Studies of Some Skin and Its Coat Characteristics in Relation to Feed Additives of Growing Rabbits

Abstract

Sixty growing New Zealand white rabbits aged four weeks were used in this study to assess the effect of age and two feed additives on some fiber traits and skin follicles characteristics. The experiment continued for one month to the age of eight weeks. Rabbits were randomly divided to three groups; the first group was control fed on concentrated pellet, the second group was supplemented with Micronil (1 ml/L of drinking water) as an antimicrobial antifungal compound while the third group was provided with Turbocal forte (1ml/L of drinking water) as a source of minerals and trace elements. At four, six and eight weeks of age, five rabbits from each group were weighed, skin biopsy was obtained from the right flank of each animal and hair samples were removed by a sharp clipper. Skin samples were examined to study the effect of age and treatments on skin follicles characteristics and fiber diameter. The results showed that external diameter, internal diameter, fiber diameter of the primary and secondary skin follicles and S/P ratio increased (P<0.05) at six weeks of age. Wall thickness of primary and secondary follicles increased (P<0.05) at eight weeks of age. The prickle factor increased (P<0.05) with age advance. It accounted for 2.27, 4.68 and 4.67 (%) at four, six and eight weeks, respectively. It seems that there is a critical growth period at the age of six weeks in which the fiber length decreased and the fiber diameter increased. Micronil supplementation decreased (P<0.5) external diameter, internal diameter and fiber diameter of the primary and secondary skin follicles as well as the wall thickness of the primary follicles. Turbocal forte supplementation decreased (P<0.05) the external diameter and the wall thickness of the primary follicle and the fiber diameter of the secondary follicles. Both types of supplementation increased (P<0.05) the average fiber length compared with the control group.

Effect of Sex and Seasonal Changes on New Zealand Rabbit Fur under Egyptian Semi-Arid Conditions

“…International Journal of Environment, Agriculture and Biotechnology, 5 (3) May-Jun, 2020 | Available: https://ijeab.com/ ISSN: 2456-1878 https://dx.doi.org/10.22161/ijeab.53. 1 497 Based on the thicknesses of skin layers (Figure 2 and Table 4), the reason for improvement the mechanical properties of males and winter skins may due to the positive relation between the durability of tanned furs and the thickness of dermis layer especially reticular layer which contains mostly for the bundles of collagen fibers as reported in literatures [6,21].…”

“…Tables (1) and (2) show the dimensions of primary and secondary follicles, respectively whereas, Fig (1) shows the transvers sections of NZW skin of primary and secondary follicles for the two sexes at different seasons. Additionally, the s/p ratio and follicle density data are presented in Table (3).…”

“…High quality rabbit skins are used in fur garments, trimming, in medical and cosmetics researches [1]. New Zealand White (NZW) rabbits are from the most popular meat producers and pet strain in the world [2].…”

“…Although NZW rabbits are considered one of the major rabbit breeds in Egypt [4], but still the intensive meat rabbit production techniques are usually incompatible with production standards for quality fur pelts [5]. Additionally to the animal breed, there are various factors that affect the characteristics of animals' skins such as sex, seasonal variations, production system and slaughtering age [1,5,6]. Therefore, the raw rabbits' furs represent a small value of the living animals and can only constitute a by-product [5].…”