Evaluation of different plant protein concentrates in rabbit feeds

A total number of 24 New Zealand white rabbits were used to evaluate seven plant protein concentrates through eight digestibility trials. These concentratrates were soybean meal [SBM], flaxmeal [FM], decorticated and undecorticated cotton seed meal [DCM], horse beans [HB], corn gluten meal [CGM], [UDCM], and sunflower seed meal [SFM]. The CGM, SBM, and DCM feedstuffs recorded the highest nutritive values followed by the FM and HB, while the UDCM and SFM showed the lowest values

Possible effects of two levels of dietary fat addition on performance and reproductive potentials during puberty and post-parturition in rabbit does

The rabbit performance and reproductive efficiency as influenced by the addition of two levels of dietary fat during puberty and post-parturition were included in this paper. Three groups of eighteen immature female New Zealand rabbits were given control basal diet [CD] or that supplemented with 5% and 10% sunflower oil to formulate moderate [MFD] and high fat [HFD] diets. In puberty study, fat addition increased feed intake and energy intake, while the values of body weight, feed conversion, and plasma metabolites were not affected in growing rabbits during prepubertal period. Fat supplementation also hastened puberty, where the rabbits firstly accepted the meals at 56.0 +/- 3.51, 23.0 +/- 4.7, and 21.0 +/- 3.8 days for [CD], [MFD], and [HFD] groups respectively. Moreover, high percentage [83.3%] of conceived does was observed in [HFD] group if compared to [CD] and [MFD] groups [33.3%]. In post-parturition study, pups from mothers among [HFD] group were heavier in weight and grew more rapidly throughout 5 weeks [till weaning] than those of [CD] and [MFD] groups. Fat addition increased prolificacy and improved fertility of the does during post-parturition, however it did not affect feed intake or energy intake of lactating does. This study clarified the positive responses of performance and reproduction to fat addition, and supported the recommendation to include 10% dietary fat for growing and breeding rabbit does