Growth, slaughter performance and selected meat quality traits of New Zealand White and Grey Flemish Giant rabbits and their crosses

The purpose of the study was to compare the growth, slaughter performance and selected meat quality traits (such as meat texture and basic chemical composition of meat) of New Zealand White (NZW) rabbits, Grey Flemish Giant (GFG) rabbits and their crossbreds. Pre-slaughter, slaughter and meat quality traits were analyzed for 52 (26 male and 26 female) New Zealand White rabbits, 42 (21 male and 21 female) Grey Flemish Giant rabbits and 78 (39 male and 39 female) crosses thereof. After weaning at 35 days of age, animals were fed pellets ad libitum. Rabbits were weighed weekly from birth to 12 weeks of age. Slaughter and dissection at 12 weeks of age were performed. Body weight measurements showed that GFG rabbits, up to and including week 4, were characterized by significantly higher body weights compared to NZW rabbits and their crossbreds. In the 5th and 6th weeks of rearing the differences between the kits were not significant. From the 7th to the 10th week of life, the highest body weight was characteristic of crossbred rabbits. In the last two weeks of life, the highest body weight was achieved by young rabbits of the GFG breed. Significantly the greatest slaughter weight was attained by GFG rabbits, while the lowest value of this parameter was obtained by purebred NZW rabbits. The highest warm carcass weight and cold carcass weight were achieved by animals from the crossbred group. The shear force value was identical in the NZW rabbits and the crossbred group, while it was lower in the GFG rabbits. Hardness and chewiness were lowest in the NZW rabbit. Springiness and cohesiveness were highest in NZW rabbits. The meat of the crossbreds had the highest protein content and the lowest fat content. It was also shown that crossbreds had the highest water content in their meat and consequently statistically the lowest dry matter content.