Digital breeding and assisted management in organic rabbit farming: the first results
Résumé
A smartphone application GAELA combining decision support (breeding management) and performance recording (single, direct and secure entry on a public server) for rabbit farming using individual monitoring of breeders was created. Performance of reproduction were compiled for 6 farms over 2 years of production (2018-2020). The livestock size averaged 30 does and varied largely among the farms. With 3.9 matings, 2.6 parturitions per female/year were obtained (66.8% fertility rate). Total number of kits born by parturition averaged 7.8 and total number of kits born alive averaged 7.1. The present study validated the utility of GAELA application and confirmed the modest performances in organic rabbit farming. The new version of GAELA application is available since the end of 2020. It provides new functions facilitating daily management and is improved to avoid entering incorrect information. New functions such as “Pregnancy Palpation”, “Adoption” and “Fattening Management” are also available in this version. The future version of GAELA will further provide the calculation and analysis of performances of breeders or of the flock, and it will build a national reference system for "non-conventional" rabbit farming.
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