FEED RESTRICTION REGIMENS EFFECTS ON GROWTH AND PHYSIOLOGICAL PERFORMANCE OF FATTENING RABBITS | ||
| Journal of the Egyptian Veterinary Medical Association | ||
| Volume 79, Issue 3, September 2019, Pages 791-802 PDF (446.56 K) | ||
| Document Type: Original Research Articles | ||
| Abstract | ||
| The present study was conducted to investigate the effect of post weaning feed restriction of fattening rabbits on their productive performance and physiology. A total of 48 weaned rabbits of 35 days age with average weight 633.59 ± 29.74 g were divided randomly into four groups “12 rabbits per group” as follows; the first group was the control group (C), rabbits were fed ad-libitum throughout the whole experimental period seven weeks post weaning, the remaining three groups (T1, T2 and T3) were the restricted groups, where the rabbits were restricted to 50 g feed/ head/day for one week (T1), two weeks (T2) and three weeks (T3). At the end of each restriction period rabbits of all groups were returned to ad-libitum feeding till the end of the experiment. The average live body weight, body weight gain, feed intake, FCR, mortality and morbidity were recorded weekly till the end of the experimental period forall groups. The obtained results revealed that, feed restriction has a positive effect on growth performance, where T2 group recorded the highest marketing weight (1763 ± 36.27 g), followed by T3 group (1581 ± 29.4 g), then C group (1579.4 ±63.06 g), while the T1 group showed the lowest weight (1553 ± 27.18 g). Also, the FCR obtained was 4.24 ± 0.02 (T2) followed by 4.46 ± 0.02 (T3), 5.12 ± 0.1 (T1) while the highest FCR was recorded by control group (6.06 ± 0.05). Concerning blood biochemical parameters, it was observed that slight restriction decreased the blood glucose and improved the triglycerides and cholesterol levels in fattening rabbits compared with control group. Based on all obtained results, it could be concluded that fattening rabbits post weaning feed restriction “50 g / head daily” for 2-3 weeks has clear beneficial effects and can be used successfully as a good management tool in commercial rabbit farms | ||
| Keywords | ||
| Rabbit; feeding regimen; Fattening rabbit and rabbit performance | ||
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