Effect of level of fibre and type of grinding on the performance of rabbit does and their litters during the first three lactations

Nicodemus, N.; Redondo, R.; Pérez-Alba, L.; Carabaño, R.; Blas, C. de; García, J.

doi:10.1016/j.livsci.2010.01.023

Cited by 13 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 30 publications

(42 reference statements)

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“…DMI, clearly increased by the use of a high fibre low energy diet during lactation, agrees with the literature (Fernández-Carmona et al, 1995, 2003Quevedo et al, 2006;Nicodemus et al, 2010), where the response on DMI was related to the dietary DE content. On average, DMI of lactating rabbit does increased about 8% per each MJ of DE decreased in the diet.…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 91%

Digestive efficiency in rabbit does according to environment and genetic type

Savietto¹,

Blas²,

Cervera³

et al. 2012

World rabbit sci.

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ABSTRACT:Ninety lactating rabbit does of 3 different genetic types [2 from a line differentiating 20 generations by selection for litter size at weaning (V16 and V36) and 1 from a line founded under reproductive longevity criteria and then selected by litter size at weaning (LP)] were subjected to 3 environmental conditions: NC, females housed under normal conditions (14 to 20°C) and fed with a control diet [333 g neutral detergent fibre (NDF)/kg dry matter (DM)]; HC, females housed under heat conditions (25 to 35°C) and fed with the control diet; or NF, females housed under normal conditions and fed with a fibrous diet (443 g NDF/kg DM). The apparent digestible coefficients of dry matter (DMd), organic matter, crude protein (CPd), gross energy, NDF (NDFd) and acid detergent fibre, as well as the daily intake of DM, digestible protein and digestible energy (DE), were determined (14 to 18 d post-partum). The environment affected all variables analysed. In general, heat conditions reduced the daily DM intake (around -30%; P<0.05) and increased main apparent digestible coefficients (+4.5 percentage points for DMd). In contrast, the use of a fibrous diet led to reduce DE intake (-217 kJ/d; P<0.05) and main apparent digestibility coefficients (-13.5 percentage points for DMd). Females from line V, regardless of generation, showed lower daily DM intake (-19.2 g/d; P<0.05) and NDFd (-1.5 percentage points; P<0.05) than line LP. Interactions between genetic type and environment were found for daily DM intake, NDFd and CPd. When receiving fibrous diet, LP females showed a higher increment in daily DM intake (+65.6 g/d; P<0.05) than V36 females, compared to control. Under heat conditions, NDFd obtained for LP females were higher to those in normal conditions (+3.14 percentage points), while V females showed similar NDFd. In addition, the increase in CPd observed under heat conditions was higher for LP (+9.87 percentage points) and V36 (+8.74 percentage points) than V16 females (+3.84 percentage points). In conclusion, rabbit females from a line founded for reproductive longevity seem to show a higher flexibility in their digestive capacity under constrained conditions.

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Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 91%

Digestive efficiency in rabbit does according to environment and genetic type

Savietto¹,

Blas²,

Cervera³

et al. 2012

World rabbit sci.

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“…Breeding system trial The effects of heat stress can be observed when comparing our performances with recent European studies (Quevedo et al, 2006a and2006b;Nicodemus et al, 2010). In our conditions (that differed in environment, but also in genetic) we observed a reduction of the total number of kits born alive per litter (24.1), that is accounted for the lower prolificacy (23.2) and higher number of kits born dead (10.9).…”

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confidence: 55%

Effect of breeding system, cycle and cage size during fattening on rabbit doe and growing rabbit performance under heat stress

