Haematological and biochemical observations in four pure breeds of rabbits and their crosses under Egyptian environmental conditions

The present study was conducted to evaluate 16 crosses between 4 breeds of rabbits from a physiological point of view. The breeds tested were Baladi Red (BR), Chinchilla Giganta (ChG), French Giant Papillon (FGP) and Simenwar (S). A total number of 6144 blood samples were collected to detect the effect of crossing, age of kits, month of kindling and sex effects. The traits evaluated were: haematological parameters; red blood cell count (RBCs), haemoglobin concentration (Hb), haematocrit value (Ht%), biochemical parameters of plasma; total protein (TP), albumin (Alb), globulin concentration (Glo), albumin/globulin ratio (Alb/Glo) and triglycerides (TG). BR or its crosses, using BR sires or BR dams, showed the highest value of RBCs, Hb and Ht%. Crossbred rabbits obtained from mating BR and FGP rabbits had the highest Glo values. Rabbits which were born in May-June months had the highest values of TP and its fractions (Alb and Glo). Age of kits had a highly significant effect (P<0.001) on RBCs, Hb, Ht%, TP and TG. Moreover, Glo and Alb/Glo ratio (P<0.01) and Alb (P