FEEDING OF LOCAL POPULATION RABBITS : EFFECT OF STRAW ADDITION TO LOW FIBER PELLETED DIETS, ON DIGESTIBILITY, GROWTH PERFORMANCE ANO SLAUGHTER YIELD

M. Berchiche , F Ledas , G Lounaouci , Si Ammar Kadi (1)

1 Département des Sciences Agronomiques, Faculté des Sciences Biologiques et Sciences Agronomiques

Two groups of 26 weaned rabbits from the local population were fed during 8 weeks eitber a balanced pelleted diet (A), either a commercial pelleted diet with low fibre level (diet B : 4. 71% crude fibre) plus free access to straw. In each group, 14 rabbits were placed in individual cages and the 12 others in collective cages of 3 rabbits. In addition, the diet's digestibility was controlled with 6 rabbits, 8 weeks old. Digestibility of diet 8 was the highest for dry matter (76.6 vs 69.5%) and energy (77.1 vs 69.6%). The feeding type had no significant effect on daily growth (22.4 g/d on average) or on daily feed intake (A: 79 g/d ; 8: 74 g of pellets + 11 g of straw/day). The pellet's feed conversion ratios were identical for the 2 diets (3.49) but if the straw intake is included, the total feed intake 1 unit of weight gain is significantly higher (4.05). The final weight was slightly but not significantly higher for A rabbits (1745 g) than for B ones (1658 g). The slaughter yield (hot carcasses) was slightly higher (P<0.10) for A rabbits (65.2%) than for B rabbits (64.0%).

Domaines: Sciences du Vivant [q-bio]

M. Berchiche, F Ledas, G Lounaouci, Si Ammar Kadi. FEEDING OF LOCAL POPULATION RABBITS : EFFECT OF STRAW ADDITION TO LOW FIBER PELLETED DIETS, ON DIGESTIBILITY, GROWTH PERFORMANCE ANO SLAUGHTER YIELD. 6th world rabbit congress, Jul 1996, Toulouse, France. ⟨hal-01743225⟩