الفهرس Only 14 pages are availabe for public view
 |  | from | 75 |  |  |
| | | from | 75 | | |
Abstract
The present study included two experiments and carried out at the rabbitry of the Experimental Farm, Faculty of Agriculture, Suez Canal University, Ismailia, Egypt, throwth two successive years (2007 and 2008). Objectives of the study were: study the effect of seasons of the year on the physiological and semen characteristics of male rabbit bucks of two different breeds (NZW and Cal), study the effect of addition of Vit. C (20 mg/kg BW/day to rabbit bucks) on alleviating the effects of high housing temperature during summer on the studied traits. Results summarized that summer season had significant adverse effects on most physiological and semen quality traits of rabbit bucks under Egyptian conditions. In this respect, management should be improved in order to play a significant role in rabbit farmes during hot seasons. Cal breed showed significant values of studied parameters better than those observed in NZW breed under summer conditions, and it indicated that the Cal breed had more heat tolerance and acclimated to hot conditions than NZW under such climate. Addition of ascorbic acid (vitamin C) at a dose of 20 mg/kg BW/day to rabbit bucks exposed to heat stress reduced the pronounced adverse effects of heat stress on most physiological and seminal traits in both breeds. This treatment could be used as a routine treatment in rabbit commercial production farms during summer season.
Key words: Rabbits bucks, seasonality, heat stress, vit C, semen characteristics