Drinking Warm Water Improves Growth Performance and Optimizes the Gut Microbiota in Early Postweaning Rabbits during Winter

Abstract

Accumulating evidence indicates that cold exposure changes the composition of the gut microbiota and reduces intestinal immunity in early postweaning livestock. However, little is known about the effects of drinking warm water (WW) on gut microbiota during winter. In this study, we investigated the effects of drinking WW in winter on the growth performance and gut microbiota structure of rabbits raised in poorly insulated housing from the early postweaning period (day 46) to the subadult period (day 82). The average daily gain and feed conversion ratio in rabbits drinking WW were significantly improved compared to those of the rabbits drinking cold water (CW) during 47–58 days. In addition, rabbits drinking WW had a significantly decreased the risk of diarrhea during 71–82 days. 16S rRNA sequence analysis revealed that the alpha diversity of the cecal microbiota was not significantly different between the WW and CW groups, but significantly increased with age. The relative abundance of cecal microorganisms, such as Coprococcus spp. was considerably increased at day 70 in the group drinking WW. Correlation analysis indicated that Coprococcus spp. was negatively associated with pro-inflammatory factors. In conclusion, our results suggest that drinking WW has a positive effect on growth performance and gut microbiota in rabbits during the early postweaning stage in winter.

Effect of host breeds on gut microbiome and serum metabolome in meat rabbits

“…Consistent with previous studies on gut microbiota in meat rabbits [18,19], we found that phyla Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, Cyanobacteria, Verrucomicrobia, Proteobacteria, and Tenericutes, and the genera Ruminococcus_1, Christensenellaceae_R-7_group, Ruminococcaceae_ NK4A214_group, Alistipes, Bacteroides, and Akkermansia were the most dominant microbial taxa in the gut microbial communities irrespective of breed type (Fig. 2).…”

“…Due to SCFAs widely participate in physiological and pathophysiological interactions between the gut microbiota and the host [35], we hypothesized that these breed-associated SCFAsproducing species should play a central role in the health, development, and growth of rabbits, and could be considered as potential biomarkers for production performance improvement [36]. Indeed, previous studies have demonstrated that Coprococcus, Ruminococcus, and Lachnospiraceae species are intimately correlated with growth performance of meat rabbits [18,37].…”

Effects of Gut Microbiome and Short-Chain Fatty Acids (SCFAs) on Finishing Weight of Meat Rabbits

“…Zeng et al reported that changes in the abundance of YS2, Bacteroides, Lactococcus, Lactobacillus, and Prevotella in the gut microbial communities of rabbits were associated with finishing weight (Zeng et al, 2015). Wang Q. et al (2019) found that Coprococcus and Ruminococcaceae_UCG-004 may hinder the production of pro-inflammatory factors that exert beneficial effects on the finishing weight of rabbits. Moreover, North et al (2019) indicated that rabbits with greater abundances of Eubacteriaceae, Natranaerobiaceae, Peptococcaceae, and Syntrophomonadaceae in the gut microbial communities tended to gain more weight at finishing.…”

Alternatives to robenidine to control gastrointestinal disorders of weaner rabbits in the field

“…Cold stress leads to disruptions of the protective intestinal microflora, reducing the resilience of the rabbits and very probably fostering high mortality rates ( Fortun-Lamonthe & Boullier, 2004 ; Wang et al., 2019 ). Previous studies also stressed the importance of hygiene and proper housing conditions, such as avoiding cold stress, as well as the control of chronic diseases, to prevent intestinal diseases in rabbits (Kowalska et al, 2012; Wang et al., 2019 ). Thus, the feed supplements should be investigated further under optimised conditions, to determine their usefulness in the field.…”