Productive and reproductive parameters of guinea pigs (Cavia porcellus) of the Peru breed

The objective of this study was to determine the productive and reproductive parameters of guinea pigs of the Peru breed, located at 3,676 meters above sea level in the Peruvian highlands. For this purpose, productive and reproductive records of 1,336 guinea pigs (653 females and 683 males) from the Guinea Pig Genetic Improvement Program (PMGC) of the National University of Huancavelica (UNH) were used. The productive parameters evaluated were: birth weight (BW), litter weight at birth (LW), litter weight at weaning (LW), litter weight at weaning (LW), litter weight at one month (P1M), two months (P2M) and three months (P3M). The reproductive parameters evaluated were: litter size at birth (TCN), number of live births (NV) and litter size at weaning (TCD). The productive and reproductive parameters were estimated by descriptive statistics; likewise, the influence of sex, calving number and litter size on the productive parameters was evaluated through analysis of variance, using the lm (linear model) option of the R statistical program. The following values were obtained: 148.58 g, 3.19, 2.86, 418.26 g, 290.97 g, 2.86, 794.86 g, 399.99 g, 576.64 g and 768.94 g for PN, TCN, NV, PCN, PCN, PD, TCD, PCD, P1M, P2M and P3M, respectively. Litter size and calving number had an effect on the productive parameters studied; on the other hand, sex had an influence only on weight at two months and weight at three months.