Effect of drinking water cooling on the reproductive performance of rabbit does housed under high ambient temperature

The aim of the study was to examine the effect of c ooled water at high ambient temperature on the reproductive performance of rabbit does. The experi ment was conducted at Kaposvár University with Pannon Ka multiparous rabbit does which were housed in two air-conditioned rooms where the average ambient temperature were 20 °C and 28 °C. S pecifically, three groups (n=30 does/group) were formed: in the positive control group (PC) the ambient temperature was 20 °C and the drinking water was not cooled, in the negative control group (NC) the ambient temperature was 28 °C and the drinking water was not cooled and in case of TP gro up the ambient temperature was on 28 °C and the drinking water was cooled. Rabbits were housed in w re-mesh cages and fed ad libitum with commercial diet. For the experiment, two reproducti on cycles were examined with the same rabbit does. During the first cycle, the cooled water’s te mp rature was 17-18 °C and in the second cycle it was 12 °C. In both cycles, the PC group displayed b etter feed intake, litter size, litter weight were and lower suckling mortality compared to both the NC an d TP groups. No differences were observed between NC and TP groups. It was concluded that coo ling the drinking water was not a good strategy to improve the reproductive performance of rabbit d oes kept under high ambient temperature.