The aim of the paper was to compare the effect of prebiotics (inulin and/or mannan-oligosaccharides, MOS) and bee products (bee pollen and/or propolis) on productive and reproductive performance of rabbit does. Seventy nulliparous V-line female rabbits were distributed among 7 groups. The groups were fed the same diet and received no supplements (control group), natural molecules (bee pollen and/or propolis) at 200 mg/kg body weight (BW) or prebiotics (inulin and/or MOS) at 35 mg/kg BW. Productive, reproductive, biochemical and haematological traits were investigated. Bee pollen with propolis significantly increased body weight gain of does 1 wk after mating (3.53%), decreased feed intake (4.49%) and caused larger litter size (39.4%), heavier body weight of litter (17.7%), a greater number of kits born alive (48.7%), higher weight of kits (87.81%) at 28 d of age, higher milk yield (43.6%) and more favourable milk conversion ratio (31.6%). Moreover, bee pollen with propolis had significantly increased plasma total protein (43.1%), albumin (45.7%), globulin (41.0) and progesterone (60.5%), and had a significantly decreased plasma cholesterol (31.1%), aspartate aminotransferase/alanine aminotransferase ratio (20.3%) compared to the control group. Does treated with growth promoters had significantly fewer services per conception (22%) and greater fertility rate (21%) compared to the control group. Inulin with or without MOS significantly increased plasma glucose (49.9 and 50%, respectively) and feed cost (90.2%) compared to the control group. Supplementation of MOS or bee pollen with or without propolis had significantly greater relative economic efficiency (61.9, 55.1 and 27.1%, respectively) than the control group. MOS and bee pollen with or without propolis are able to improve productive and reproductive performance and economic efficiency of rabbit does in comparison to the unsupplemented group.

this work aimed to test the responses of the fertility, semen quality, blood constituents, immunity and antioxidant status of rabbit bucks to water type (e.g., tap water and well water) and magnetizing of water exposed or unexposed to a magnetic field of ≈4000 gauss. The experimental design was factorial 2 (type of water, e.g. tap vs. well water) × 2 (magnetic treatments, e.g. unexposed vs. exposed to magnetic field) using forty mature V-line rabbit bucks randomly distributed to four groups of 10 animals each. The rabbit bucks were provided free access to the water and same diet. well water had lower quality than tap water, i.e. higher ph, conductivity, salinity, calcium, magnesium, and total hardness. water magnetizing had less effect on tap water than on well water (e.g. on ph, conductivity, salinity, calcium, magnesium, total hardness and dissolved oxygen). bucks that consumed tap water showed better semen quality, metabolic profiles and immunity than those that drank well water. Magnetized water significantly increased body weight, feed intake, reaction time, fertility, sperm concentration, mass motility and total live sperm of bucks consuming well water and tap water. The improvements in fertility and semen quality concurred with significant increases in testosterone hormone, immunoglobulin a, antioxidant enzymes, and with decreases in lipid peroxidation biomarker malondialdehyde and thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances. in conclusion, well water induced a significant decrease in semen quality and hence fertility of males. whereas magnetic treatment improved water quality, semen quality, blood picture and antioxidant status and hence buck fertility. key words: rabbit bucks, magnetic water, semen quality, physiological traits, immunity Environmental factors had effects on productive and reproductive performance of farm animals and resulted in a decrease in semen quality and fertility of males (Mann and Lutwak-Mann, 1981; Rasooli et al., 2010; Attia et al., 2013

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To alleviate the deleterious effect of heat stress during summer conditions on male rabbits' reproduction, 40 V Line adult rabbit bucks (on av. 8 mo old) were divided into 4 experimental groups and exposed to temperatures ranging from 23 to 36°C. Bucks in the 1 st , 2 nd , 3 rd , and 4 th group were supplemented with 0, 50, 100 or 150 mg of Chinese royal jelly (RJ)/kg twice per week, respectively, over a 20-wk period. Semen quality and blood biochemical constituents were evaluated. RJ at any dose exhibited a significant increase (P<0.05) in rabbits' sperm concentration, total sperm output, sperm motility, live sperm and normal sperm compared to the untreated controls. Plasma total protein, albumin, globulin, glucose and high density lipids (HDL) concentrations were significantly (P<0.05) boosted in the RJ groups compared to the controls. In contrast, RJ treatment resulted in a significant (P<0.05) reduction in plasma total lipids, triglycerides, cholesterol and low density lipids (LDL) concentrations. Treatment with RJ significantly boosted (P<0.05) testosterone concentration in the RJ groups to reach 110, 120 and 128%, respectively, of the control group. Improved kidney and liver functions were observed in the RJ bucks groups where plasma creatinine, urea concentrations, aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase enzyme activities were significantly (P<0.05) decreased by RJ treatments. Treating bucks subjected to heat stress by different RJ doses increased (P<0.05) total antioxidant capacity to 106, 111 and 115% of basal, but significantly reduced (P<0.05) malondialdehyde and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances compared to the untreated. It was concluded that Chinese royal jelly supplementation for heat-stressed male rabbits can counteract summer infertility and improve their physiological status.

The aim of the article was to study the effect of different growth promoters on growth performance, carcass quality, biochemical and haematological traits and immune response of growing rabbits. A total number of 105 male growing NZW rabbits during 35-91 days of age were randomly distributed among 7 groups fed the same basal diet and submitted to different dietary treatments: the first group was unsupplemented and used as control; the other groups were supplemented respectively with bee pollen and/or propolis at 200 mg/kg BW of each and inulin and/or mannanoligosaccharides (MOS) at 35 mg/kg BW of each. Body weight gain, daily feed intake, feed conversion ratio (FCR), biochemical and haematological blood parameters, carcass characteristics, histological studies of ileum and spleen and economical efficiency were measured. Bee pollen administered alone or with propolis significantly (p < 0.01) the body weight gain and improved FCR in respect of the control group. Inulin with MOS significantly improved just FCR than the control group. Bee pollen with propolis and MOS supplemented-groups resulted in significantly higher (7.96 and 8.41% respectively) white blood cells compared to the control group. Plasma total cholesterol was significantly higher for the MOS group in respect of the control, bee pollen, inulin and inulin with MOS supplemented-groups. Propolis resulted in significantly higher dressed carcass percentage than the control group and higher carcass index than only bee pollen with propolis supplemented-group. Bee pollen, in particular if in combination with propolis, could be used as a supplement in the growing rabbits during days 35-91 of age with positive effects on growth rate and feed conversion ratio.