-The effect of nursing method and ingestion of maternal faeces on the development of the bacteroides, lactobacillus and coliform flora of the caecum in the first 10 days of life were examined in freely nursed pups having access to maternal faeces (Group FF), pups nursed once a day and having access (Group CF), or having no access (Group CN) to maternal faeces. Colonisation of the caecum by Bacteroides commenced already on day 3 after birth. On day 2 the bacteroides counts were below 100, while on day 4 they were already between 100 and 10 000. In Group CN, the Bacteroides counts were lower (by 14 to 40%) throughout the 10-day period studied than in the groups having access to maternal faeces. Differences between groups were significant only on days 4 and 6. The average number of maternal faecal pellets left behind the doe in Group CN was 3-4 (between 0.5 and 6.4 per doe). In Groups FF and CF the pellets became smaller, crumbled and finally disappeared from the nest box, they were consumed by the pups and could be found in their gastric content. The lactobacillus counts decreased in all three groups with age, from 6.0 to 3.5 log10 CFU·g -1 (FF), 4.6 to 2.8 log10 CFU·g -1 (CF) and 5.1 to 3.1 log10 CFU·g -1 (CN), respectively. The coliform counts were higher in the first 4 days in FF (5.6 log10 CFU·g -1 ) than in CF (< 2 log10 CFU·g -1 ) and CN (2-3.6 log10 CFU·g -1 ) animals. Bacteroides could be cultured from the surface of the vulvar labia (max. 1000 colony count) and the vagina (max. 190 colony count), so young rabbits could become "infected" by them already in the doe's vagina. Thus prevention of ingestion of maternal faeces only slightly influenced the development of the bacteroides flora, the faeces left behind by the doe did not play an exclusive role in their colonisation. newborn rabbit / caecal microflora / bacteroides / controlled and free nursing Ő

The aim of this study was to determine the effect of the live yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae on the growth performance, caecal ecosystem and overall health of growing rabbits. A control diet was formulated (crude protein: 15.9%; neutral detergent fibre: 31.6%) and another diet obtained by supplementing the control diet with 1 g of Saccharomyces cerevisiae (6.5×10 9 colony-forming units) per kg of diet. Ninety 35-d old rabbits were allotted into 3 groups: TT (rabbits offered the supplemented diet from 17 d of age onwards), CT (rabbits offered supplemented diet from 35 d) and CC (rabbits fed non-supplemented diet). Body weight (BW) and feed intake were measured weekly and mortality was controlled daily. At 35, 42 and 77 d of age, 6 rabbits from each group were slaughtered and digestive physiological traits, serum clinical chemistry parameters, fermentation traits, and the composition of caecal microbiota examined. At 42 and 56 d of age, 10 rabbits from each group were injected intraperitoneally with 100 µg/animal of ovalbumin and blood samples were collected for examination of plasma immunological parameters. Throughout the experiment (5-11 wk), weight gain and feed intake (37.8 and 112.6 g/d, on av.) were not affected by yeast, except for weight gain in the first week after weaning, which was the highest in TT animals among the 3 groups (48.1 vs. 43.9 and 44.2 g/d for TT, CC and CT, respectively; P=0.012). This may be due to the increased trend in feed intake (P=0.072) in the TT group (96.4 g/d) compared to the others. Mortality (5/90) was low and did not differ among the 3 groups. Treatments had no effect on slaughter traits at the 3 sampling dates (35, 42 and 77 d). Only the weight of the empty caecum (% BW) was higher (P=0.02) in CC (2.2%) and CT (2.3%) than in TT group (1.8%) at 77 d of age. Treatments did not overtly affect the caecal microbiota, although the number of total anaerobic bacteria and Bacteroides were lower (10 8 and 10 7 /g caecal digesta, respectively) in rabbits from CC group compared to those of CT and TT groups at 42 d of age (P=0.03). No difference between groups was observed for caecal short chain fatty acids profile, blood traits, or IgG and cytokine profile. In conclusion, supplementation of feed with yeast did not modify growth traits and resulted in only a temporary increase in weight gain and a slightly altered caecal microbiota after weaning.

