Table 3.
Conception rate, kindling rate, abortion rate, and least square means for litter size, number of dead litters, and litter weight for females mated with rabbits fed the control (CON) diet and the organic selenium (OSe) diet.
| Variable1 | Treatment | Pooled SE2 | P-value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CON (n = 23) | OSe (n = 23) | |||
| Conception rate, % | 43.5 (10/23) | 56.5 (13/23) | – | 0.266 |
| Kindling rate, % | 60.0b (6/10) | 100a (13/13) | – | 0.025 |
| Abortion rate, % | 40.0a (4/10) | 0.0b (0/13) | – | 0.023 |
| Litter size at birth, % | 3.75b | 6.15a | 0.01 | 0.038 |
| No. of dead litters at birth | 0.88 | 1.31 | 0.27 | 0.610 |
| Litter weight at birth, g | 137b | 279a | 0.18 | 0.002 |
Conception rate, % = no. of pregnant females on day 10/total no. of inseminated females × 100; kindling rate, % = no. of delivered females/total no. of pregnant females × 100; abortion rate, % = no. of females aborted/total no. of pregnant females × 100; litter size at birth = total no. of litters born/total no. of kindling females; and no. of dead litters at birth = no. of dead litters at birth/total no. of litters at birth.
Pooled SE = pooled standard error.
Means within row marked with different superscript letters are significantly different at P <0.05.