European Reference Method for in Vivo Determination of Diet Digestibility in Rabbits

J.M, Pérez; Lebas, François; Gidenne, Thierry; Maertens, Luc; Xiccato, Gerolamo; Parigi-Bini, R.; Zotte, Antonella Dalle

doi:10.4995/wrs.1995.239

Cited by 115 publications

(65 citation statements)

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“…For the whole period, rabbits were fed ad libitum and the apparent digestibility was measured according to the European methodology (Perez et al, 1995).…”

Section: Experimental Design and Dietsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nutritive value of brewers’ grain and maize silage for fattening rabbits

Guermah¹,

Maertens²,

Berchiche

2016

World Rabbit Sci.

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Specific knowledge of the nutritive value of raw materials is fundamental to formulate balanced diets for rabbits and allows greater use of by-products and non-conventional feedstuffs. This paper examines the feeding value of sun-dried brewers' grain and maize silage (whole plant) for fattening rabbits. Twentyfour individually caged 8-wk-old rabbits were used to determine the digestibility. Both wet products were sun-dried and ground before being incorporated into a basal diet. The inclusion level at the expense of all basal ingredients amounted to 30%. Basal diet and both experimental diets were fed ad libitum to 8 rabbits during the 4-d balance trial. The determined digestibility of protein, fat, crude fibre and neutral detergent fibre digestibility amounted to 76.2 and 77.2%; 86.5 and 99.1%; 8.1 and 8.3% and 28.0 and 13.5%, respectively, for brewers' grain and maize silage. The digestible energy content amounted to 11.66 MJ/kg dry matter (DM) (brewers' grain) and 11.10 MJ/kg DM (maize silage). Both by-products have potential as alternative feedstuff in rabbit diets. However, further experiments are necessary to determine the effect of ensilaging the whole maize plant, as a significantly lower (P<0.001) feed intake was observed.

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“…For the whole period, rabbits were fed ad libitum and the apparent digestibility was measured according to the European methodology (Perez et al, 1995).…”

Section: Experimental Design and Dietsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nutritive value of brewers’ grain and maize silage for fattening rabbits

Guermah¹,

Maertens²,

Berchiche

2016

World Rabbit Sci.

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“…A 10 d adaptation period was followed by continuous faeces collection for 4 d (Perez et al, 1995). Total faeces excreted by each animal were collected daily and stored in plastic bags at -18°C for chemical analysis.…”

Section: Experiments 1: Digestibility Trialmentioning

confidence: 99%

Digestible energy of unpeeled cassava root meal and its effect on growth performance and carcass traits in rabbits

et al. 2014

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Two experiments were conducted to evaluate the use of cassava root meal (891 g dry matter [DM]/kg, 639 g starch/kg, 74.1 g neutral detergent fibre [NDF]/kg, and 26.6 g crude protein [CP]/kg) in diets for growing rabbits. In the first experiment, a basal diet (419 g NDF/kg and 181 g CP/kg) and a test diet, in which cassava replaced 25% of the DM of the reference diet, were used. Twenty 50-d-old New Zealand White rabbits weighing 1474±10 g were randomly assigned to the 2 treatments, and digestibility of DM and gross energy (GE) were determined. The inclusion of cassava root meal in the diet increased DM digestibility (67.0±0.80 vs. 58.0±1.12%, P<0.01) and digestible energy (DE) content (11.86±0.16 vs. 10.45±0.22 MJ/kg, P<0.01). Digestible DM and DE contents of the unpeeled cassava root meal, obtained by the substitution method, were 943.3±15.8 g/kg and 15.28±0.32 MJ/kg. In the second experiment, 5 experimental diets were formulated to contain 150 g CP/kg, 184 g acid detergent fibre/kg and 10.9 MJ DE/kg, and increasing levels (0, 7, 14, 21 and 28%) of unpeeled cassava root meal, mainly in substitution of corn. A growth trial was carried out using 90 rabbits from the Botucatu genetic group from weaning (35 d, weighing 951±13 g) up to 71 d of age. The rabbits were housed in pairs, and randomly assigned to the 5 treatments (9 replicates/ treatment). No effect of the substitution of corn with cassava root meal was detected on growth performance (growth rate, feed intake and feed conversion ratio, on av. 44.6±0.50 g/d, 132±1.4 g/d and 2.97±0.028 g/g, respectively). The level of inclusion of cassava root meal had a quadratic effect (P=0.005) on the dressing out percentage, showing a minimal value (51.2%) for inclusion of 139 g/kg. No other effect was observed on slaughter and reference carcass weights (2383±19 and 1238±11 g, respectively). Unpeeled cassava root meal may be used to completely replace corn in the diet, supporting high performance in growing rabbits, but its effects on carcass traits should be investigated further.

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“…The rabbits were weighed every 7 d and the feed intake was measured every day. The coefficients of total tract apparent digestibility (CTTAD) of DM, CP, gross energy and neutral detergent fibre (NDF) of the experimental diets were determined when the rabbits were between 45 and 49 d old, in accordance with the European reference method (Perez et al, 1995).…”

Section: Rabbit Husbandry and Experimental Designmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of a diet containing white lupin hulls (Lupinus albus cv. Amiga) on total tract apparent digestibility of nutrients and growth performance of rabbits

Volek¹,

Volkova²,

Marounek³

2013

World Rabbit Sci.

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The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of the inclusion of white lupin hulls in a rabbit diet on the digestibility of nutrients and growth performance. Two experimental diets were formulated: C [control: 168 g crude protein (CP) and 409 g neutral detergent fibre (NDF)/kg) and WLH diet (substituting 100 g wheat bran by 50 g barley and 50 g white lupin hulls/kg: 162 g CP and 391 g NDF/kg). A total of 24 weaned rabbits were individually housed, randomly allocated to 2 groups and fed one of the 2 experimental diets from 31 to 73 d of age. The coefficients of total tract apparent digestibility (CTTAD) of dry matter, gross energy, CP and NDF of the experimental diets were determined in rabbits between 45 and 49 d of age. The diets had a similar digestible protein/digestible energy ratio (11.2 and 10.7 g/MJ for the C and WLH diet, respectively). Rabbits showed normal figures for growth rate (on av. 52.4 g/d), feed intake (on av. 155.1 g/d) and feed conversion ratio (on av. 2.97). There were no significant differences between treatments in the CTTAD of dry matter (0.656 and 0.666 for the C and WLH diet, respectively), gross energy (0.667 and 0.677 for the C and WLH diet, respectively), CP (0.770 and 0.777 for the C and WLH diet, respectively) or NDF (0.451 and 0.428 for the C and WLH diet, respectively). It may be concluded that white lupin hulls can serve as a suitable by-product for rabbit feed and do not significantly reduce the nutritive value of the diet.

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European Reference Method for in Vivo Determination of Diet Digestibility in Rabbits

Cited by 115 publications

References 1 publication

Nutritive value of brewers’ grain and maize silage for fattening rabbits

Nutritive value of brewers’ grain and maize silage for fattening rabbits

Digestible energy of unpeeled cassava root meal and its effect on growth performance and carcass traits in rabbits

Effect of a diet containing white lupin hulls (Lupinus albus cv. Amiga) on total tract apparent digestibility of nutrients and growth performance of rabbits

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