CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
The increasing demand for animal protein has aroused so much interest in the production of animals with short generation intervals like rabbits (Obinne and Okorie, 2008). The expansion of the livestock industry in Nigeria can hold great promise to bridge the gap in the supply and demand of animal protein in the country (Apantaku et al.,1998) if attention is given to microlivestock such as rabbit. The composition and quality of rabbit meat is comparable to poultry and superior to meat of larger animals (ruminants), It is highly palatable with less fat, sodium and cholesterol (Atteh, 2004). Rabbits are commonly raised to provide tender meat for human consumption. Besides, high prolificacy is the most important economic factor in rabbit production (Belhadi, 2004; Nofal et al., 2005). In addition to this, rabbits have a number of other good characteristics that are advantageous to subsistence farming, such as their small body size and short gestation period of 30-31 days. The daily weight gain is directly proportional to the body weight which gives them rapid growth rate and early sexual maturity. These factors are responsible for rabbits attaining the weight of sexual maturity 30 % faster than other animals and makes them suitable as meat producing small livestock in developing countries (Arijeniwa et al., 2000, Ajayi et al., 2005).
The profitability of rabbit production depends on the reproductive intensity and the number of kits weaned from a litter (Castellini et al., 2010). Although rabbits are reflex ovulators, the ovulation following instant mating sometimes does not result in successful conception. The inherent prolificacy in rabbits is currently facing biochemical, biophysical and environmental challenges which depresses their performance, therefore there is need for the application of some biological strategies to enhance their reproductive efficiency. Biostimulation methods are natural and cheaper alternatives to improve the reproductive performance of animals. Such methods have been found or tested in bulls (Bailey et al., 2005), bucks (Bonanno et al., 2011), hamsters (Cooke et al., 2001) and rams (Kasimanickam et al., 2007). Other approach to promote a steady reproductive performance in animals is the application of hormonal protocols (Rebollar et al., 2006). This however, increases labour cost and possible adverse effects on health due to residual effects.
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