The effect of different weaning ages, that is, 21 (G21), 28 (G28) or 35 (G35) days, on growth and certain parameters of the digestive tract was examined in rabbits to assess the risk of early weaning attributable to the less-developed digestive system. On days 35 and 42, G35 rabbits had 10% to 14% and 10% higher BW, respectively (P , 0.05), than those weaned at days 21 and 28. In the 4th week of life, early weaned animals had 75% higher feed intake than G28 and G35 rabbits (P , 0.05). The relative weight of the liver increased by 62% between 21 and 28 days of age, and thereafter it decreased by 76% between 35 and 42 days of age (P , 0.05), with G21 rabbits having 29% higher weight compared with G35 animals on day 35 (P , 0.05). The relative weight of the whole gastrointestinal (GI) tract increased by 49% and 22% after weaning in G21 and G28 rabbits, respectively (P , 0.05). On day 28, the relative weight of the GI tract was 19% higher in G21 than in G28 rabbits, whereas on day 35 G21 and G28 animals had a 12% heavier GI tract compared with G35 rabbits (P , 0.05). Age influenced the ratio of stomach, small intestine and caecum within the GI tract; however, no effect of different weaning age was demonstrated. The pH value of the stomach and caecum decreased from 5.7 to 1.6 and from 7.1 to 6.3, respectively, whereas that of the small intestine increased from 6.8 to 8.4 (P , 0.05); the differences between groups were not statistically significant. Strictly anaerobic culturable bacteria were present in the caecum in high amounts (10 8 ), already at 14 days of age; no significant difference attributable to weaning age was demonstrable. The concentration of total volatile fatty acids (tVFA) was higher in G21 than in G28 and G35 throughout the experimental period (P , 0.05). The proportion of acetic and butyric acid within tVFA increased, whereas that of propionic acid decreased, resulting in a C 3 : C 4 ratio decreasing with age. Early weaning (G21) resulted in higher butyric acid and lower propionic acid proportions on day 28 (P , 0.05). No interaction between age and treatment was found, except in relative weight of the GI tract and caecal content. In conclusion, early weaning did not cause considerable changes in the digestive physiological parameters measured, but it resulted in 10% lower growth in rabbits.

Three diets were formulated, a control diet (C, 40.7% NDF, 15.1% CP), the same diet but medicated (M, 500 mg/kg oxytetracycline and 50 mg/kg thiamulin), and a third diet obtained substituting 4% of barley with inulin (Frutafi t) in C diet (I). Pannon White does and their litters were randomly allocated into three groups (8/group) at 21 d of lactation and diets offered to the does and kids from 21 d of lactation onwards. After weaning (28 d), growing rabbits (30 cages/ treatment, 2 rabbits/cage) were fed the same diet as before weaning. At 28, 35 and 42 d of age, 6 healthy animals from each group (1 animal/cage) were slaughtered. Live body weight, feed intake and feed conversion ratio increased and growth rate decreased with age (P<0.001). Feed intake decreased in rabbits fed I diet compared to those fed M diet (by 11%, P<0.05), with those fed C diet showing an intermediate value. Growth rate from 28 to 35 d of age was not affected by diets, but decreased from 36 to 42 d in rabbits fed I diet compared to those fed C and M diets (P<0.05), with no effect on feed conversion ratio. Inulin did not affect mortality, which was low (≤ 3.3%), but increased morbidity compared to C and M diets (11.7 vs. 2.5%, P<0.05). Diets did not affect caecal weight, pH, cellulase and pectinase activity or microbial counts. Inulin diet decreased caecal xylanase activity (P<0.05) compared to C and M diets, reduced propionic and butyric acid and increased acetic acid concentration compared to M diet, whereas C diet showed intermediate values.Caecal pH and counts of E. coli and total aerobic bacteria increased and pectinase activity decreased (P<0.05) at 35 d of age (compared to 28 and 42 d of age). The number of the strictly anaerobic bacteria decreased and cellulase and xylanase activity increased (P<0.05) at 42 d of age compared to 28 and 35 d. Propionic acid concentration decreased with age from 28 to 42 d (P<0.05) but VFA concentration and acetic and butyric acids proportions did not change. In conclusion, the inclusion of 4% of inulin in the diet of weanling rabbits showed no positive effect.

<p>Properties of enterococci isolated from the Hungarian breed Pannon White were studied to spread knowledge regarding the properties of microbiota in rabbits from the basic research standpoint and to select a beneficial candidate for application in husbandry. Faeces from 113 Pannon White rabbits (mostly maternal line and some paternal line) were collected. They were sampled from rabbits varying in age and sex (82 kits, 6 does, 6 bucks, 19 adult rabbits), which were aged 2 wk (14 suckling rabbits), 6 and 8 wk (68 weaning and post-weaning rabbits), adult rabbits (31, one year). Faecal mixtures were sampled into sterile packs with faeces from 5-6 animals in each. The total count of enterococci from these Pannon White rabbits reached, on av. 5.28±0.29 colony forming units/g (log10). Among the 19 enterococci, 14 <em>E. faecalis</em> and 5 <em>E. faecium</em> were detected using 3 identification methods. The enterococci were mostly resistant to antibiotics. They were non-haemolytic, Dnase and urease negative. They did not form biofilm. They were free of the <em>hylEfm</em> gene and <em>IS16</em> genes; the most frequently detected genes were <em>gelE</em>, <em>efaAfm</em>, <em>efaAfs</em>. Based on these results, <em>E. faecium</em> EF9a was selected for further analysis.</p>

