Comparative study of controlled breeding pair of 4 versus 5 births a year in the growing of guinea pigs

Abstract

The present work was carried out in 2005 and 2006, at the Yauris Farm of the U.N.C.P., located in El Tambo district, Huancayo Province in Juní­n region at an altitude of 3 280 meters above sea level. The objective was to evaluate the productive and reproductive parameters in guinea pigeon undergoing two treatment systems, determining in both the number of successful births per year, the number of babies born per year, the number of weaned babies per year, the average litter size per year, the number of weaned babies for each breeding female per year and the total weight of weaned babies per treatment in the year; that is to say the calculated productivity of each treatment which can be expressed in the number of kilos of weaned babies in the year per every breeding female. The results show that more than 25 births in a year with treatment T2 (breeding controlled to 5 births per year), with a significant difference (p<0,01). Likewise, 52 more babies in treatment T2 were registered, with a significant difference (p<0,05). In relation to the size of the average litter, 2,67 babies resulted from treatment T2 (5 births per year) versus 2,74 babies from treatment T1 (4 births per year).

In an analysis of variance, the difference of 0,07 babies in favor of treatment T1 was not statistically significant. With respect to the average number of weaned babies per year per birth, 1,29 babies resulted in treatment T2 (5 births per year) versus 1,23 babies in treatment T1 (4 births per year). In an analysis of variance, the difference of 0,09 weaned babies per breeding female in favor of treatment T2 (5 births per year) was not statistically significant. With respect to the number of weaned babies per year per breeding female, 6,43 babies resulted from T2 (5 births per year) versus 6,14 babies from treatment T1 (4 births per year). In an analysis of variance, the difference of 0,09 weaned babies in favor of treatment T2 was not statistically significant. Finally, the total weight of weaned babies per year resulting from each treatment was 8 179 kilos in treatment T2 (5 births per year) versus 5 763 kilos in treatment T1 (4 births per year). In an analysis of variance, the difference of 2 416 kilos of weaned babies in favor of treatment T2 was highly significant (p<0,01). The work concludes stating that it is possible to significantly increase the productivity of breeding females, expressed in «kilos of weaned babies per breeding female per year», when the schedule of breeding is controlled to 5 births per year