litter size; number of offspring
Technical term used in biology, animal husbandry, and ecology to refer to the number of young born in a single litter.
This mouse strain has a large litter size.
Litter size is affected by the mother's nutritional condition.
Compound of 産 (san, 'birth') + 子 (shi, 'child') + 数 (sū, 'number'). The exact historical derivation is uncertain, but the term is a modern technical coinage.