Little is known about the effect of punicalagin extracted from pomegranate or in combination with human
chorionic gonadotropin on enhancing the productive and reproductive performance in rabbits that gestate for
the first time. The impact of punicalagin alone or in combination with human chorionic gonadotropin on maiden
doe body weight, progesterone concentrations, conception rate, gestation rate, litter size, and kit weight was
investigated in this study. A completely randomized and balanced experimental design was used to allocate 21
naturally mated maiden does at 6 months of age into the following three treatment groups of 7 does each:
Control - intramuscular injection with sterilized water only; Treatment 1 - pre-mating intramuscular injection
with punicalagin (100 µg/doe) twice a week and once 3 days post-mating; and Treatment 2 - pre-mating intramuscular injection with punicalagin twice a week and human chorionic gonadotropin (25 IU/doe) once 3
days post-mating. Progesterone was assayed from blood samples taken from the ear marginal vein at mating,
post-mating, gestation, and post-kindling phases when all does were weighed. Results indicated significantly
positive impacts of punicalagin alone or in combination with human chorionic gonadotropin on all doe reproductive traits, birth, and weaning weights of kits. The study clearly demonstrated an improvement in doe
fertility, reproductive performance, and kit survival to weaning. In conclusion, PL and PL+HCG improved
maternal body weights and their offspring as well as pregnancy outcomes of young rabbits particularly in the
2nd pregnancy, hence findings of this study could be recommended for improving reproductive health and
fertility in maiden rabbit does.