author(s)
Nusrat Nabi Khan, Mubashir Ali Rather, A Hamadani, Aadil Ayaz and Eajaz Ahmad Dar

abstract
Rabbit is a multipurpose animal much valued for meat production of superior quality protein with high biological value. The present study was undertaken on 689 birth records of six exotic breeds born to 55 sires. The data were collected for birth weight, weaning weight and yearling body weight over a period of three years (2009 to 2011) from six different exotic breeds of rabbits ( Soviet Chinchilla, Grey Giant, California, French Angora, German Angora, New Zealand White ) maintained at Government Angora Rabbit Farm, Wusan- Pattan, District Baramulla, Kashmir. Least squares techniques outlined by ^[12] were adapted to analyze the data with breed, gender, year and season as fixed effects. The overall least means for birth weight (BWT), weaning weight (WWT) and adult body weight (ABW) were 0.46±0.01, 1.17±0.02 and 3.29±0.07, respectively. The statistical analysis revealed that the effect of year and sex was non-significant whereas the effect of the breed was highly significant (p=0.01) on all the traits under study. The sexual dimorphism was slightly in favor of the female kit with respect to all traits. The effect of season was significant (p>0.05) on BWT and AWT with winter born kits were heavier at all stages. The Soviet Chinchilla breed demonstrated higher body and superiority (p<0.01) with respect to all traits when compared to other breeds. The results indicate that data should be corrected for non-genetic factors while estimating breeding values.