May. Her total days of production is now 173. The math is now 21 ÷ (173÷7), or 21 ÷ 24.71 = an index to date of only .85.

It can be seen that the index figure accurately reflects the productivity of the doe taking into consideration her actual days of production. She went from 1.2 to 1.47 to .85. Any illness, sore hocks, breeding difficulties, etc. will affect the final tally and will be a factor on her index number.

If breeding stock is selected from those does in the top echelons of the index, you will in effect be improving your stock. One interesting facet of the index is that you can multiply it by 52 to see how many kits the doe can wean in a year. Some does in Denis's herd have produced 8 to 10 litters with indexes in the range of 1.26 to 1.43.

Courtesy Denis Bourdeau

Identity

DOE PRODUCTIVITY RECORD Cage:______ Father_________ Mother ________ Mother's Index No______.

Born:

Serviced By:

KINDLED

WEANED

PERFORMANCE

Male ID

Date

Date

Alive

Dead

Fostered

Date

Dead

Alive

Total Fryers

Days In Production

Index No.