The caecal chyme of pigs was incubated anaerobically in McDougall buffer with and without fumonisin B1 (5 µg/ml) for 0, 24 and 48 h. The plate count agar technique was applied for the enumerating amount of bacteria including aerobic, anaerobic bacteria, coliform, Escherichia coli and Lactobacillus sp. The quantitative polymerase chain reaction was also performed to estimate the number of copies of the total bacteria, Lactobacillus, Bacteroides and Prevotella. No significant differences in the amount of bacteria groups between the experimental (buffer, chyme, and fumonisin B1) and control 1 groups (buffer + chyme) were observed in both methods. Fumonisin B1 and hydrolysed fumonisin B1 concentration were analysed by liquid chromatograghy – mass spectrometry. There was no significant difference in FB1 concentration between the experimental and the control 2 group (buffer and fumonisin B1) at 0 h incubation, 5.185 ±0.174 µg/ml compared with 6.433 ±0.076 µg/ml. Fumonisin B1 concentration in the experimental group was reduced to 4.080 ±0.065 µg/ml at 24 h and to 2.747 ±0.548 µg/ml at 48 h incubation and was significantly less than that of in the control group. Hydrolysed fumonisin B1 was detected after 24 h incubation (0.012 ±0 µg/ml). At 48 h incubation time, hydrolysed fumonisin B1 concentration was doubled to 0.024 ±0.004 µg/ml. These results indicate that fumonisin B1 can be metabolised by caecal microbiota in pigs though the number of studied bacteria did not change.

Abstract:The experiment aimed to study the effect of Digestarom ® dietary inclusion (herbal formulation containing a mixture of essential oils, herbs, spices and extracts) on apparent digestibility and digestive ecosystem of growing rabbits, as well as the effects of its supplementation before and after weaning on growth performance. At kindling, rabbit does and litters were divided into 2 dietary groups (51 does/group) and fed either a control diet (C) or a diet supplemented with 300 mg Digestarom ® /kg diet (D) until weaning, which occurred at 35 d (before weaning supplementation). Each group was further divided into 3 dietary groups: CC received the control diet and DD received the D diet from 5 to 12 wk of age, and DC were fed with D (from 5 to 8 wk of age) and C diets (from 8 to 12 wk of age) (after weaning supplementation; 54 kits/ group). An in vivo digestibility trial and a faecal microbial count were carried out on growing rabbits that received only the C or D diets during the trial. The C group showed higher DM intake than D group (215 vs. 196 g/d; P<0.05). The faecal digestibility of ether extract (75.9 vs. 59.8%; P<0.001), cellulose (25.9 vs. 20.6%; P<0.05) and gross energy (51.8 vs. 49.1%; P<0.05) was higher for C than for D group, whereas that of starch (98.9 vs. 98.8%; P<0.001) and the digestible protein to digestible energy ratio (13.9 vs. 13.2 g digestible protein/MJ digestible energy; P<0.01) was the highest for rabbits fed D diet. Stomach and caecal pH, caecal and faecal microbial counts were independent of the dietary treatment. The only exception was the stomach pH in 8 wk-old rabbits, which had the lowest value in C rabbits (P<0.05). The D supplementation before weaning improved feed conversion ratio throughout the growing phase (4.3 vs. 4.4 for D and C, respectively; P<0.05), whereas significant differences in daily weight gain, feed conversion ratio and mortality were observed only in the first period after weaning. Based on the results obtained, dietary supplementation with Digestarom ® does not seem to confirm the positive results previously reported for growing rabbits.

<p>Forty-eight rabbits aged five weeks (Hycole breed, both sexes) were divided into experimental (EG) and control (CG) groups, 24 animals in each, and fed a commercial diet with access to water <em>ad libitum</em>. Rabbits in EG had Enterococcus faecium EF9a probiotic strain added to their drinking water (1.0×10⁹ colony forming units/mL 500 μL/d/animal) for 28 d (between 35 and 63 d). The experiment lasted for 42 d. The animals remained in good health condition throughout the experiment, and no morbidity and mortality was noted. There was a higher live weight at 63 d of age (+34 g; <em>P</em>&lt;0.0001), final live weight at 77 d of age (+158 g; <em>P</em>=0.0483), and average daily weight gain between 63 and 77 d of age in the EG group rabbits than in CG group rabbits (+8 g/d; <em>P</em>&lt;0.0001). No significant changes in caecal lactic acid and total volatile fatty acid concentrations, jejunal morphological parameters and phagocytic activity were noted during the treatment. The tested serum parameters were within the range of the reference values. EF9a strain sufficiently established itself in the rabbit’s gastrointestinal tract. At 63 d of age, a significant decrease in coliforms (<em>P</em>&lt;0.05), coagulase-positive staphylococci (<em>P</em>&lt;0.01), pseudomonads (<em>P</em>&lt;0.01) and coagulasenegative staphylococci (CoNS, <em>P</em>&lt;0.001) was noted in the faeces of the EG group rabbits compared to the CG rabbits. Antimicrobial effects of EF9a strain in the caecum against coliforms (<em>P</em>&lt;0.001), CoNS (<em>P</em>=0.0002) and pseudomonads (<em>P</em>=0.0603) and in the appendix (coliforms, <em>P</em>&lt;0.05) were detected.</p>