One-hundred and twenty weaned male rabbits (New Zealand White and APRI) of 45 days of age and 737±17 g body weight were alloرtted randomly into six groups (20 rabbits each) in factorial arrangement to investigate the effects of dietary supplementation of two prebiotic oligosaccharides (Mannan-oligosaccharides and Isomalto-oligosaccharides) on their growth performance and carcass traits. The results of the present work showed that dietary supplementation of prebiotic oligosaccharides, in particular Mannan-oligosaccharides (MOS) and Isomalto-oligosaccharides (IMO) significantly accelerated body weight gain (BWG) in rabbits, and reduced feed conversion ratio (FCR). There are some differences in growth performance traits due to breed effect. The interaction between prebiotics supplementation and breed was significant on BWG and FCR. supplementation of (IMO) revealed significant differences in most of studied carcass traits, except in forequarter percentage. The highest dressing percentages were noticed with dietary supplementation either with MOS or IMO compared to control group and represented (55%, 56% vs. 53%, respectively). Supplementing rabbits with MOS and IMO did not alter liver and kidney enzymes but supplementing (IMO) only increased blood total protein, albumin, while supplementing (MOS and IMO) improved A/G ratio significantly.
In conclusion, Dietary supplementation of prebiotic oligosaccharides (MOS and IMO) provided beneficial effects on growth performance of rabbits, moreover, the recommended dose for supplementation of (MOS and IMO) in growing rabbits represented (3 and 0.5 kg /ton of ration respectively