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83360

GROWTH PERFORMANCE OF RABBITS AS AFFECTED BY DIETARY FIBER LEVEL AND PROBIOTIC ADDITION DURING THE POSTWEANING PERIOD

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Last updated: 04 Jan 2025

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Abstract

A factorial experiment (3×2) was conducted to investigate the influence of feeding diets containing three crude fiber levels (12.52, 14.51 and 16.51%) with or without (0.0 or 0.03%) a probiotic supplementation  on performance, nutrient digestibility, carcass traits and blood constituents of growing New Zealand White (NZW) rabbits. A total of 72, six-week-old NZW rabbits were individually weighed, randomly divided into 6 equal experimental groups, each with four equal replications, and kept at battery cages in a naturally-ventilated house. All groups of rabbits were reared under similar hygienic and managerial conditions. Six experimental diets were formulated and used during the experimental period from 6 to 12 weeks of age. Performance were evaluated in terms of live body weight, daily weight gain, daily feed intake, feed conversion ratio,  protein efficiency ratio, efficiency of energy utilization and performance index. Digestibility of nutrients [dry matter (DM), organic matter (OM), crude protein (CP), ether extract (EE), crude fiber (CF) and nitrogen-free extract (NFE)], carcass traits (relative weights of carcass, total edible parts and abdominal fat) lengths stomach, caecum and small and large intestines, and some blood plasma constituents (glucose, cholesterol, triglycerides, total protein, albumin and globulin) were also determined. The results obtained can be summarized as follows: Growth performance, carcass traits and lengths of alimentary tract segments, blood constituents were not significantly affected by dietary crude fiber level or probiotic supplementation. Increasing dietary crude fiber level from 12.5% to 14.5 or 16.5% decreased the digestibility of DM, OM and NFE but significantly improved CF digestibility for 12-week-old NZW rabbits, while the digestibility of CP and EE was not affected. Dietary supplementation with probiotic had no significant effect on the digestibility of nutrients, with the exception of a significant improvement in CP digestibility compared with that of the control rabbits. The interactions between dietary fiber level and probiotic supplementation were not significant for all criteria examined in the present study. Based on the obtained results, it is concluded that the optimal level of dietary crude fiber for fattening rabbits to achieve maximal growth rate and best efficiency of feed utilization is 12.5%.  

DOI

10.21608/jappmu.2011.83360

Keywords

Dietary crude fiber, probiotic, performance, nutrient digestibility, carcass traits, blood parameters, New Zealand White Rabbits

Authors

First Name

M.

Last Name

Rabie

MiddleName

H.

Affiliation

Poultry Production Dept., Faculty of Agriculture, Mansoura University

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City

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Orcid

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First Name

Kh.

Last Name

Sherif

MiddleName

El.

Affiliation

Poultry Production Dept., Faculty of Agriculture, Mansoura University

Email

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City

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Orcid

-

First Name

M.

Last Name

Hussein

MiddleName

A.A.

Affiliation

Anim. Prod. Res. Inst., Agric. Res. Center, Ministry of Agric., Dokki, Giza.

Email

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City

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Orcid

-

First Name

Azza

Last Name

El-Desouqi

MiddleName

R.F.

Affiliation

Anim. Prod. Res. Inst., Agric. Res. Center, Ministry of Agric., Dokki, Giza.

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Volume

2

Article Issue

6

Related Issue

12678

Issue Date

2011-06-01

Receive Date

2020-04-18

Publish Date

2011-06-01

Page Start

185

Page End

199

Print ISSN

2090-3642

Online ISSN

2090-3723

Link

https://jappmu.journals.ekb.eg/article_83360.html

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https://jappmu.journals.ekb.eg/service?article_code=83360

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7

Type

Original Article

Type Code

876

Publication Type

Journal

Publication Title

Journal of Animal and Poultry Production

Publication Link

https://jappmu.journals.ekb.eg/

MainTitle

GROWTH PERFORMANCE OF RABBITS AS AFFECTED BY DIETARY FIBER LEVEL AND PROBIOTIC ADDITION DURING THE POSTWEANING PERIOD

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Article

Created At

22 Jan 2023