Impact of Adding Citric, Lactic Acids and Propylene Glycol on : 2- Reproductive Performance of Bucks and Doe Rabbits

Abstract

This study was carried out at a private rabbitry in Dakahlia governorate. Two experiments were conducted to evaluate the influence of supplementing individual citric, lactic acids, propylene glycol or mixture of them to drinking water on productive and reproductive performance of rabbits' bucks and does. Experimental animals: Experiment 1: Twenty-five New Zealand White (NZW) rabbit's bucks 9 months old with an average weight 3400±173 g were assigned to five experimental groups (5 bucks each). Bucks were randomly placed in individual wire cages. Experiment 2: Forty (NZW) rabbits does (8 months old with an average live body weight 3100±188 g) were allotted into 5 treatments (8 does each). Feeding and water treatments All rabbits were fed ad libitum on pelleted ration. Ingredients and chemical composition of the basal ration are summarized in Table 1. First group in both experiments received plain water and severed as control group, while water for the 2 nd ,3 rd ,4 th and 5 th groups for the two experiments supplemented with 0.5 ml/liter of citric (T1), lactic acids (T2) citric and lactic concentration 98% and propylene glycol (T3) and 0.75 ml/liter mixture of them (T4).