Villalobos

Guillén

García

2010

Animal

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In order to evaluate heat stress and circadian rhythm 46 nulliparous rabbit does with a BW of 3.67 6 0.05 kg (s.e.) were used. They were clipped once or not and rectal temperature, feed and water intake were recorded for 24 h. From this group, 43 rabbit does were mated 7 days after rectal measurements, and randomly assigned to one out of two breeding systems (including in both systems rabbit does that had been clipped or not). In the control one (C) rabbit does were mated 14 days after parturition and litter weaned at 35 days of age, and in the extensive one (E) they were mated 21 after parturition and weaned at 42 days of age. Rabbit doe and litter performance were recorded for 6 months (first three cycles). Two hundred twenty-eight weaned rabbits were divided into two cage sizes: 0.5 and 0.25 m 2 with eight and four rabbits per cage, respectively, to study growing performance. Farm and rectal temperatures were minimal and feed and water intake maximal during the night ( P , 0.001). Unclipped rabbit does showed higher rectal temperature ( P 5 0.045) and lower feed intake ( P 5 0.019) respect to clipped does, which are symptoms of heat stress. Neither breeding system nor cycle number influenced fertility, total number of kits born, born alive or dead per litter (91.6%, 6.98, 5.80 and 1.19 on average, respectively). Kit mortality during lactation tended to increase in E compared with C group (48.5% v. 63.4%; P 5 0.070), reducing the number of kits at weaning per litter by 33% ( P 5 0.038). It also increased in the second and third cycles compared with the first ( P < 0.054). It resulted that feed efficiency (g weaned kits/ g feed intake does 1 litter) tended to decrease in E respect C group ( P 5 0.093), whereas it was impaired successively from the first to the third cycle by 48% ( P 5 0.014). Growing rabbits from the E group were heavier at weaning (by 38%; P , 0.001), showed a higher feed intake (17.4%) and lower feed efficiency (28.4%) throughout the fattening period ( P < 0.056) respect to C group. However, age at slaughter was not different respect to C group (77.3 days on average). Cage size had minor influence in growing performance. In conclusion, rabbit doe and litter productivity impaired when lactation is extended from 35 to 42 days and along successive reproductive cycles.

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“…The heat environment (HC) was created by the combination of a high temperature room (H: climatic chamber set to achieve a daily sinusoidal temperature variation from 25°C to 35°C) with diet C. Detailed information on the design and operating system of climatic chamber can be found in a study by García-Diego et al (2011). Finally, an environmental restriction because of feed quality (NF) was produced by combining N housing with a low-energy fibrous diet (F: 9.1 MJ DE/kg DM, 104 g DP/kg DM and 266 g ADF/kg DM), following recommendations for lactating rabbit does (Nicodemus et al, 2010). Ingredients and chemical composition of the experimental diets are available online as a Supplementary Material (Supplementary Table S1) and the apparent digestible coefficients for each generation and environment are given by Savietto et al (2012), from a sample of animals used in the present study.…”

Section: Environmentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Different resource allocation strategies result from selection for litter size at weaning in rabbit does

Savietto

Cervera

Ródenas

et al. 2014

Animal

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This study examined the effect of long-term selection of a maternal rabbit line, solely for a reproductive criterion, on the ability of female rabbits to deal with constrained environmental conditions. Female rabbits from generations 16 and 36 (n = 72 and 79, respectively) of a line founded and selected to increase litter size at weaning were compared simultaneously. Female rabbits were subjected to normal (NC), nutritional (NF) or heat (HC) challenging conditions from 1st to 3rd parturition. Animals in NC and NF were housed at normal room temperatures (18°C to 25°C) and respectively fed with control (11.6 MJ digestible energy (DE)/kg dry matter (DM), 126 g digestible protein (DP)/kg DM, and 168 g of ADF/kg DM) or low-energy fibrous diets (9.1 MJ DE/kg DM, 104 g DP/kg DM and 266 g ADF/kg DM), whereas those housed in HC were subjected to high room temperatures (25°C to 35°C) and the control diet. The litter size was lower for female rabbits housed in both NF and HC environments, but the extent and timing where this reduction took place differed between generations. In challenging conditions (NF and HC), the average reduction in the reproductive performance of female rabbits from generation 16, compared with NC, was −2.26 (P < 0.05) and −0.51 kits born alive at 2nd and 3rd parturition, respectively. However, under these challenging conditions, the reproductive performance of female rabbits from generation 36 was less affected at 2nd parturition (−1.25 kits born alive), but showed a greater reduction at the 3rd parturition (−3.53 kits born alive; P < 0.05) compared with NC. The results also showed differences between generations in digestible energy intake, milk yield and accretion, and use of body reserves throughout lactation in NC, HC and NF, which together indicate that there were different resource allocation strategies in the animals from the different generations. Selection to increase litter size at weaning led to increased reproductive robustness at the onset of an environmental constraint, but failure to sustain the reproductive liability when the challenge was maintained in the long term. This response could be directly related to the shortterm environmental fluctuations (less severe) that frequently occur in the environment where this line has been selected.

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Effect of level of fibre and type of grinding on the performance of rabbit does and their litters during the first three lactations

Cited by 13 publications

References 30 publications

Digestive efficiency in rabbit does according to environment and genetic type

Digestive efficiency in rabbit does according to environment and genetic type

Effect of breeding system, cycle and cage size during fattening on rabbit doe and growing rabbit performance under heat stress

Different resource allocation strategies result from selection for litter size at weaning in rabbit does

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