Interaction of direct and social genetic effects with feeding regime in growing rabbits

Abstract Background Most rabbit production farms apply feed restriction at fattening because of its protective effect against digestive diseases that affect growing rabbits. However, it leads to competitive behaviour between cage mates, which is not observed when animals are fed ad libitum. Our aim was to estimate the contribution of direct ( $$d$$ d ) and social ( $$s$$ s ) genetic effects (also known as indirect genetic effects) to total heritable variance of average daily gain ( $${\text{ADG}}$$ ADG ) in rabbits on different feeding regimens (FR), and the magnitude of the interaction between genotype and FR (G × FR). Methods A total of 6264 contemporary kits were housed in cages of eight individuals and raised on full ( $$F$$ F ) or restricted ( $$R$$ R ) feeding to 75% of the ad libitum intake. A Bayesian analysis of weekly records of $${\text{ADG}}$$ ADG (from 32 to 60 days of age) in rabbits on $$F$$ F and $$R$$ R was performed with a two-trait model including $$d$$ d and $$s$$ s . Results The ratio between total heritable variance and phenotypic variance ( $$T^{2}$$ T 2 ) was low (