| Sumario: | [EN] In Tunisia, the breeding of rabbits often represents an importan! componen! of projects of rural development. This breeding is developed in small units (15 to 20 does) using technologies of the industrial system (buildings, wire mesh cages, concentrate feeding .... ). Fifteen units established within the framework of a project of rural development were studied during one year. On average, the dimension of a breeding unit was 18.4 New Zealand White does and 2 Californian males. The number of breeding does per mother cage was 1 .15. Matings were performed 3 to 7 days after each kindling and the fertility rate was 66.2 kindlings per 100 matings. On average, 6.18 kindlings were observed in a mother cage per year (5.37 I doe), with a litter size of 7.64 kits. Out of the 47 kits born per mother cage, only 27 (about 65% of !hose born alive) were present at slaughter time (2.24 kg alive). These low performances were mainly explained by peor management of the units (lack of hygiene, insufficiently controlled reproduction, errors in the building management, ... ). The expense of pelleted feed was 4.55 kg per kg of live weight sold. The gross financia! income above the feeding and direct expenses was 60 Tunisian Dinars (about 42 US dollars). This low income was the result of very low productivity of the units and of excessive charges, mostly for pelle! feeding. lf the reimbursement of the expenses invested to create the unit (4400 Dinars/unit) were included, ali breeders were in a negative balance situation during this first year of production. On the other hand, this project allowed the integration of rural women in the economic or marketing system, and is presently blooming despite the very traditional and conservative society. The economic success of this type of project will depend on the improvement of the technical management of rabbit production and a reduction of investments costs. lt would permit a sustainable rabbit production system in the area with new employment
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