Total of 45 weaned male New Zealand White (NZW) rabbits about six weeks old with an average initial body weight 618.11±10.01g were randomly allotted to three dietary groups; the first group fed the basal diet without organic Se, the second fed basal diet +0.2 mg Se-yeast, the third fed basal diet +0.2 mg Se-algae. The obtained results showed that supplementation rabbit diets with Se-yeast and Se-algae have no impact on final body weight and average daily body weight gain. Se-algae supplementation tended to increase (P<0.05) average daily feed intake. Rabbits group fed diet supplemented with Se-yeast achieved better (P<0.05) FCR than that group fed Se-algae (5.06 g feed/g gain). Supplementation of Se-algae at 0.2 mg was the highest (P<0.05) in total protein, albumin, and globulin concentration (7.94, 4.16 and 3.78 g/dl). Diets supplemented with Se-yeast or Se-algae significantly reduced plasma creatinine levels compared to the control group. All recorded values of creatinine and urea concentrations were within the normal ranges. Dietary supplementation with 0.2 mg Se-yeast or Se-algae resulted in a significant (P<0.05) decrease in the activity of AST enzyme. Plasma total cholesterol and plasma LDL levels were significantly decreased (P<0.05) with dietary supplementation with Se-yeast or Se-algae. There was a significant (p<0.05) decrease in plasma MDA level in rabbits fed diets supplemented with Se-yeast or Se-algae. While Catalase activity was significantly (P< 0.05) increased. Rabbits fed diet supplemented with Se-algae was the lowest (P<0.05) group in ether extract meat content while dietary supplementation of Se-algae significantly increased (P<0.05) Se content of rabbits meat of hind leg. Conclusively, Se-yeast and Se-algae can be used as selenium sources in growing rabbit diets without causing any adverse effects on growth performance. Besides, their beneficial effects in improving the antioxidative status.

The present study was intended to investigate the influence of using 20% and 40% treated or untreated wheat germ meal in growing New Zealand rabbit diets. A total of 75 weaned New Zealand White rabbits aged six weeks old, with an average initial weight of 659.60±18.84g were divided into five groups with five replicates in each group (three rabbits per replicate). The first group was fed on a basal diet (T 1 ), second and third groups received diets containing Wheat Germ Meal (WGM), as replacement of soybean meal protein, at levels of 20% and 40% and were labeled as T 2 , T 3 , respectively. Fourth and fifth groups were fed with 20% and 40% autoclave-treated WGM (T 4 and T 5 , respectively). The trial was continued until 14 weeks of age. The present study was evaluated growth performance, blood parameters, carcass traits, meat quality in different groups and also economic efficiency was calculated. There were insignificant differences in terms of live weight, daily weight gain, carcass weight and dressing percentages among rabbits in groups of T 1 , T 2 , and T 4 . Rabbits in the group of T 4 achieved the best feed conversion ratio. Digestion coefficients of crude protein, crude fiber, ether extract, nitrogen-free extract, and nutritive value in terms of digestible crude protein, total digestible nutrition, and digestible energy did not significantly differ between T 1 and T 4 . However, these factors significantly decreased in T3 and T 5 compared to T 1 . Plasma total protein and globulin significantly increased in rabbits of T 2 and T 4 compared to those fed in T 1 group. A significant decrease in total cholesterol and total lipid for rabbits in groups of T 4 , T 5, and T 2 was observed. Moreover, rabbits fed on T 4 or T 2 diets had the highest economic efficiency. Conclusively, the untreated or autoclaved WGM can be used in growing rabbit diets up to 20% for replacing the soybean meal protein, which caused low feed costs without adverse effects on the growth performance of rabbits.