Effect of dietary calcium and magnesium on sex ratio and placental genes expression in New Zealand White Rabbit

Abstract

Sex ratio plays a major role in both productivity and profitability of the livestock industries. Mineral supplementation for the skewing of sex ratio is cost-effective with minimal side effects. Hence the present study was aimed to determine the effect of mineral supplementation on the skewing of sex ratio using New Zealand White rabbits. A total of 25 adult female rabbits were assigned to 5 groups (n=5), the treatment groups were supplemented with increased percentages of calcium (Ca) and magnesium (Mg); T1 (0.4 % Ca and 0.01 % Mg), T2 (0.6 % Ca and 0.02 % Mg), T3 (0.8 % Ca and 0.03 % Mg), T4 (1.0 % Ca and 0.04 % Mg) and the control group was fed with regular pellet feed respectively for 7 months. The rabbit does were serviced 3 weeks after the mineral treatment and the resulting sex of their offspring were recorded at kindling in each breeding cycle by adopting 56-day extensive reproductive rhythm. newline