Factores que influyen en el desempeño reproductivo de cuyes (Cavia porcellus) mejorados en una granja comercial del cantón Sigsig de la provincia del Azuay

Abstract

Guinea pigs are animals of great productive interest in the Andean region, because they are a food source of high nutritional value for the people of this region. The objective of this research was to evaluate the factors that influence the reproductive performance of an improved variety of guinea pigs (Cavia porcellus) from a commercial farm located in Canton Sigsig of the province of Azuay, Ecuador. The records of the commercial farm "ALFA" were used from 2015 to 2018. The effect of the cage, month and year of birth on the following productive variables was evaluated: number of offspring at birth, number of offspring, individual weight and total weight of the litter at weaning, as well as the sex of the offspring and the selection percentage. The cage affected (P˂0,05) all the reproductive variables of group 4. In all the variables studied the best values were found in the year 2018; the values of the reproductive variables fluctuated throughout the year according to the season. The number of pups born and weaned increased as the years of study passed. The individual weight at weaning in 2015 was 354.5 ± 12.36 g and in 2018 it increased to 492.0 ± 11.54 g; the total weight of the litter at weaning increased from 1263.8 ± 205.27 to 2935.8 ± 191.64 g from the year 2015 to 2018. The sex ratio of the offspring did not show statistical variation because of the cage, month or year of birth. The percentage of selection of pups for reproduction increased significantly (P˂0.05) from 38.7 in 2015 to 62% in 2018